mental ray for Maya supports a different form of network rendering: mental ray satellite rendering.
The new network rendering capability, based on mental ray satellite technology, allows you to install a version of mental ray (satellite) on any networked computer. This special version of mental ray resides on that machine and waits for rendering tasks from Maya. It supplements the mental ray rendering capabilities in Maya with the additional rendering power provided by the networked computers’ CPUs.
The rendering process is typically initiated from the master machine (the machine running Maya or where the command-line render starts from). The slave machines (satellite rendering computers) process rendering tasks they receive over the network from the master and send back results. The master machine handles task distribution, load balancing, and the collection of received rendering tasks which make up the rendered image.
To find out how to set up the rayhosts file to get and receive data from Maya, search the Maya Help for Network rendering in mental ray for Maya
Setting up the rayhosts file is required for mental ray for Maya satellite rendering to work.