F@H - Tale of the Tape!

Folding@Home Distributed Computing, Stanford University ^ | June 10, 2012 | Texas Booster

[texas booster]

It has been a while since our last Free Republic Folding@Home update.

The team has seen growth in the past couple of years as contributors have added high performance GPUs from NVidia and AMD/ATI, and same consoles such as the PS3.

The team started in 2001 with a few volunteers, and grew dramatically in 2005 as we started actually posting regular threads.

As we grew from a Top 2000 team to a Top 100 team, we attracted the attention of DU. After a couple of years of name calling, they realized that merely boasting that you can beat the opposition means nothing if you can't back it up. They float in the Top 300 due to the strength of two primary folders. Still, they have folded for nearly 8 years and we thank them for that.

Today the FR team 36120 folds about 330 individual computers, down from our peak of about 1,800 systems. However, the team is currently averaging 250,000 ppd, many times greater than we have ever accomplished.

If you have a computer running Windows, Linux or OS X, or a PS3, then you can start folding very quickly. Look here for starting instructions:

Folding@Home Downloads

Why would you fold? There are multiple distributed computing groups searching for everything from cryptography to SETI. I started folding after helping in the original Genome@Home project, as scientists worked to complete the first sequencing of the human genome.

Now I fold to advance the science of treating diseases. A partial list of diseases that the project has worked on include:

Alzheimer's Disease

Mad Cow (BSE)

CJD

ALS

Huntington's Disease

Parkinson's Disease

and many cancers

When I was younger I thought that I could help find a cure for my parents' diseases. Now I fold to find a cure for the diseases that currently or may inflict me, and one day may inflict my children.

Read the thread and PLEASE ask questions. I will try to answer all questions that are posted.

Tuesday I head over to InfoCOMM 2012, so if some of the other folders can help out I would really appreciate it.

If we could reach 100 active folders and 1000 systems, we would see our output double. While we fold to cure diseases, a race to the top is always fun.

[texas booster]

Folding@Home FAQ for new users:

What is Folding@Home? A Stanford University project to find out how proteins fold.

Why it's important: Proteins folding wrong causes all kinds of diseases, like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and forms of cancer. Folding@Home uses novel computational methods and large scale distributed computing, to simulate timescales thousands to millions of times longer than previously achieved. Through Folding@home, scientists now have the horsepower to study the mechanics of protein folding. With its ability to share the workload among hundred of thousands of computers economically, Folding@home can help scientists understand how proteins snap, or don't, into their predestined shapes - and may help to explain the origins of diseases such as Alzheimer's and apparently unrelated diseases. We're fueling research that could end all that.

How does it work?: You download a safe, tested program (see link below) that is certified by Stanford University. It gets work from Stanford, runs calculations using your spare computer power, and sends the results back to the University.

Is it safe? Yes! Folding@Home rarely effects computer performance in any way and won't compromise your privacy in any way. It only uses the computing power you aren't using so it doesn't slow down other programs.

How do I get started folding for Team FreeRepublic?:
1.) Download the folding program from Stanford University's folding download page (Folding@home Client Download). Type in your desired user-name.
2.) Type in 36120 for the team number. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT - if you get the number wrong, you won't be folding for team FreeRepublic!
3.) The third question asks, "Launch automatically at machine startup, installing this as a service?" - We recommend you answer YES. Otherwise you will have to manually start the program after every reboot.

How can my computer help? Even if they were given exclusive access to all of the world's supercomputers, Stanford still wouldn't have as much processing power as they get from the supercluster of people's desktop systems Folding@home relies on. Modern supercomputers are essentially a cluster of hundreds of processors linked by fast networking. But Stanford needed the power of hundreds of thousands of processors, not just hundreds.

There's no reason to not get involved! It's free, easy, and you can know you're helping every minute without lifting a finger.

