2002-07-29 19:01:38 +00:00
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<title>Measuring and Distinguishing Hosts</title>
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<meta name="generator" content="BBEdit 6.1.2">
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<h2>Measuring and Distinguishing Hosts</h2>
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2002-04-30 22:22:54 +00:00
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<p>
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2002-07-29 19:01:38 +00:00
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The core client measures the following aspects of each host:
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</p>
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2002-04-30 22:22:54 +00:00
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<ul>
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2002-07-29 19:01:38 +00:00
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<li>
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<b>CPU performance</b>: integer ops/sec, double-precision
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floating-point ops/sec, and memory bandwidth are measured separately.
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They are measured by a process executing at the same priority as BOINC
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applications, so the results will be affected by other processes. These
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measurements are taken when the client starts for the first time, and
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once every month aftewards.
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</li>
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<li>
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<b>Number of CPUs</b>: By default, the number of simultaneous
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slot directories will be set to this number unless otherwise indicated
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by user preferences.
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</li>
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<li>
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<b>Vendor and model of CPU</b>
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</li>
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<li>
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<b>Disk space</b>: free space and total space on the drive which
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BOINC is installed on. These numbers will be used to ensure BOINC does
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not use more space than set in the user preferences.
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</li>
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<li>
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<b>Memory</b>: total RAM, CPU cache, and swap space. These
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numbers can be used by the scheduling server to decide whether or not to
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assign work to a client. This also provides a means for assignment of
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differing work based on host abilities.
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</li>
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<li>
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<b>Timezone</b>:
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</li>
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<li>
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<b>Last IP address</b> and count of consecutive same addresses.
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</li>
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<li>
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<b>Number of RPCs and time of last RPC</b>.
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</li>
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<li>
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<b>Fractions of time</b> that core client runs on host, host is
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connected, and user is active. These are computed as
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exponentially-weighted averages; see the class TIME_STATS.
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</li>
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<li>
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<b>Operating system name and version</b>.
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</li>
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<li>
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<b>Average up- and downstream network bandwidth</b>. These are
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computed
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as exponentially-weighted averages; see the class NET_STATS.
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</li>
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</ul>
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2002-07-29 19:01:38 +00:00
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These quantities are reported in every scheduling RPC, and their latest
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values are stored in the BOINC database. <h3>Distinguishing hosts</h3>
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<p>
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Not all systems have an application-readable globally unique ID, so
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we don't take this approach. When a host first contacts the scheduling
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server it is assigned a host ID, which it stores in its
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<tt>client_state.xml</tt> file.
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</p>
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<p>
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The BOINC database maintains the RPC sequence number for each host,
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and the host maintains the sequence number in its
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<tt>client_state.xml</tt> file.
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</p>
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<p>
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To install the BOINC client on a large number of computers, users
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are instructed to copy only the executable and the <tt>prefs.xml</tt>
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file. If the user copies the <tt>client_state.xml</tt> file as well, the
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first RPCs from the other hosts will have a repeat sequence number; in
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this case the scheduling server creates a new host record and returns
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its ID.
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</p>
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</body>
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</html>
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