From 506494f2721d1112810ea4ef59f3a1563ff52c8e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: David Anderson Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 17:30:56 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] Updated BOINC overview (markdown) --- BOINC-overview.md | 20 ++++---------------- 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-) diff --git a/BOINC-overview.md b/BOINC-overview.md index ead860e..40a4627 100644 --- a/BOINC-overview.md +++ b/BOINC-overview.md @@ -13,11 +13,8 @@ BOINC can use worker nodes that are: * Heterogeneous: they have different processor and GPU types different operating systems (Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android). - * Sporadically available. - * Untrusted: they may return incorrect computational results. - * Large scale: millions or more worker nodes. Hence BOINC is well-suited to [volunteer computing](VolunteerComputing) @@ -51,13 +48,11 @@ BOINC was created to provide scientists with large computing power at a small cost. One study found the following costs for a particular workload: -### **Use Amazon's Elastic Computing Cloud: $175 Million** - -### **Build a cluster: $12.4 Million** +* **Use Amazon's Elastic Computing Cloud: $175 Million** +* **Build a cluster: $12.4 Million**. This includes power and air-conditioning infrastructure, network hardware, computing hardware, storage, electricity, and sysadmin personnel. - -### **Use BOINC: $125,000** -Based on the average throughput and budget of several +* **Use BOINC: $125,000**. +This is based on the average throughput and budget of several volunteer computing projects. It takes (very roughly) three man-months to create a volunteer computing @@ -78,20 +73,17 @@ Examples include: The project is operated by a single research group, and serves the members of that group. Examples include SETI@home, Rosetta@home, and Einstein@home. - * Application-centered research community. The project is operated by a single research group, but serves a broader community in that science area. Example: Climateprediction.net, which is based at Oxford but provides computing to researchers at other institutions. - * Science Gateway. The project is operated by a **science gateway**, i.e. a web site that serves a particular scientific community, and that provides HTC as well as other functions. An example is nanoHUB. - * Institutional umbrella project. The project is operated by an organization (university or research lab), and serves the researchers in that organization. @@ -99,7 +91,6 @@ Examples include: An academic example (no longer operating) is the University of Westminster in London. This idea is elaborated on [here](VirtualCampusSupercomputerCenter). - * HPC provider. The project is operated by an HPC provider such as a supercomputing center. It processes the provider's HTC jobs @@ -113,16 +104,13 @@ in the organizational hierarchy, and that serve many scientists: * The cost of maintaining a BOINC project is roughly constant, regardless of its size. For large projects, the cost per scientist is lower. - * Publicity options: high-level organizational entities typically have existing publicity mechanisms (e.g. alumni magazines, newsletters, etc.) that can be leveraged to recruit volunteers. - * Longevity: the duration of one scientist's need for HTC is generally shorter than that of a group of scientists. There are benefits in having a project last a long time (e.g. amortizing the startup cost). - * Continuity: similarly, one scientist's computing workload may be sporadic, while that of a group of scientists is more continuous. Some volunteers prefer projects with continuous workloads.