distributed.net and United Devices join forces...

[Moose]

Hi!

distributed.net and United Devices join forces: distributed.net and United Devices have announced a partnership which will combine the skills and experience of distributed.net with the commercial backing of United Devices. Several distributed.net volunteers are leaving their old day jobs and joining United Devices full time. United Devices will be providing distributed.net with new hardware and hosting services, as well as sponsoring a donation program that will help support distributed.net's charitable activities.

I will try to answer all the questions I can. Let me first say that distributed.net is not going away. It will continue to do the same things it has. Keep an eye on slashdot as well... many questions will be answered there as well. (It hasn't made a post yet, but it should soon)

Thanks!
moose

 

[mechBgon]

Wooo, "new hardware" means more-reliable stats! OK, got the important thing out of the way...

Can we expect some new types of projects out of this, Moose, or is it too early to comment on that?

 

[Moose]

New projects are always being looked at. I can't say what they would be exactly or when they will be released, but new projects aren't out of the question.

moose

 

[vss1980]

Will combine your experience with the commercial backing of United Devices....

Hmmmm, I do believe D.net are planning to give ProcessTree some competition. Is this correct Moose?

 

[Moose]

If you mean pay users for computing time. No distributed.net has no plans for that. distributed.net will contunie to use time given by others.

hope that explains it.

moose

 

[vss1980]

Thankyou for that answer moose. To the point.

Out of interest to satisfy the curiosity of some of us on the IRC channel, what is the main and backup server for the stats and the master keyserver itself?

 

[divide by zero]

dnet stats down?

 

[Drakkhen]

Moose, just a quick question. Now that you will have commercial backing, will you now be selling distributed computing time for commercial projects while utilizing the current group of users?

Just a curiosity.

Thanks.

 

[Moose]

UD has purchased a Dell PowerEdge for stats. I'm not sure of all the specs, but I think its Dual Xeon something or other. Keymaster is still the same hardware is has been, I'm not sure if they are replacing that right away or not. Its been doing fine as is. Nugget is working hard to bring the new stats server online.

As far as the other question, distributed.net has no plans to sell cpu time for commercial applicaitons or clients. the projects will continue to be non-commercial in nature. distributed.net will continue to function in the charitable role it always has.

I assume the question was looking for an answer to: will i still be able to run the distributed.net client since my company/school/etc has rules about running commercial software on its computer. Yes you will still be able to do that. distributed.net is not changing. The 14 members of the core team are giving up their day jobs and working for United Devices. They will continue to give time freely to distributed.net as always.

hope thats clear enough.

moose

 

[Drakkhen]

That is exactly what I was going for. Thanks for the clarification and I hope all goes well in dnet's future!

Thanks.

 

[Russ]

Okay, the most important question of all: Does this mean we'll get stats quicker? I'm old, I need my sleep.

Russ, NCNE

 

[Riv]

What's in it for United Devices? PR? Use DNet as testing platform?

 

[Possessed Freak]

I take it as this:

United Devices looked to hire the people who volunteer at D.net (all/most of them). The volunteers then said okay.... how about you support our hobby (d.net). United Devices agreed and the people who already worked elsewhere, quit their jobs to join UD and also are still able to work on d.net!

corrections/modifications??

 

[Riv]

It's most likely they wanted to hire the people that volunteered, but why would UD pay them to continue supporting D.net?

 

[Nugget94M]

United Devices is interested in supporting worthwhile public-interest projects like the distributed.net projects. They view this as an excellent way to generate good press and develop favorable public sentiment (not only that, but it's a cool thing to do). The distributed.net projects are also an excellent "proof of concept" for United Devices to use when trying to convince organizations that distributed computing, and the United Devices platform in particular, is a viable solution to their high-performance computing needs.

Additionally, United Devices' willingness and excitement about supporting the non-profit was a motivating factor to the folks who chose to join UD for their "day jobs". We all feel that it speaks well for United Devices' attitudes toward and commitment to the community that has built the technology that they are now turning into a successful commercial industry.

The result of this partnership is that distributed.net can look forward to a more reliable level of support and operational assitance, distributed.net users now have the ability to run a commercial distributed computing client (the UD Agent) without turning their backs on their distributed.net work, stats, and community.

United Devices, on the other hand, just managed to hire 14 of the most qualified and experienced distributed computing developers around, and will be able to use its relationship with distributed.net as a public relations tool and proof of concept for the technology.

Speaking for myself, I wouldn't have considered taking a position with a company which didn't understand and accept that I would continue to contribute and support distributed.net. It's nice to finally be in a position to do for a living what I've done as a hobby and avocation for the past four years. Finally, my day job will augment my distributed.net responsibilities, and not compete with them.

-nugget@distributed.net

 

[ViRGE]

Humm, I have to admit that I didn't see this comming. Anyways, let me first congratulate you guys for making it big(I'd be excited if I were you, you're going to get paid now). However, as most people, I have a few questions I'd like to ask to help TA better understand this new deal.

While you've allready explained DCTI won't be changing(still NPO, no commercial projects, no real payout for work), I am wondering/worried about how this will affect management. First, will you guys still be working as hard to further Dnet(and working with the end users)? With your time now at least partly divided to UD, I have to admit I'm afraid that we RC5/OGR guys may be left in the dust progress wise. Also, will this effect client development at all? With you guys now working over at UD, will you have access to things like P4s, have better tools to make more efficent clients, be able to use any of UD's effiency tricks, have open-souce code, ect? Again I'd like to see the NPO face(Dnet) not having to use lower end "stuff" that would make the FPO face(UD) better just with effiency. And lastly, how much will this speed up stats? You know TA's all stats addicts, so it's a question we have to know the answer to.

As long as the above questions are indeed going to be resolved as good things for Dnet, I think this deal will be great for Dnet, UD, and TA. Congrats guys, and here's to an even better future!

 

[Russ]

But, will we get stats quicker?

Russ, NCNE

 

[JonB]

I must admit, this looks like a Win-Win situation for D.Net (and for us, too!) Yes, Russ, I think the Dell Poweredge will get your stats to you faster. Getting paid to do your hobby is a dream come true. It is pretty much what I do in both my jobs, so I am excited for you D.Net guys making the transfer.

Moose, does that mean you'll be leaving Miami U (of Ohio)????

If so, who will tend that massive, OGR crunching herd???

 

[BurntKooshie]

And to think DanC was offering servers

 

[Kilowatt]

/me looks around for DanC before saying anything... Opps, there he is, nevermind :Q

 

[Moose]

Ok revision to what the stats server is for you hardware nuts...

According to Nugget

"Quad Xeon 500MHz, 1gb ram, 2x18 stripe, 4x36 raid5 and about a dozen fans that are giving me a headache since the box is sitting under my desk at the moment."

As far as me leaving Miami University (Ohio) Yes its time for me to move on. Friday is my last day there. My current boss will continue to mind the herd.

moose

 

[A5]

<< Quad Xeon 500MHz, 1gb ram, 2x18 stripe, 4x36 raid5 and about a dozen fans that are giving me a headache since the box is sitting under my desk at the moment >>



Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

 

[Jator]

DanC,

I'll take those servers to use on my stats box!!!!

Jay

 

[imported_CyberWire]

Maybe we'll get more than 1 update per day thru dnet now?! WOOMOO

 

[NT4Mike]

What are the chances of us getting historical data for teams like we have for individuals?

Just thought I would ask.

-Mike

PS, All I want for Christmas is a Quad Xeon Rig, a Quad Xeon Rig (sing along everybody )