Distributed.net

Aus Rechenkraft

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Hier handelt es sich sozusagen um den "Urvater" des Distributed Computing. Die Gemeinschaft von distributed.net hat seit 1997 die ersten großen internetbasierten DC-Projekte durchgeführt (bei denen es sich übrigens anfangs immer nur um Verschlüsselungswettbewerbe handelte).

Am 19. Oktober 1997 um 13:25 UTC hat distributed.net nach 250 Tagen die richtige Lösung für das Projekt, die 56-bit secret-key challenge der RSA Labs, gefunden. Damit dürfte es eines der ersten verteilten Rechenprojekte überhaupt gewesen sein.

Der Client war dabei von Anfang an technisch sehr ausgereift und stabil, sowie auch für die verschiedensten Plattformen und Betriebssysteme verfügbar. Viele andere Projekte haben sich bei der Realisierung und Umsetzung ihrer Ideen an distributed.net orientiert.

Ende 2000 ist die gesamte Kernmannschaft von distributed.net zu United Devices gewechselt. Seit diesem Zeitpunkt lässt die Durchführung von Projekten auch auf dieser Plattform sehr zu wünschen übrig. Zu den laufenden Projekten gibt es kaum noch Statusmeldungen oder andere Neuigkeiten.

Inhalt

Projekte

Distributed.net Projekte (aktive Projekte fett)
RC5-56 • RC5-64 • DES II-1 • DES II-2 • DES III • CSC • OGR-24 • OGR-25 • RC5-72 • OGR-NG

Links

Clientprogramm

Betriebssysteme

    Windows    
    Linux    
    Linux 64bit    
    PlayStation 3    
    DOS    
    MacOS X    
    BSD    
    Solaris    
    Java (betriebssystemunabhängig)     

Client-Eigenschaften

Funktioniert auch über Proxy Bild:checkbox_1.gif
Normal ausführbares Programm Bild:checkbox_1.gif
Als Bildschirmschoner benutzbar Bild:checkbox_1.gif
Kommandozeilenversion verfügbar Bild:checkbox_1.gif
Personal Proxy für Work units erhältlich   Bild:checkbox_1.gif
Work units auch per Mail austauschbar Bild:checkbox_1.gif
Quellcode verfügbar Bild:checkbox_0.gif
Auch offline nutzbar Bild:checkbox_1.gif
Checkpoints Bild:checkbox_1.gif

Installation

  • Von den Downloadseiten den entsprechenden Client downloaden und installieren bzw. einfach auspacken.
  • Die Datei "dnetc.exe" starten und der Konfigurationsdialog erscheint. In der Konfiguration mindestens unter 1) die E-Mail Adresse eingeben. Und über 0) Save&Exit die Konfiguration beenden. (Ein späteres Ändern der Einstellungen ist unter Windows direkt über die GUI des Clients möglich, unter Linux muß der Client mit dem Parameter -config gestartet werden)
  • Ein erneuter Start der Datei "dnetc.exe" startet den Rechenprozess. Dazu werden zunächst Arbeitspakete vom distributed.net Server geladen. Anschließend wird der für die jeweilige Hardware optimierte Core gestartet. Wer Schwankungen in der Rechnerleistung feststellt, oder sicher sein will, dass immer der schnellste Core ausgesucht ist, der startet den Benchmark (unter Linux mit dem Parameter -bench) um zu erfahren, welcher Core der beste ist und konfiguriert den Client so, dass er immer diesen Core benutzt.

Konfiguration

Teambeitritt

  • Erste WUs rechnen und abwarten, bis man in den Stats auftaucht. Diese WUs werden später dem Team zugerechnet. WUs, die man für ein bestimmtes Team gerechnet hat, verbleiben aber bei diesem, sollte man das Team später wechseln.
  • Dann muß man warten bis die Statistiken aktualisiert wurden, üblicherweise um 0 Uhr UTC, was 1 Uhr MEZ bzw. 2 Uhr MESZ entspricht.
  • Dann eMail bei der Suche eingeben und auf "Please email me my password" klicken.
  • Danach einloggen, den Anzeigenamen ändern und einem Team beitreten.
  • Wenn die Stats aktualisiert werden, taucht man im Team auf.

