What happened to the XS Distributed Dot Net team?

[__Miguel_]

Hi there, people.

I've been crunching for Distributed Dot Net (D.Net) for a while now, and I joined the XS team a couple of months ago. Everything was fine during that period, but late last week (Thursday, if I recall correctly), the only other team member who was crunching (1200+ blocks a day, around five times more what I'm capable of...) simply vanished...

I've been told that member has moved to other software (not really sure which one, I forgot), and that D.Net has always been a way to increase ratings, not that important.

After that comment, I just have to ask if the XS D.Net team is really retiring or if someone else will join. I mean, there is only so much my 805 can do, and around 250 blocks a day is not that much...

Cheers.

Miguel

[[XC] gomeler]

Hmm haven't heard of this project, can't find it on the DC-Vault or Free-DC. Guess it has fallen by the wayside? Don't know what to tell you :confused:

[__Miguel_]

gomeler;2138496']can't find it on the DC-Vault or Free-DC.
Well, that's weird, the explanation I was given said something about boosting ratings on some tracker site...

Anyway, that's no biggie. I would only like to know if XS is really pulling out of the project and, if so, which "active" project should I move to (i.e., the one who needs more attention). I have one 805 (I'm adding probably an E4x00 or E21x0 somewhere in the next few months, right now the money is VERY short (I've already got the mobo, all I'm missing is RAM and the CPU).

Oh, I almost forgot, thanks for the reply, gomeler. I had heard about you, but almost thought you were a legend of some kind, not really real... kidding, of course.

Cheers.

Miguel

[StyM]

join wcg , if you want... :D:D:D

[[XC] gomeler]

Agreed, join up with WCG :) Very soon there will be a HUGE push in that project, a member of XSTM will be posting a thread in the DC-Vault section soon and a public challenge will be issued within the WCG section. Right now work is being done behind the scenes to finalize all plans but very soon information will hit the scenes. XSTM is also recruiting for this push and for the future, if you are interested in joining a subteam I'd encourage you to join up with XSTM, we accept all members ;) Ironically, for a list of XSTM projects check out StyM's sig, that's what we are involved with currently.

[[XC] DragonOrta]

Gomeler, why do I see a ZERO for SoB: S? I think you got some 'plainin to do! :p:

[[XC] gomeler]

DragonOrta;2139585']Gomeler, why do I see a ZERO for SoB: S? I think you got some 'plainin to do! :p:

:shrug:

Still finishing off my PSP S ranges :p: I got about 80% through a huge SOB:S range and then realized I should probably finish off PSP:S first :slap: I still have 12 more days till May 1st, hopefully I can get enough work done :cool:

How come I don't see XSTM in your title :slap: :D

[KaptainBlaZzed]

Join DPAD we could use some help there.

[__Miguel_]

I see asking where I should go was a bad idea, since everyone tells me something different... :lol:

I may join WCG, but not before tomorrow. I'm 90 miles (actually, it is around 135Km, I'm not sure I got the conversion right :p:) away from my main crunching machine (multi-purpose gateway, an 805 doing NAT, eMule, WSUS, and sometimes a small VPN connection, I like it a lot), I can only get there tomorrow.

I just hope WCG is not that hard to configure and it isn't a RAM hog. D.Net is a breeze to set up (you don't, actually... lol) and very light on the RAM. You can only do so much with 1GB single channel 533MHz stick... hehe.

I'll check it out and then get back to you guys.

Any more info is welcome.

Cheers.

Miguel

[KaptainBlaZzed]

I see asking where I should go was a bad idea, since everyone tells me something different... :lol:

I may join WCG, but not before tomorrow. I'm 90 miles (actually, it is around 135Km, I'm not sure I got the conversion right :p:) away from my main crunching machine (multi-purpose gateway, an 805 doing NAT, eMule, WSUS, and sometimes a small VPN connection, I like it a lot), I can only get there tomorrow.

I just hope WCG is not that hard to configure and it isn't a RAM hog. D.Net is a breeze to set up (you don't, actually... lol) and very light on the RAM. You can only do so much with 1GB single channel 533MHz stick... hehe.

I'll check it out and then get back to you guys.

Any more info is welcome.

Cheers.

Miguel

WCG is a RAM hog, it uses quite a bit.

[__Miguel_]

WCG is a RAM hog, it uses quite a bit.
Please define "quite a bit". With my current setup/load, the gateway/server usually has a constant 300MB+ RAM usage, and sometimes goes up near the 500MB mark. I don't want my HDD trashing around because of file paging (not to mention the performance will be less than satisfactory)... I do sleep in the next room, and the PSU fan is already loud enough... :lol:

If constant/semi constant paging is expected with my configuration, is any other project that might "fit"?

Thank you in advance.

