This is yet another edition of my unofficial F@H Q&A thread. If you have any helpful links that you want to see listed here that I haven't included, feel free to post them in the thread and I'll edit them in. Thanks.
(the first few paragraphs are taken directly from the Folding@Home website)
What is Folding@Home?
Folding@Home is a distributed computing project which studies protein folding, misfolding, aggregation, and related diseases. We use novel computational methods and large scale distributed computing, to simulate timescales thousands to millions of times longer than previously achieved. This has allowed us to simulate folding for the first time, and to now direct our approach to examine folding related disease.
What is "protein folding," and what kind of diseases does F@H study?
Proteins are biology's workhorses -- its "nanomachines." Before proteins can carry out their biochemical function, they remarkably assemble themselves, or "fold." The process of protein folding, while critical and fundamental to virtually all of biology, remains a mystery. Moreover, perhaps not surprisingly, when proteins do not fold correctly (i.e. "misfold"), there can be serious effects, including many well known diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, and Parkinson's disease.
Has the Folding@Home project produced any results?
Yes! Folding@Home is a non-profit project, and the results taken from contributions to the project are freely available to anyone. You can read more about the results and the science behind the project.
What kind of net connection do I need, if any?
Folding@Home is best run with a network connection. However, with some work, it is also possible to run F@H via "sneakernet." Team AnandTech F@H member GLeeM has some instructions on how to do so.
An always-on connection is certainly recommended, though a dialup connection that is available on demand will also work well for the standard kinds of work units. Beware that if you say yes to large units, you may wait an hour or more whenever the client wants to send and receive (leave the Big WUs alone unless you have an always-on connection, for your own sanity's sake).
A dialup connection that can only be initiated manually at certain times of the week, or a computer that is slow (being defined as less than 400MHz in standard terms, or most Cyrix or other VIA processors) may not be able to return standard work units within the deadlines, and in some cases may sit idle for days if a connection is not available when it finishes a work unit. These systems will benefit from the so-called "Timeless TINKERs," work units named because they lack deadlines and commonly use the TINKER computational core. You can set your system to request these by choosing the option to prefer work units without deadlines.
How do I install the client so it's totally hidden?
New in version 5 of the F@H client, specifically the console (CLI) version, Stanford has added an option that will automatically add F@H as a system service under Windows NT, 2000, XP, and 2003 (sorry, 9x and ME are left out). This is a welcome addition, and removes the need for an external program - such as FireDaemon - to set up the service. Having the client installed as a service means that it will run even when your PC is sitting at the login screen, and also removes any form of system tray icon or taskbar button from the reach of the deadly fingers of one's spouse or children.
To install the CLI as a service, simply answer yes to the appropriate question during configuration. To remove the service entry of a client previously installed as a service, shut down the service, run the client from the command line with the -config option, and answer the question that asks if you want to remove the previously installed service.
Where are the "stats"?
What fun would a Distributed Computing project be without stats? Luckily, Folding@Home has some good statistics to feed your stats addiction. The official stats for Team AnandTech are here. Two popular alternative stats pages are those from Statsman and Extreme Overclocking.
Some useful guides for getting started:
Programs for monitoring the progress of Folding@Home clients:
Other interesting stuff:
Does Folding@Home affect your system's performance in other programs? Read on at the Tech Report to find out...
Have a question that's got us at the AnandTech Forums stumped? Perhaps the über-gurus at the Folding-community Forums can help you out.
If you have any other questions, you're welcome to post them in this thread, or in a separate thread in our Distributed Computing forum. We hope you'll enjoy being with us here at Team AnandTech, and happy Folding!
Update 2005-04-20: New link to MDE's FAQ
Update 2005-04-26: GLeeM's F@H sneakernet tutorial link added
(the first few paragraphs are taken directly from the Folding@Home website)
What is Folding@Home?
Folding@Home is a distributed computing project which studies protein folding, misfolding, aggregation, and related diseases. We use novel computational methods and large scale distributed computing, to simulate timescales thousands to millions of times longer than previously achieved. This has allowed us to simulate folding for the first time, and to now direct our approach to examine folding related disease.
What is "protein folding," and what kind of diseases does F@H study?
Proteins are biology's workhorses -- its "nanomachines." Before proteins can carry out their biochemical function, they remarkably assemble themselves, or "fold." The process of protein folding, while critical and fundamental to virtually all of biology, remains a mystery. Moreover, perhaps not surprisingly, when proteins do not fold correctly (i.e. "misfold"), there can be serious effects, including many well known diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, and Parkinson's disease.
Has the Folding@Home project produced any results?
Yes! Folding@Home is a non-profit project, and the results taken from contributions to the project are freely available to anyone. You can read more about the results and the science behind the project.
What kind of net connection do I need, if any?
Folding@Home is best run with a network connection. However, with some work, it is also possible to run F@H via "sneakernet." Team AnandTech F@H member GLeeM has some instructions on how to do so.
An always-on connection is certainly recommended, though a dialup connection that is available on demand will also work well for the standard kinds of work units. Beware that if you say yes to large units, you may wait an hour or more whenever the client wants to send and receive (leave the Big WUs alone unless you have an always-on connection, for your own sanity's sake).
A dialup connection that can only be initiated manually at certain times of the week, or a computer that is slow (being defined as less than 400MHz in standard terms, or most Cyrix or other VIA processors) may not be able to return standard work units within the deadlines, and in some cases may sit idle for days if a connection is not available when it finishes a work unit. These systems will benefit from the so-called "Timeless TINKERs," work units named because they lack deadlines and commonly use the TINKER computational core. You can set your system to request these by choosing the option to prefer work units without deadlines.
How do I install the client so it's totally hidden?
New in version 5 of the F@H client, specifically the console (CLI) version, Stanford has added an option that will automatically add F@H as a system service under Windows NT, 2000, XP, and 2003 (sorry, 9x and ME are left out). This is a welcome addition, and removes the need for an external program - such as FireDaemon - to set up the service. Having the client installed as a service means that it will run even when your PC is sitting at the login screen, and also removes any form of system tray icon or taskbar button from the reach of the deadly fingers of one's spouse or children.
To install the CLI as a service, simply answer yes to the appropriate question during configuration. To remove the service entry of a client previously installed as a service, shut down the service, run the client from the command line with the -config option, and answer the question that asks if you want to remove the previously installed service.
Where are the "stats"?
What fun would a Distributed Computing project be without stats? Luckily, Folding@Home has some good statistics to feed your stats addiction. The official stats for Team AnandTech are here. Two popular alternative stats pages are those from Statsman and Extreme Overclocking.
Some useful guides for getting started:
- Mechbgon's F@H FAQ
- Maximum PC Folding@Home Tweaker's Guide (remember to use Team Number 198, not the one they give you in the article)
- MDE's incredibly understandable F@H thread
Programs for monitoring the progress of Folding@Home clients:
- F@H LogStats (my personal favorite)
- Electron Microscope
- FoldingSpy
- KDFold (no longer being developed, but you might still be able to get it)
- FoldinGL (not a true monitoring program like the others, but cool nevertheless)
Other interesting stuff:
Does Folding@Home affect your system's performance in other programs? Read on at the Tech Report to find out...
Have a question that's got us at the AnandTech Forums stumped? Perhaps the über-gurus at the Folding-community Forums can help you out.
If you have any other questions, you're welcome to post them in this thread, or in a separate thread in our Distributed Computing forum. We hope you'll enjoy being with us here at Team AnandTech, and happy Folding!
Update 2005-04-20: New link to MDE's FAQ
Update 2005-04-26: GLeeM's F@H sneakernet tutorial link added
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