Nur ein Projekt rechnen

Damit man nur für ein Projekt oder für ein bestimmtes Projekt nicht rechnet (z.B. RC5-72), muß man folgende Veränderung vornehmen:

  • "Client Configuration" starten
  • Choice --> 2 (Buffer and Buffer Update Options)
  • Choice --> 9 (Load-work precedence)
  • dort den Wert ändern auf: RC5-72=0,OGR-P2 (=0 bedeutet, dass man das Projekt abwählt)
  • Dann ins Hauptmenü zurück und mit "0) Save settings and exit" beenden

Veröffentlichte Versionen

  • 26.11.2006: v2.9012.498
  • 18.04.2006: v2.9012.497
  • 30.06.2005: v2.9011.496
  • 08.06.2005: Beta-Version v2.9011.496
  • 16.05.2005: Beta-Version v2.9010.495
  • 13.11.2004: v2.9009.494

Screenshots

das Hauptfenster zeigt alles in Textform

Durchsatz

generelle Einstellungen

Buffer Einstellungen

Performance Einstellungen

Konfiguration des Loggings

Tools

  • COWPump: CowPump stellt die Performance eines Distributed.net-Clients dar. Zur Anzeige nutzt dieses Programm dabei ein beliebiges Winamp-Visualisierungs-Plugin.

Meldungen

RSS RSS-Feed

bovine [30-Nov-2009 @ 07:34]
:: 30-Nov-2009 07:34 GMT (Monday) ::

Happy Cyber Monday! If you're planning on doing a little holiday
shopping, why not consider helping distributed.net by signing up at
iGive? Once you sign up through the following link, supported online
retailers will donate a small percentage of your purchase price to us
and help fund our general operational expenses:
http://www.igive.com/html/ssi.cfm?CID=1098&MID=3206
[?]

bovine [29-Nov-2009 @ 06:15]
:: 29-Nov-2009 06:15 GMT (Sunday) ::

Our keymaster is now back to normal operations and OGR-NG is sending
and receiving work again. We don't think very many results, if any,
were lost as a result of the outage. The cause of the power failure
is still being investigated. Keep on crunching! ]:8)
[?]

bovine [28-Nov-2009 @ 19:48]
:: 28-Nov-2009 19:48 GMT (Saturday) ::

There was a UPS or related power failure at our keymaster that caused
some data inconsistency in our OGR-NG database. As a result, the
project was automatically suspended until manual validation of the
database can be completed.

We hope to be able to bring OGR-NG back online within a day if
everything goes well. Unfortunately, some OGR-NG results that were
returned during this inconsistent period may have been lost.
Meanwhile, RC5-72 is continuing to run and is unaffected. Thanks for
your patience and support!
[?]

bovine [29-Oct-2009 @ 20:46]
:: 29-Oct-2009 20:46 GMT (Thursday) ::

Our statsbox should be back online and the hardware upgrade is
complete. No work was lost while it was offline, and it has fully
caught up with the backlog.

For those who are interested in the details: It had a failing
redundant power unit and the closest replacement I could find was a
used power supply designed for a larger 4U case from the same
manufacturer on eBay. Although I couldn't use the whole power supply,
I believed I could use its newer revision power units if I swapped the
power connectors and faceplates from the failed unit and jumpered an
unnecessary switch connection. Fortunately this worked. I also took
the opportunity replace to a failing case fan, re-seat all power and
drive cables, do a burn in, and upgrade its FreeBSD from 6.2-PRE to
6.4-STABLE. Maybe we'll move to 7.2 sometime!