Cheers.

Miguel

[KaptainBlaZzed]

i am currently running WCG on my Dual Xeon 5120 (4 cores) and RAM usage + page filing is about 1.1Gb.

so half of that for 2 cores would be 550mb.

I tried to run WCG on my E6400 wit 1Gb RAM, but it kept giving me messages saying i did not have enough ram and it would only run 1 WU at a time. I stopped running WCG on that machine

[[XC] gomeler]

Indeed, WCG is a ram hog, how much ram does DPAD use? ;)

[KaptainBlaZzed]

gomeler;2141739']Indeed, WCG is a ram hog, how much ram does DPAD use? ;)

Low is 25mb for 2 cores
High is 175mb for 4 cores

The other machines are somewhere in the middle.
so it is not very RAM intensive

[[XC] gomeler]

sounds perfect for Miguel then :)

[__Miguel_]

i am currently running WCG on my Dual Xeon 5120 (4 cores) and RAM usage + page filing is about 1.1Gb.

so half of that for 2 cores would be 550mb.

I tried to run WCG on my E6400 wit 1Gb RAM, but it kept giving me messages saying i did not have enough ram and it would only run 1 WU at a time. I stopped running WCG on that machine
That is an insane amount of memory for my config. I'll have to get another GB (that's the motherboard limit, 2x1GB, dual channel mode; back then Vista wasn't in the horizon, so you always thought "there is NOOO way I am ever going to need that much RAM". Oddly enough, this was just last October :lol: However, the 775i945GZ is still a nice mobo)


gomeler;2141829']sounds perfect for Miguel then :)
Yes, it does. I'm going to check that out. I'm glad I asked about RAM usage, I was headed straight to a problem...

Cheers.

Miguel

[__Miguel_]

Hmmm, I found something very interesting. It seems WCG's "RAM hogginess" (lol) is due to the fact that is stores a lot of work not yet done in memory. Like "Ok, I have 4 cores, I'm enrolled to every project. Now gimme the stuff". And the server dumps a buckload of data for the PC to process...

I think I'll try WCG. It seems to be the most logical choice from the projects' perspective. And, besides, there is a contest going on here on XS, I understand... :D

Is there anything I should be aware of in WCG? Should I join every project or should stick to only one or two? And, if so, which one(s)?

Thank you again for your help. I hope I'm not going off-topic too much .

Cheers.

Miguel

[[XC] Adywebb]

Hmmm, I found something very interesting. It seems WCG's "RAM hogginess" (lol) is due to the fact that is stores a lot of work not yet done in memory. Like "Ok, I have 4 cores, I'm enrolled to every project. Now gimme the stuff". And the server dumps a buckload of data for the PC to process...

I think I'll try WCG. It seems to be the most logical choice from the projects' perspective. And, besides, there is a contest going on here on XS, I understand... :D

Is there anything I should be aware of in WCG? Should I join every project or should stick to only one or two? And, if so, which one(s)?

Thank you again for your help. I hope I'm not going off-topic too much .

Cheers.

Miguel
One way to reduce RAM usage is to select 'NO' for the "Leave applications in memory while preempted?" setting in the WCG device profile - also some of the projects use alot less memory/HD space than others, such as Genome Comparison.

The project that gives the best returns is generally regarded to be FightAids@Home - but that does seem to like RAM and rattles the HD's a bit.

WCG System Requirements: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/help/viewTopic.do?shortName=minimumreq

[__Miguel_]

Adywebb;2143304']WCG System Requirements: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/help/viewTopic.do?shortName=minimumreq
Thanks for that link, I couldn't find it (I'm a n00b on WCG, after all... hehe).

Cancer is going to be off, no way I can cope with that, at least not for now. The other two projects that need 250MB each are also out of the equation, they won't run two threads on 1GB dual core machines... :(

I'm going with the other two projects, Muscular Dystrophy and Genome Comparison. I reckon it should be a good starting point.

Man, I've gotta get me more RAM!!!

I'll prepare everything today, By the end of the day I should be up and running with those projects. I'll keep you posted (lol, I just realised the pun... hehe). Hope I have no problems joining a team.

Cheers.

Miguel

[[XC] Adywebb]

Be aware the Muscular Dystrophy project is only available at this time via WCG's own grid agent, and not BOINC - make sure then if you are selecting only one project, ie Genome Comparison, that you also tick the "If there is no work available for my computer for the projects I have selected above, please send me work from another project (this option only applies to BOINC agents)" box in your WCG Device profile, so if there is no work available it will download a different project instead - but don't worry it will only download one that your system can support. :toast:

[__Miguel_]

Adywebb;2143350']Be aware the Muscular Dystrophy project is only available at this time via WCG's own grid agent, and not BOINC - make sure then if you are selecting only one project, ie Genome Comparison, that you also tick the "If there is no work available for my computer for the projects I have selected above, please send me work from another project (this option only applies to BOINC agents)" box in your WCG Device profile, so if there is no work available it will download a different project instead - but don't worry it will only download one that your system can support. :toast:
I found out what you were talking about just now... Major problem there, the UD client software is single-threaded only, and one of the two projects I wanted to join is only available for that one... Bummer...

