To facilitate the handling of large datasets and efficiently utilize networked resources, EnSight was designed to distribute the postprocessing workload. Some packages have a "server" that only reads data from a remote machine. Still others use X Windows to display graphics generated on a remote machine (resulting in poor graphics performance and high network traffic). Unlike these, EnSight is truly distributed. Data I/O and all compute intensive functions are performed by a server process. The server transmits 3D geometric data to a client running on a graphics workstation. The client handles all user-interface interaction and graphic rendering using the workstation's built-in graphics hardware.
Network traffic is minimized since only data requested by the user is transmitted over the network. The server process is idle while the data is manipulated on the client system. When distributed between a compute server and a graphics workstation, EnSight leverages the strengths of both machines.
When both tasks reside on the same machine, a stand-alone capability is achieved.
The next release of EnSight will utilize an interprocess communication mechanism between a stand-alone client/server that will greatly increase the communication speed.