Announcing the Kubuntu Linux Folding@home team!
Team links:
http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/...&teamnum=51238
and
http://fahstats.com/t.php?t=51238
----------
So what is this Folding?
In a nutshell Folding@Home is a global supercomputing effort comprised of many thousands of computers running a common application focused on medical research & discovery. The scope of the project is now measured in terms of hundreds of teraflops!
More information on the project found HERE.
How does it work?
Want to build a house? You can hire a single worker, but no matter how good or fast he is, it's going to take a long time. However, if you distribute the work among many workers the job can be finished much faster. Distributed computing projects like Folding distribute the work load to thousands of computers to folks like you across the interent.
How is my work acknowledged?
When your computer finishes a task (known as a work unit), it's uploaded to a central server, points are awarded to you, and a new work assignment is sent down, repeating the cycle. If you happen to join a team like Kubuntu Linux
these points are added together with other team members.Do I need a high speed connection?
Nope, dial-up is just fine. The client only needs an online connection for the brief time necessary to send a finished work unit and recieve another one.
Why do people join teams?
Because many people enjoy the fun collaborative support and friendly competition as the team rises through the ranks. Web sites with active FOLDING teams are held in high regard by many, conveying a common sense of team unity and purpose. It's also a great way to promote the team.
Here's the top teams: http://fahstats.com/
So how do I join & install?
Method 1: (quick & easy)
Open up a console and type:
Code:
mkdir folding
Move, if necessary, the downloaded FAH504-Linux.exe file to your folding directory
Make this file executable, making sure you're within the directory the file resides.
Code:
chmod +x FAH504-Linux.exe
Code:
./FAHLinux-504.exe
- User name [enter a username] make up one
- Team number: 51238
- Ask before fetching/sending [no] best to say no here.
- Use Proxy yes/no: most people will probably say no here.
- Allow receipt of work assignments and return of work results greaterthan 5MB in size (such work units may have large memory demands) yes/no: less than 256MB RAM no, 512MB or more yes.
- Change advanced options [yes] type no unless you've got a dual core cpu, if so ...
Core Priority [idle] type idle here
CPU Usage [100] if this comes up type 100
Disable highly optimized assembly code [no] type no here
Interval, in minutes, between checkpoints (3-30) [I choose 15] you can choose more if you have battery backup and have a stable computer. This is how often to save the state.
Request work units without deadlines [no] your choice but I chose no
Ignore any deadline information (mainly useful if system clock has
errors) [no] I chose no as my clock is accurate.
Machine ID ( 1-8 ) [1] type 1 here
At this point it should download and starting crunching away.
For those with P4 or Athlon XP or higher processors here's a faster way to get points but taxes your cpu more. Make sure the app isn't running, then in the konsole type:
Code:
./FAH504-Linux.exe -forceasm -verbosity 9 -advmethods
There's another way to install using a program called FINSTALL which includes other tools like visual monitoring for those who like eyecandy.
Illustrated Method - substitute curl -O with wget -c and note the folder fahuser was created beforehand.
Text description - start at "Long Version" section.
--------------
Any other app's to check out?
Yes indeeed, all sorts of 3rd party applications for monitoring & visualizations including a folding@home KDE kicker applet.
Link: http://forum.folding-community.org/v...ic.php?t=11700
OK now let's go catch the Ubuntu team!
Comment