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List of Relevant Folding Links

The Inner Life of a Cell

Folding@home Client Download

FreeRepublic.com Folder Stats

Extreme Overclockers Stats for FreeRepublic

Folding@home New Forum

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Competition (Not!!) Dummies ..Daily Kos

Dummie Folding Threads #7 #8 #9#10#11 #12

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Other Useful Stuff - Links

How much are those work units worth? And what are they?
All Projects Listed

Point Summary for Workunits

Fahmon Third Party Monitoring Software

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Past FreeRepublic Folding threads

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20 #21 #22 #23 #24 #25 #26 #27 #28 #29 #30 #31 #32 #33 #34 #35 #36 #37 #38 #39 #40 #41 #42 #43 #44 #45 #46 #47 #48 #49 #50 #51 #52

[texas booster]

Starting a new Folding@Home thread.

Please drop by and restart your folding on your new systems.

Thanks!

[texas booster]

Starting a new Folding@Home thread.

Please drop by and restart your folding on your new systems.

Thanks!

[texas booster]

Starting another Folding@Home thread.

Please come on over and restart your folding!

Thanks!

[texas booster]

Starting a new F@H thread.

Please drop by and tell us how you became our top folder.

15,000,000 points!

[martin_fierro]

Dude, you need to have an iPad/iPhone/android app.

[Bob]

Is there a way to “resurrect” a long-dormant account? It’s been about forever and I’ve forgotten my user name. (I do remember having been on the FR team.)

[wastedyears]

I usually turn off my computer and PS3 when I’m not using them; due to where I live having been built a while ago, I also don’t trust that I could get enough power to run a small computer, PS3, small TV, and air conditioner in my room when I’m also on the same breaker as the living room, which has a big A/C, big TV, and a computer.

Would Folding@Home get screwed up when I unplug either system? I unplug one when I want to use the other so I don’t draw too much power.

[dglang]

I just added my AMD 1090 BE 6 core processor to the task.

My machine is now showing ALL 6 cores running at 100%

I once had 10 computers runnung the United Devices cancer research program a few years ago and I was considering rtying another Disributed processing type task.

[texas booster]

Ain't that the truth?

I would imagine that the new chips would support a decent amount of folding.

Thanks for folding the regular way.

[texas booster]

yes. Look at the links that show the 50+ previous threads, or look at the F@H stats and see if you recognize your name.

You take up where you left off.

[texas booster]

The PS3 uses the least power to fold. Turn it on, load it from the Sony store and enter Team 36120.

Please use your FReep name, so I have a chance to track you and help out.

Let it run 24/7 when you are gone and watch the results pile up. The PS3 will use about 2.3 amps per hour when running at full blast.

Check your electric bill and see if you even notice the difference.

[RebelTex]

‘bout time we had a FAH thread, LOL.

I’ve managed to move up the team ranks:
Rank: 89
Name: RebelTex
Points: 299558
Work Units: 1117

My system is currently working on: Project: 10722 (Run 0, Clone 7075, Gen 20), point value 2244 (this will take me over 300,000 points - YEAH!), 79% completed.

I thought I’d never break into the top 100, but eventually it happened. Keep the faith.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks texas booster, long time no hear from.

[texas booster]

Thank you very much!

I have joined a few DC projects but keep coming back to F@H.

I run an Intel i7-920 with an NVidia GTS450. The GPU only folds part time but it provides the most points per kWh.

I think that I have either 3 cores or 7 cores folding, with the other feeding the GPU.

[texas booster]

Did you ever get a new video card from NVidia or ATI?

Those really blow the doors off CPU folding. Most of our highest point members use multiple GPUs to push a lot of projects through the pipeline.

I still fold many CPU units, since they handle a broad spectrum of projects that are broader than current GPU programming will allow.

[texas booster]

Work and our first granddaughter have provided plenty of excuses to postpone new threads.

I just decided to spend a couple of hours updating F@H threads, and did it tonight.

[texas booster]

http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=userpage&teamnum=36120&username=martin_fierro

Hey, toss one of your CPUs at F@H.

You get all your old points back ... ;)

[brityank]

Greetings, TB -

Still plugging away, but like me the system has slowed down some. I still leave my XP system running 24/7 so it's helping out. Thanks for keeping us focused on the prize - assisting in the creation of the scientific research necessary to any resultant cure for some very destructive diseases. Cheers!

[A.Hun]

Thanks for the ping. I haven’t run FAH for a couple of years...just downloaded it and installed it on my current computer.

Was able to sign up on my old screen name and the FR team with no problem.