Thanks for your patience and continued support! ]:8)
[?]

bovine [27-Oct-2009 @ 20:29]
:: 27-Oct-2009 20:29 GMT (Tuesday) ::

Our statsbox is temporarily down while we perform some minor hardware
upgrades. We hope to bring it back online by tomorrow. Thanks for
your patience!
[?]

mikereed [29-Sep-2009 @ 22:59]
:: 29-Sep-2009 22:59 GMT (Tuesday) ::

Friends,

We'd like to let our ATI Stream users know that we've posted an
updated Stream client beta for Windows. A Linux beta will follow
shortly. As with all our pre-release software, clients can be found at
http://www.distributed.net/download/prerelease.php. This version of the client
fixes compatibility issues with Catalyst drivers 9.9. However, there are still
several known issues with this beta. Known issues include:

The Stream client will not be used to its full potential unless
its priority is set =2 or higher. To achieve this, enter the client's
configuration mode, and go to options 3,3 and change the value to "2".

Graphical User Interface (GUI) lag is still heavy. While this isn't an
issue with dedicated crunching systems, if you run the Stream client on your
primary computer, the lag may bother you. As a workaround, use the screen
saver mode to overcome this. A link to directions to enable the screen saver
can be found at the end of this .plan.

Sometimes, upon exiting, the client will not save the work unit currently
being crunched. This is cumbersome if you have been working on a large work
unit, say 64*2^32, as all work will have to be re-processed. As a workaround
here, you can enable the "checkpointing" feature. To do this, enter the
client's configuration mode, and go to options 2,4 and choose a path and file
name for your checkpoint file.

There are on-going issues related to remote desktop connections to Stream
clients. It has been reported that using third party remote connection
software (VNC) overcomes these issues.

We are working on ironing out the remaining bugs in the Stream client. If you
have software development experience, a compatible ATI Stream video card,
and think you may be able to help with these bugs, please send an E-mail to
help@distributed.net.

We want to thank all of our early adopters for their help testing our
beta clients. Currently, the Stream client produces the fastest key rates
of any desktop hardware component. It is truly an exciting time here at
distributed.net!

Related Links:

* http://www.distributed.net/download/prerelease.php (Pre-release download page)
* http://bugs.distributed.net/show_bug.cgi?id=4222 (Bug for not saving work units)
* http://faq.distributed.net/?file=52 (Information on the checkpoint function)
* http://www.distributed.net/docs/tutor_clients.php#cl_confg (Screen saver set-up instructions)
[?]

chrisj [05-Sep-2009 @ 10:02]
:: 05-Sep-2009 10:02 CST (Saturday) ::

Hi All,

It looks like fritz, our stats server, is experiencing technical difficulties
and is offline.

I'll keep you all posted as information comes through. In the mean time, no
work will be lost

Thank you for you co-operation and patience

Moo! ]:8)
[?]

mikereed [14-Aug-2009 @ 22:30]
:: 14-Aug-2009 22:30 GMT (Friday) ::

Dear friends,

We have been testing distributed.net clients for nVidia CUDA-compatible cards
for a while. Several users have noted that they are quicker than standard CPU
clients at processing RC5 packets. Yesterday, CUDA cards contributed about 3%
of the total work processed for the RC5 project. This may appear small, but
over time, it is significant.

At about the same time as nVidia launched the CUDA system, AMD came out with a
competitor which it calls Stream. Thanks to some excellent work by our friend
Sla Chupyatov, we now have a client ready for testing on Stream systems.

If you run Windows 32-bit or Linux and have an AMD R600 or higher
graphics system (HD 2xxx or better) with the Catalyst 9.7 drivers (or
higher) installed, you can help us test it. We are interested to hear
your feedback. Clients are available from our pre-release page at:
http://www.distributed.net/download/prerelease.php. Please, continue to report
any bugs or issues to our bug database at: http://bugs.distributed.net/.

We would like to thank all of our dedicated early adopters for helping us with
testing.

