Checker Overview

Checkers are crucial participants in the Pictor network, playing an essential role in maintaining the network’s efficiency, reliability, and quality.

Checker Operation

Checkers perform three main functions:

1. Job Manager

Checkers oversee the entire rendering process from start to finish:

• Task Breakdown: Checkers break down rendering jobs into smaller, manageable tasks to optimize efficiency and resource allocation.

• Task Distribution: They distribute these tasks to qualified and available Workers, ensuring that each Worker receives tasks suited to their capabilities.

• Process Monitoring: Checkers monitor the entire rendering process, tracking progress and performance to ensure everything runs smoothly and efficiently.

This adds an additional layer of proof, verifying that tasks are executed correctly and efficiently within the network.

2. Node Manager

Checkers are responsible for managing and monitoring the network’s Workers:

• Network Admission: Checkers decide whether a Worker can join the network based on hardware requirements.

• Status Monitoring: They continuously monitor Workers’ online/offline status to ensure the network operates smoothly without disruptions.

• Worker Management: Checkers validate, judge, ban, and reconnect Workers as needed, maintaining network stability and reliability.

• Worker Allocation: They allocate a suitable number of Workers for each rendering job, optimizing resource utilization and task completion times.

This ensures a stable and reliable network, minimizing the risk of errors and inefficiencies.

3. Service Quality Assurance

Checkers are also responsible for ensuring service quality and maintaining the network’s integrity:

• Network Integrity: They protect the network from malicious nodes and ensure that only valid and verified Workers participate in rendering tasks.

• Output Verification: Checkers verify the accuracy and quality of rendering jobs completed by Workers. This involves reviewing the outputs to ensure they meet predefined criteria and identifying any discrepancies or errors in the rendered outputs.

• Peer Checking: Checkers also perform mutual checks on each other to ensure the highest efficiency and effectiveness of the network.

By performing these functions, Checkers are essential in upholding the Pictor Network’s standards, ensuring a trustworthy and efficient rendering environment for all participants.

Checker Status

Checkers can have one of five statuses that indicate their current state of operation:

• Checking: Actively performing their various tasks.

• Standby: Ready to receive new tasks, but not currently checking.

• Offline: Temporarily unavailable (due to network issues or maintenance).

• Banned: Disqualified and removed from network integrity (due to repeated failures or policy violations).

• Pending: Awaiting approval for delegation. This status is typically used for new Checkers or those undergoing review before being fully integrated into the network.