I'm now divided between runing UD and BOINC in paralell (telling BOINC not to use more than one core) and going only with BOINC all the way... I've already sent melymel2789 a message about this subject, I'm open to suggestions. I am confused, however, of how to configure the BOINC client to send the stats to the WCG page... D.Net made it so easy one gets rusted with this kind of things... :lol:

Any advices?

Cheers.

Miguel

[__Miguel_]

Ok, it seems it's official, I'm a WCG cruncher now :cool:

I've updated my avatar accordingly. As I am running on the XSTM "team", please do tell me if I can still use it, or if it is reserved for the official "XtremeSystems" team members. I'll go back to the last one (the general "cruncher" logo") if that's the case.

Cheers to all of you, and thank you for your help with the migration.

Miguel

[__Miguel_]

Quick update and a n00b quetion, sort of.

As for the update, I am happy to annouce that all is well, I've been crunching for two days with interesting results (1400 points in just over 24h, not bad for an 805... :D)

Now the n00b question: does the BOINC manager need to be loaded for stats to be updated and proper communication with the server to occur? I don't think so, but you never know...

Cheers.

Miguel

[[XC] gomeler]

Hmm good question :p: I've always just had the BOINC MGER running in the background as I usually check up on it everytime I sit down at my machine. I'd like to say it doesn't need to be around as it's really just a GUI for users, you could also do an experiment if nobody replies by leaving it alone for a few days.

edit: WOAH! Is the Distributed Dot Net the same as the RC5-72 and OGR-25 projects? I was looking over some rival forums to see what they are doing and heard them mention those two projects with DDN, same things?

[StyM]

Hmmm, I found something very interesting. It seems WCG's "RAM hogginess" (lol) is due to the fact that is stores a lot of work not yet done in memory. Like "Ok, I have 4 cores, I'm enrolled to every project. Now gimme the stuff". And the server dumps a buckload of data for the PC to process...

I think I'll try WCG. It seems to be the most logical choice from the projects' perspective. And, besides, there is a contest going on here on XS, I understand... :D

Is there anything I should be aware of in WCG? Should I join every project or should stick to only one or two? And, if so, which one(s)?

Thank you again for your help. I hope I'm not going off-topic too much .

Cheers.

Miguel

just like this one, it downloads a whole lot of wu's...

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/2900/wcgjf4.jpg

[__Miguel_]

gomeler;2147243']Hmm good question :p: I've always just had the BOINC MGER running in the background as I usually check up on it everytime I sit down at my machine. I'd like to say it doesn't need to be around as it's really just a GUI for users, you could also do an experiment if nobody replies by leaving it alone for a few days.
Ok, good news. I tried disabling it without problems, so less one RAM-consuming process to worry about :)


gomeler;2147243']edit: WOAH! Is the Distributed Dot Net the same as the RC5-72 and OGR-25 projects? I was looking over some rival forums to see what they are doing and heard them mention those two projects with DDN, same things?
Yes, in fact it is one and the same project. Distributed Dot Net, DDN, RC5-72 and OGR-25 are the same thing. Also known as "the cow project" :D

@StyM: yes, I've seen that. It might not be a bad idea for BOINC to unload that data to disk, at least the data not currently needed for processing... Oh, well, no major problems with the "school" profile back at XSTM :p:. At least I'm contributing :D

Cheers.

Miguel


P.S.: Just added another machine. It's just a P3-1GHz with a 512MB SDRAM stick, but it's better than nothing, right?

[Rinsewand]

gomeler - yeah, its the same, I've always held DDN to be the equivalent of BOINC (best way i can think of describing it!).

RwD

[Paladin]

gomeler;2147243']edit: WOAH! Is the Distributed Dot Net the same as the RC5-72 and OGR-25 projects?

Yes, those are the two current distributed[dot]net projects. The DNet client is by far the easiest of all the Vault projects to set up. I've been crunching them since the first RC5 challenge (back then for Team #2, to give you an idea how long I've been a cruncher). All my machines have DNet on them and any time I am in the middle of changing projects I just double-click the cow head icon til the new project it set up. It has multiple optimised code cores for every CPU and a mature client for most OSes.

Current version benches: OCR-25 runs fastest on Linux64. RC5 runs fastest on Win32.
Tested using C2D (OC'd E4300) w/ 2GB RAM.