PS: In order for your pre-release AMD client to achieve optimal key rates,
the priority should be set to "2" using the built-in configuration menu (3:
Performance related options).

Moo ]:8)
[?]

bovine [27-Jul-2009 @ 23:26]
:: 27-Jul-2009 23:26 GMT (Monday) ::

Howdy folks,

We've just transferred some new clients from the pre-release page to the
official release page: http://www.distributed.net/download/clients.php

*dnetc511-amigaos-68k.lha
*dnetc511-amigaos-ppc-pup.lha
*dnetc511-amigaos-ppc-wos.lha
*dnetc511-amigaos-ppc.lha
*dnetc511-morphos-ppc.lha
*dnetc511b-dos-x86.zip
*dnetc511b-linux-cellbe.tar.gz
*dnetc511b-linux-ppc.tar.gz
*dnetc511b-macosx-ppc.tar.gz
*dnetc511b-macosx-x86.tar.gz
*dnetc511b-os2-x86.zip
*dnetc511b-win32-x86.zip
*dnetc511b-win32-x86-setup.msi
*dnetc510-linux-x86-elf-uclibc.tar.gz

As mentioned in a previous plan, these new x86 clients contain three
new OGR cores. Depending on your CPU type, the new cores may provide a
significant speed improvement over the cores used in previous client
versions.

Additionally we strongly recommend that users of OGR PowerPC clients
version 2.9103 or 2.9104 upgrade to these newer versions. It was
discovered that those two specific version numbers could process
OGR-27 blocks incorrectly, so results from those client versions have
been blocked. Users of PowerPC platforms should upgrade to client
version 2.9105.511 or later.

We have also promoted the following personal proxy binaries from the
pre-release page to the official release page:

*proxyper347-freebsd4-x86.tar.gz
*proxyper347-freebsd6-x86.tar.gz
*proxyper347-freebsd7-x86.tar.gz
*proxyper347-linux-cellbe.tar.gz
*proxyper347a-linux-x86-uclibc.tar.gz

We're very close to being able to finally mark the first three
stubspaces for OGR-27 complete... The first one (OGR-27.1) was just
finished up in the last few hours. There are just a very small number
of stubs that we are waiting to be completed in OGR-27.2 and OGR-27.3.
We'll make another announcement when those are finally received.

Keep on crunching! ]:8)
[?]

bovine [27-Jul-2009 @ 03:02]
:: 27-Jul-2009 03:02 GMT (Monday) ::

Dear friends,

We have discovered our nVidia CUDA clients prior to v2.9105.512 had a
problem that would cause RC5-72 results to skip part of the
block. This issue turned out to be caused by a bug in the CUDA
compiler itself, which was fixed beginning in the CUDA 2.2 SDK. Going
forward we will only be releasing clients for CUDA version 2.2 and
higher.

The fixed behavior unfortunately reveals that new CUDA clients will be
about half the speed of the older buggy CUDA versions. We understand
that the apparent speed decrease will seem disappointing, but it's
important to note the earlier speeds were not measuring useful
work. Going forward, speed comparisons should only be made with CUDA
2.2 or higher speeds, as these are the "correct" speeds. Also, please
remember the CUDA clients are still much faster than traditional CPU
clients.

If you are still running a CUDA beta client, we encourage you to
update to the current versions available on our pre-release page:
http://www.distributed.net/download/prerelease.php Results returned by
any earlier clients will no longer be accepted by our keymaster. Users
with prior stats credit from affected clients will not be
retroactively removed.

Due to aspects of our network communication protocol, we are not able
to remotely shutdown only the older, buggy, CUDA clients so we will be
implementing a method to send large, dummy blocks to older CUDA
clients instead.

Since all dnetc CUDA versions released so far have only been "beta"
clients with built-in expiration dates, the impact should be
contained. The last round of beta CUDA clients would have expired at
approximately the end of August 2009.

Thanks again to all of our beta testers that have been helping us
validate this exciting new technology.
[?]

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