Projects that utilize idle PC's to do work

Discussion in 'Software' started by Allochthonous, Oct 21, 2006.

  1. Allochthonous

    Allochthonous Corporal

    Several years back, I had a friend who participated in the SETI @home project where you installed a program that downloaded data from radio telescopes, let your PC crunch the data during its idle time, and then sent the results back to the web site.

    I have always thought that utilizing the power of all the millions of PC's sitting idle at any given moment to do something productive was a great concept, but although the search for extra terrestrial life is an interesting venture, I wished that there was some project that I could play a part in that would be more beneficial to mankind.

    Does anyone know what I am talking about and are there any current projects such as this? Or with the advancement of processors over the past few years, is this type of project a moot point, as any individual machine could do just as well to crunch the data?

    PK
     
  2. matt.chugg

    matt.chugg MajorGeek

  3. Allochthonous

    Allochthonous Corporal

    Yeah! I knew I had seen a DC project like this that had to do with protiens but could not remember its name or how to find it again.

    I have a Celeron 700 that sits idle A LOT. Will it be fast enough to help out? If it works smoothly, i may chip in with my 2.4 ghz rig.

    Does the "calling home" to get download files and upload results have to be automatic? Is it hard to configure through Windows Firewall and a router?

    Are there any other projects like this?

    I just think this is such an awesome concept and can't believe that there aren't more projects like this.

    I work for a company that uses a lot of PC's that are ALWAYS on and wish there was some way that I could convince them to get on a worthy DC project bandwagon. Sooooo much wasted potential processing power....it's sad if could be used to help the world somehow.

    PK
     
  4. matt.chugg

    matt.chugg MajorGeek

    Every little bit helps! you can have the folding core ask you before it downloads work but personally I find the automatic part to be fine. since it doesn't actually act as a server I doubt windows firewall will even notice it. You don't need any extra router configuration to use it, it should work fine with whatever setup you are using to access the internet right now.

    Even if windows firewall does notice it its pretty simple to set exceptions.

    Give it a whirl, and don't forget to use your MG username for username and put the team number as 12072 so we know who you are! You can always remove it if you don't want it any more, I recomend the console version and installing it as a service so its hidden in the background and doesn't interfere with your work. I run it on my work computers (Network Manager perks ;) ) and can see no problems with performance or andything.

    Theres some pretty nifty data analasis over at http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?s=&t=12072
     
  5. bensr20det

    bensr20det Private E-2

    This is a bit off topic but I seem to remember hearing something about the
    Playstation 3 doing something like this. Something with cancer I think.
    That was the first I had ever heard about a DC project.
    Anyone know if there is any truth to this?
     
  6. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Yes very true, it was part of United Devices GRID computing projects on Cancer, they also do Smallpox, Anthrax and Human Genome tasks. http://www.grid.org/home.htm dont know off hand if the PS3 works with UD Grid.

    but it will with Folding@Home http://folding.stanford.edu/FAQ-PS3.html
     
  7. Allochthonous

    Allochthonous Corporal

    Thanks for the info Matt. I am gonna roll over to my idle PC and play with it right now.

    Do you have any advice on how someone could convince their employer that this is a worthwhile project for their idle processors? I mean, not to sound like a negative Nelly, but is this working? Is there proof?

    Keep in mind that my employer is a very large corporation, and i am sure that this would have to be cleared with the top IT dogs, so its not as easy as just knocking on the boss' door and asking.

    I would perhaps eventually like to write up a professional proposal though.

    PK
     
  8. matt.chugg

    matt.chugg MajorGeek

    Sorry I don't really have any advice on convincing the boss, Where I work I make all decisions on anything computery myself since my boss isn't the worlds most computer literate person ;)

    You could just point to the http://folding.stanford.edu/ weppage and let them read for themselves.

    If you are a large corporation then you may have a test environment, Why not ask if you can at least be allowed to try it on their so you can see if it interfieres with the real company stuff. You might also point to the team list and point out the large companies that are participating.
     
  9. Allochthonous

    Allochthonous Corporal

    OK, I downloaded and installed the graphical version, as it seemed easier to use and i wanted the screensaver function.

    What should I expect? How do I know that it is doing what it is supposed do be doing?

    Nothing is happening with the icon in the system tray.

    When I "display," it says "Waiting for core: Step 18"

    The log says that it is connecting, but it's attempt to get work fails.

    Since this is a slower machine, i set it for deadlineless work, does that make a difference?

    Am I too imatient?

    Also, there isn't a choice for Folding@home in my screensaver list. Should there be?


    PK
     
  10. Allochthonous

    Allochthonous Corporal

    I may have found my problem. For one, i had IE not checked as an exception in Windows Firewall on this machine for some reason. I am not exactly sure why, nor do i understand what implications this would have had on IE. I have not noticed anything.

    I have FAH set to use IE settings.

    Also, it seems that there is not as much deadlineless work, so maybe there just wasn't any of this work to download.

    We will see if this helps.

    PK
     
  11. Allochthonous

    Allochthonous Corporal

    OK, I finally got some work to download, but now here is my new problem. I think by opening myself up to work with deadlines, I received a file that I more than likely will not finish. It is due in January, but my "WU End" time says 1041 days!! (Is this how long it estimates it will take to finish???)

    I don't think this machine can handle deadlined work. Now what do I do?

    PK
     
  12. augiedoggie

    augiedoggie The Canadian Loon - LocoAugie (R.I.P. 2012)

    I run folding@home as a service, you never even notice it in Vista, not sure about XP. It runs much faster IMO than the GUI but the GUI is a great place to start to see what it's doing, after that you just want processing power with the least amount of overhead so grab the console mode. You can even run two instances of it if you have an AMD X2 or equivalent.

    I also have an old 1GHz Celly that I'm using as a folding machine and kitchen computer. As someone above said, every little bit counts! I don't fold for MG but that's immaterial, as long as we fold. :)

    BTW, if you're going to run in the console mode, don't forget to include MG's # or anyone else's ID number, otherwise you'll fold for team '0'. That's fine too if you don't want to fold for any specific team, which I doubt.
     
  13. Allochthonous

    Allochthonous Corporal

    I think its under control. Some folks on the folding forum ( http://forum.folding-community.org/ ) said that this was common with the graphical client. It takes a a few frames to settle down and figure the time correctly. I am down to 12 days now.

    The screensaver works now too, since there is work going on.

    OK, now how do I make sure that the client is only running when I want it to run? While it is on, my CPU seems to always be at 100%, even if i start some other program (which I would think would give priority back to me rather than the client).

    PK
     
  14. augiedoggie

    augiedoggie The Canadian Loon - LocoAugie (R.I.P. 2012)

    F@H releases memory when it's needed by other apps etc. and it does it very well. I've never seen it slow anything down yet. If that bothers you then give it a % you're comfortable with.
     
  15. BCGray

    BCGray Guest

    You can also right click on the "Red Cog" in your Desktop lower taskbar and make it stop working if you are using an App that requires a lot of either memory or CPU time. You can also post in the folding thread and get many more good answers to your questions, hope you posted your Team #12072 and help Major Geeks shoot to the top of the folding teams
     

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