Since the reboot, my old thread was deleted. So, I am reposting it.
Average PPD per server is between 10-12k WCG.
...HP Cloud Computing Beta!
Providing 40 threads at 2.7ghz, 40GB of RAM and 1.2TB of storage for free during their beta. The OS is linux with multiple options. I chose Ubuntu 11.10 64bit.
I found the service on an Anandtech thread, but there wasn’t a guide on how to setup BOINC/WCG since they were using it for F@H.
Setting it up:
1. Go to http://hpcloud.com/sign_up
2. Fill out the form to maybe get access to the beta
3. For the how will you use the service, I was honest and just said I would use it to run WCG.
4. Wait for an email to see if you get accepted. I signed up at 11:15AM yesterday and got an invited around 7PM yesterday.
5. After accepting the invitation, we are going to setup the servers. This process will be shown using the Mac OSX terminal, but I believe the steps would be the same if you used any SSH program on Win 7. I know the guide the people made for F@H used something called PuTTy. You could probably use SSH secure shell client.
6. First, we need to activate the servers. Your HP Cloud Dashboard will have an activate button. When you click this button, you will be prompted to enter CC info. Do not worry, you will not be charged and HP states they will notify you when billing will begin. There is no timeframe or cost amount associated as to when this will happen.
7. After activating the servers, we can now manage the servers. Click on the manage link as shown in the image below.
8. Create a key pair by following the instructions at https://connect.hpcloud.com/article/...sole-key-pairs. The key that you named must be called the same file name. So if you name it wcgcrunch then the key must be called wcgcrunch.pem. You only need one key per region. Make sure you backup your key as once you lose it, it is gone and you will have to create a new one.
9. Now, lets create the servers and setup the servers. There are multiple choices for setting up the servers, but the cores/ram is different. I chose the 2 core/2GB/60GB storage option (standard.small). This provides 20 cores/20GB/600GB total. If you chose the 4core option you get 4cores/8GB/240GB(standard.medium). Since you can only have 20GB used at one time, you get less cores. Assuming you do not use CEP2, I think the option I chose provides more work.
As in the screenshot, select the same that I have selected. There will be 10 instances created providing a total of 20 threads. Give the servers sometime to get up and running. The left side will either say Pending, Running or Error. If it says error, click on the instance and terminate the server and recreate it. I had to do this multiple times since some of them would not run.
10. Lets get ready to install boinc.
11. Click on the instance. On the next window, click on attach a Public IP on the right side. It will give the server an IP so you can connect.
For connecting with Linux/Unix:
12. Open your SSH client. Navigate to your pem file. If you put it on your desktop you would type cd “Directory”. No quotes are needed.
13. Type chmod 400 keyname.pem
14. Type ssh –i keyname.pem ubuntu@public.ip.address. If you use something besides 11.10, you may need to use root instead of Ubuntu.
15. If will ask you if you want to connect, type yes and then press enter.
If you are familiar with linux, it is straightforward from here on out. First, update the OS by typing sudo apt-get update. After it installs, type sudo apt-get install ia32-libs libstdc++6 freeglut3. It will ask you if you want to install it, type y and press enter. This process can take sometime. I had a couple installations take a few minutes and some took 5-10 minutes.
16. Next, type sudo aptitude install boinc-client
17. After it installs, type boinccmd –-lookup_account http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org username password. The username and password are your WCG credentials. This will give you a code so you can attach your account to BOINC. It will be a bunch of numbers/letters.
18. Attach your account by typing boinccmd –-project_attach http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org “code you just got”. No quotes are needed, and I suggest you copy and paste.
19. Wait a few minutes and check the WCG website to see if your device is registered. Once it is registered, you can type top in SSH to see the processes running on the server.
20. Repeat 19 times…I did 4 at once to make it go smoother. You could create a script I imagine, but I did everything by copy and pasting commands. I have lots of time since I am still in the hospital…
For Windows:
1. You can use Putty and Puttygen.
2. Puttygen will be needed to convert the .pem file to a .ppk file. Go to conversions=>import key=>save it as a private key.
3. Load putty
4. Under sessions in Putty, type the public IP address for the host name, port is 22, and connection type is ssh. You can also type the IP address in the saved session and save it for later for easy of access.
5. Under connection, go to SSH then click on Auth. There will be an area call Private file for authentication. Browse for the .ppk file you created.
6. Click Open and you will get a window in which you can install updates/boinc. Type ubuntu for the login. Follow the normal linux steps 16-20.
No idea on PPD or actual CPU specs. Getting the CPU info from Ubuntu states it is a 2.66ghz Intel processor, 4MB cache, Family 6, Model 2. It states it is a VM processor. I do not know if the 4 core option is any different, but I read it also runs at 2.7ghz. Early results show 2.5-3.5 hours per WU for GFAM with a claimed boinc credit of 85 to 95. For reference, the WUs my 2600k are finishing are going 4.5-5.5 hours with 150 to 230 boinc claimed credit. Linux is probably faster at GFAM so take it with a grain of salt.
YMMV as people who earlier entered were only limited by cores, but it is limited to RAM now. It may change in the future.
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Originally Posted by Sparky
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