queueing via database table?

I have a cluster of CPUs generating thumbnails for
a render farm. I would like to place thumbnail
requests on a queue, and have the cluster of client
dequeue the requests and process them.

Of course, each request should be only dequeued once...
if a thumbnail is being processed by one CPU, it
shouldn't be processed by another CPU.

Does the following sound like a reasonable approach?
If not, what's a good way to go?

The processes generating the requests will insert into
a queue table. They may add a priority and timestamp.

The several processes servicing the requests will do a
SELECT FOR UPDATE where ... limit 1, generate thumbnail,
delete the record and commit.

Comments and suggestions welcome,
Mark

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Mark Harrison
Pixar Animation Studios