2002-11-03 19:11:05 +00:00
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<title>Platforms</title>
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<body bgcolor=ffffff>
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<h2>Platforms</h2>
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2002-11-03 23:18:47 +00:00
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<h3>Goals</h3>
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2002-11-03 19:11:05 +00:00
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<p>
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BOINC is intended to accommodate participant hosts
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with a wide range of operating systems and hardware architectures.
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For example, the hosts may run many versions of Windows
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(95, 98, ME, 2000, XP) on many processors
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(486, Pentium, AMD) with many architectural extensions
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(ATI or NVidia graphics coprocessors).
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BOINC addresses the following goals:
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<ul>
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<li> The system should avoid sending code that the host can't execute.
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<li> Applications should be able to exploit specific architectural features,
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i.e. to use nonstandard instructions or coprocessors if available.
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<li>
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Enough architectural information should be stored on the server
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so that statistics can be broken down
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according to specific features.
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<li> Simplicity.
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The combinatorial explosion of versions and architectures should be
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excluded from the internals of BOINC.
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</ul>
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2002-11-03 23:18:47 +00:00
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<h3>Design</h3>
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2002-11-03 19:11:05 +00:00
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<p>
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A <b>platform</b> is a compilation target.
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A set of platforms is maintained in the BOINC database of each project.
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Each platform has a <b>name</b> and a <b>description</b> of
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the range of architectures it can handle.
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Each BOINC program (core client and application) is linked to a platform.
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<p>
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At the minimum, a platform is a combination
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of a CPU architecture and an operating system.
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Examples might include:
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<p>
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<table cellpadding=8 border=1>
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<tr><th>name</th><th>description</th></tr>
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<tr><td>windows_intelx86</td><td>Microsoft Windows (95 or later) running on an Intel x86-compatible processor</td></tr>
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<tr><td>linux_xxx</td><td>Linux running on an Intel x86-compatible processor</td></tr>
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<tr><td>macos_ppc</td><td>Mac OS 9.0 or later running on Motorola PowerPC</td></tr>
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<tr><td>sparc_solaris</td><td>Solaris 2.1 or later running on a SPARC-compatible processor</td></tr>
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</table>
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<p>
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The name of a platform should specify a particular version (e.g. of an OS)
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only if it uses features new to that version.
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For example, the platform <b>sparc_solaris2.8</b> should apply
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2002-11-03 23:18:47 +00:00
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to SPARC machines running Solaris 2.8 or greater.
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2002-11-03 19:11:05 +00:00
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<p>
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For simplicity, platforms are assumed to be mutually exclusive:
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i.e. an application for platform X is not assumed to work
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on a host running core client platform Y if X <> Y.
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The BOINC scheduling server will send work to a host only
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if there is an application version for the same platform.
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<p>
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There should be as few platforms as possible.
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For example, suppose that there are both Solaris2.6
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and Solaris2.7 platforms.
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Then any host running the Solaris2.6 core client will
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only be able to run Solaris2.6 applications.
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Application developers will have to create versions
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for both 2.6 and 2.7, even if they're identical.
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<p>
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2002-11-03 23:18:47 +00:00
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<h3>Application optimization for specific architectures</h3>
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2002-11-03 19:11:05 +00:00
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<p>
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BOINC allows applications to exploit specific architectures,
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2002-11-03 23:18:47 +00:00
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but places the burden of recognizing the architecture
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on the application developer.
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2002-11-03 19:11:05 +00:00
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<p>
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In other words, if you want to make a version of your application
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that can use the AMD 3DNow instruction set,
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<i>don't</i> create a new <b>windows_amd_3dnow</b> platform.
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Instead, make a version for the <b>windows_intelx86</b> platform
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2002-11-03 23:18:47 +00:00
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that recognizes when it's running on a 3DNow machine,
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and branches to the appropriate code.
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2002-11-03 23:18:47 +00:00
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2002-11-03 19:11:05 +00:00
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<p>
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2002-11-03 23:18:47 +00:00
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<h3>Web-site statistics breakdown by archicture</h3>
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<p>
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BOINC collects architecture details about each completed result
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to allow detailed statistical breakdowns.
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<p>
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First, the core client attempts to find
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the CPU vendor, the CPU model,
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the OS name, and the OS version.
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These are stored in the host record.
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<p>
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Second, applications that recognize even more specific
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architecure information can pass it back to the core client
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using the <b>boinc_architecture()</b>
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2002-11-03 19:11:05 +00:00
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function from <a href=api.html>the BOINC API</a>.
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This passes a string (project-specific, but typically in XML)
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to the core client, which records it in the
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<b>architecture_xml</b> field of the <b>result</b> database record.
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For example, the application might pass a description like
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<pre>
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2002-11-03 23:18:47 +00:00
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<has_3dnow_instructions/>
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<graphics_board>ATI Rage 64MB</graphics_board>
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2002-11-03 19:11:05 +00:00
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</pre>
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2002-11-03 23:18:47 +00:00
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This makes it possible, for example, to report average or total
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performance statistics for 3DNow hosts constrasted
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with other Intel-compatible hosts.
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2002-11-03 19:11:05 +00:00
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2002-11-03 23:18:47 +00:00
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<h3>Avoiding platform anarchy</h3>
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2002-11-03 19:11:05 +00:00
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<p>
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Each BOINC project is free to create its own platforms.
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2002-11-03 23:18:47 +00:00
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To avoid anarchy, however, we recommend that
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platform creation and naming be coordinated by a single group
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(currently the SETI@home project at UCB).
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2002-11-03 19:11:05 +00:00
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2002-11-03 23:18:47 +00:00
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<h3>Tools</h3>
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<p>
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2002-11-03 19:11:05 +00:00
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Platforms are maintained in the <b>platform</b> table in the BOINC DB,
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and can be created using the <a href=tools_other.html>add</a> utility.
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