Intro to Overclockers.com Rosetta@Home

Introducing the Overclockers Rosetta Team.

But what the heck is Rosetta?

Rosetta@Home is a Distributed Computing Protein Folding Project running on the BOINC Client. Distributed Computing in this context (for those of you just tuning in) is the use of many networked computers to solve large computational problems that would otherwise be impossible to solve in a reasonable time frame. The network of course being the internet, and the many computers are the every day desktops and laptops of hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

Whereas the more well known Folding@home project deals with the actual process of folding (or mis-folding), Rosetta@home deals with protein structure prediction, with emphasis on the final folded state of proteins.  Both projects, however, are a very important tools in the quest to find cures for some of humanity’s most serious diseases, such as Cancer, Alzheimer’s, HIV and Malaria.

The OCF Rosetta team was established back in June 2008.  After a bit of a slow start, the team was kicked into gear by our ol’ friend Adak in August of that same year. And thanks to the efforts of our core folders and ever growing member base, we have become a force to be reckoned with. In the world standings, The OCF Rosetta Team is currently #31 of over 8000 teams in total points, and in the top 30 in Recent Average Credit (RAC). We are one of the fastest rising teams in the Rosetta world, and we’re only getting stronger!

For more information on the team and the project, please look HERE.

So that’s the past and the present, what’s on the horizon? I’d like to announce the first Annual OCF Rosetta Team Event. The tentative start date set for this event is November 15th and the name TBA. The objective of the event is two fold:

• To overtake our latest nemesis – Team China (currently in 29th place and ~1.7 MIL points ahead), and
• To catapult the OCF Rosetta Team closer to our next major milestone, 20th Place.

As mentioned above, currently we are in 31st place and rapidly closing on the big 30!. I can’t say too much about the Contest Portion of the event, but it will be points based and Prizes will be up for grabs.

Stay tuned HERE for details as the start date draws closer.

Pat (baditude_df )