Wish me luck

[wizard james]

Hello guys, hows things? heres some background of what iv been doing lately.

Iv been working in the school, basic tech, (othough i do have domain admin status :P ) i was talking to my boss, hes petty cool about anything i think about. Well, Over spring break we setup 40 E6300 with 1 gig of ram computers in the libarry (most used, but.. still)

So i was thinking.. 40x2.. 80.. cores. even if they are only running 7-8 hours a day. its a really nice hit.

So on tuesday i am going to ask him to try this out, setup folding on all 40 computers, I was going to use the network install (cept its 5.02 .. o well, any ideas to make it go the latest? i am unsure about that) Great thing is the network installer has a uninstall thing too, so if something goes wrong, it can be uninstalled just as fast if not faster then it was installed.

So, any tips, ideas, questions, that could help me do this.

Iv also used this net installing fah tool on just 1 computer on my home network.. took a few trys to configure it, but i got it working.

~ Wizard_james ~

[dfonda]

Good Luck:cool:

[Adak]

The problem I see is that you're going to take a nice quiet library with 40 computers mostly doing nothing cpu intensive, and suddenly have them cranking away 100% on FAH.

IMO you'll be shut down in one day. :cry:

Because of the increase of noise (fans) and heat. I'll bet the library was never designed to handle the heat of 40 computers going full blast, plus it's customary thermal requirements.

I would go into advanced settings on configuration, and limit the cpu usage to something like 60% to start, AND I'd also limit the initial number of cores you install this on.

You want this install to be COMPLETELY amenable to everybody in the library, at all times. Start with 5 rigs, work out the bugs, if any. Install just one client on one core. As a service, so nobody's bothered by an icon they don't understand, etc.

Next week, add another 5 rigs. How's the heat and noise output levels, etc.? Maybe the percent could be upped to 75% and still keep the noise and heat down? Just be making gradual changes - nothing drastic.

It may seem agonizingly slow, but the idea is this is not a sprint - it's a marathon, and you'll get a lot more WU's folded in 60% X 20 in the course of a year, than you will getting all the FAH clients removed immediately because they annoyed the librarian or some library user.

Great to see your doing well, WJ! Have fun and good luck. :cool:

Adak

[pscout]

Nice borg opportunity!! :drool:

My first reaction was wow! 40 win smp clients ... but as adak said, that could risk not having any of them. Jon is running it on a select few of his companies rigs, but he looks after them full time. Network bandwidth could also be an issue with win smp wu's ... up to 4MB download and i have seen nearly 30 MB upload ... and some can use a lot of memory ~350-400MB.
/edit ... as others have pointed out 7-8 hours per day might not meet wu deadlines on smp, especially over weekends. Also, since it is still beta, not a good choice. The points junkie in me just couln't resist thinking about it tho :o

Others with school borgs (gulp35/junebug) have posted on their approach ... start small and prove it out befere growing to full potential.
Single 502 clients should work fine to start with.

Good Luck :thup:

[dz_jad]

Ever used the network installer? The How-To makes it sound easy....and it really is! w00t! Good borgage! and Good Luck with that!

[Mark620]

Good luck with this :)

[LandShark]

if it's gonna run 7-8hrs per day, they might not meet the deadline of the WinSMP WUs. you might want to install dual client on each instead.

[Junebug]

I would agree with what other have said...start small...prove yourself. Show that it will not be any issue what so ever. By the way, I have about 25 computers in a library...no noise or heat issues...and I am in Hotlanta.

But as Lanshark pointed out, unless you are running 24/7 its best to stay away from the SMP stuff. In fact, I run only one instance on most my borgs even though most have HT...because I never want any complaints that the computers are slow to respond and have someone get the idea that it is caused by folding. Yes it is conservative..but it keeps everyone happy and the borgs humming.

Good luck with your borg!

[wizard james]

Ah ok, lets see.. things people point out

Power/Heat
Noise
Deadlines


Well, when you bring up Power issues, Thats something we NEED to test, but we havent figured a program to install to test, Our school has been hit by massive brownouts on many things. maybe if we can overload the grid of the schools power. they might wake up and start to update the power of the school ( Me and my Boss always joke that the power will just die casue of all the computers)

The heat. hah, Now this is kinda funny. We were talking when me my boss, and two other schools lead techs were setting up the computers. Heat came on topic. Now, the libarry is MASSIVE , but theres no moving air.. it gets stangnet. So many if they find out that theres heat problem and that just becasue these computers are running 80-100% loud, but in a few years computers will be just that heatful. They will have to do something. (we also got when its hot, air.. (missing word) to keep the school cool. ) so it wount be all that bad.

