I'm planning on setting up a server cluster specifically for 3D video rendering. In order to maximize speed I wanna use OpenGL hardware acceleration for that and I'm pretty sure that I have to use an NVIDIA video card if I want the whole thing working reliably.

Now my question is simply: Will I be able to start an X-Server with GLX on an NVIDIA video card that doesn't have a monitor connected to it? And what will be the maximum "virtual" display resolution that I can use? Since I wanna have several servers running side-by-side I really don't have the room for any monitors...

Just to avoid misunderstandings: It is not my intention to show what's being rendered to anyone in real time. I will only create video files that can be downloaded later.

I'm already pretty sure that this will work, probably using "CustomEDID" or something like that, but I don't have a suitable setup available to test it right now. Since the video cards will be expensive I'd really like to know for sure before I start buying all the hardware

The video cards don't really care if there is a monitor attached. They work with or without an audience.

I would suggest using a KVM switch. That will allow you to share your monitor/mouse/keyboard with several computers. I am using an IOGear 4 port KVMP. It works great. I've been using it for several years. The only thing that doesn't work is the shared audio.

http://www.iogear.com/solutions/kvm/

That page has links to all of their KVM/KVMP products.

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