Render farming windows apps...

Hello,


i am very new at render farming....

me and a few people use applications such as maya 7, rhino 4, 3ds max, catia, etc... architects who need to render alot of things through different applications....


I am trying to do research on how to network, say 3 windows computers, together (using gigabyte ethernet switch, which we have) to render cooperativly in maya 7, rhino 4, 3ds max... etc....


and i know no other computer community better then this one to ask!




questions:

-is the render farm process different for each program? different for maya then rhino?

-is there a render farm community that i can tap into?

-have looked at drqueue, and for windows it is a haphazard process! is there an alternative, even an inexpensive alternative?

-should i dive into linux?

-HELP!

any advice much loved...


thanks,
r.