Another thing we did when we changed the computers. Was all CRTs to LCD's now, 40 CRT's make ALOT of heat. and take ALOT of power. so, that will help.

As for noise. As soon as theres a class there. you could but tornados in the cases at full speed, and it would still be quiter then the classes. + theres only 2-3 fans in each case, 1 on the cpu and 1 in the psu maybe 2 on the psu.. not sure.

Really not sure why everyones worried about deadlines, These are E6300's , i got a laptop thats a P3 700mhz and it still gets the deadlines fine.

Before i run the installer, i will give it to my boss so he can overview the bat files and such, hes wicked at dos commands. And will spot any thing that will give a error when installing

[LandShark]

Really not sure why everyones worried about deadlines, These are E6300's , i got a laptop thats a P3 700mhz and it still gets the deadlines fine.

the deadline that we point out was for the WinSMP WUs. 'cos they typically have a very short deadline (3-4days!!). and let me tell you, a 3ghz conroe running 24/7 would finish the WU with about a tab under 70+% of time left! now, IF those PC is running as you've stated above, 7-8hrs/day, that will take 3x longer for the same 3ghz conroe to finish the WU (about 2.75 day)! so, you can see a 1.83ghz conroe "might not" make the deadline IF it's only running for 7-8hrs a day!

[wizard james]

I am not that scared, il see how it works. should be ok.

[WarriorII]

Wow, good luck with all this !!!

That #2 spot just keeps getting closer & closer.

:attn:

[wizard james]

Ok, so since we got the new computers, its been one thing after another. but i hope we got them fixed..

i know got a list of all the computers .. that i am gona have to recheck becasue theres only 39 i got.. when theres 40 computers. something reallly wrong. But i got the list.. so i am alittle bit there.

As for them being duel cores, i am only gona put 1 install on each computer.

[silent bob]

good luck with the massive borg-a-thon
I suppose they would go under your user name too huh , Figures you would do this just after I passed you !!!! Hey can we make a trade I will smuggle you a case of Bawls for 1 week of cpu power for silent_bob , OK 2 cases !!! come on what do you say ? I would put them in old mobo boxes so the rents wouldnt know .

[jonspd]

Good luck.

[wizard james]

o.. thats so temping, 7-11's been out of stock of awhile.. i cant find any..

my shelfs full of empty bawls bottles watchs me...

But um.. no.. il be passing you here soon. :P

[jerseytomato]

Good luck! I'll save you a spot in the top 20. :D

[silent bob]

oh come on you said it your self they are out of Bawlz , I got a hookup at the airport.
Its really easier to type silent_bob than wizard_james !
Its a win - win situation for you , your not paying the electric AND you get Bawlz for free , I mean seriously thats a win-win situation .

[wizard james]

I sit at computer # W813-626 , the start of the 40 computers. grouped in pods of 5. this will be the first to start folding.

I am tempted to use the fah network install, put maybe its to powerful, on such a large network.. if somethign goes wrong. well.. not good.


So i could either walk around with my usb.. not that that would bother me.. be quite fun. as theres only six people in the 40 computers atm. (till a class comes in)

Should i test it on one computer first? make sure it will work all fine? i dont even know if it can download the stuff from the network.. Soon.. soon the power of these computers will be in my hand.. and all of those in my ranks ahead.. will see my rear end!

(yes.. i am excited i cant wait)

as for the bawls.. il talk to the owner of the 7-11 down the street to order a shipment just for me :P

[Zerileous]

well, best of luck
borg on!

[Jon]

/paints dotted line

Come and get me!

I love to see big points like this for us...great borg! :attn:

[benbaked]

good luck wizard james... here's to mo' points for team32 :attn: :beer:

[wizard james]

Day 1, fail. my boss is kinda slow on what i am trying to do.. i am gona give him the network install files.. see what he will say.

If not, then i sneek into the princples office and talk to him, as he petty much says yes to anything i think about.