newbie questions about distributed computing

[broadwayblue]

ok...so i finally finished building my new pc, an amd 1.2 ghz on an asus a7v133 with 256mb pc133 and a maxtor 40gb 7200rpm and two wd 45gb 5400rpm hard drives. so now i've got more machine than i really need and thought it might be cool to get involved somehow with distributed computing. so i have a couple of questions. first, can i even partake with a dial-up internet connection?...i won't have dsl/cable for a month or so. second, i take it you can only be involved with one project (not sure what you call it) at a time. so what made you go with seti or rc5 or something else? basically i would like to get involved but don't really know what to get involved with. any suggestions? thanks.

 

[mechBgon]

For starters, you can run more than one project at a time if you want. It's more efficient to run just one at a time on the computer, so you could run RC5 or OGR part of the time and SETI part of the time, for instance.

The clients don't really need a full-time connection. You could use SETI Driver to stash some SETI work units (WU's), it's very simple to configure. Likewise, you can set up Distributed.net's OGR/RC5-64 client to download a bunch of work units so it'll have enough to make it until your next connection.

The AMD's excel on all the different projects, so do whichever one(s) you are attracted to... but we hope you'll join the AnandTech team, we need more members! For more detailed info on the projects, read the Team AnandTech article, there are excellent rundowns of some of the projects the AnandTech team is doing.

 

[narzy]

I think mech wrapped that up nicely.

Welcome to ThE TeAm

 

[mechBgon]

By the way, here are links to the client downloads:

The Distributed.net RC5/OGR client download page
The command-line SETI client download page, use i386-winnt-cmdline.exe if you run Windows
The SETI Driver program, which stashes work units for your SETI client

If you run into any questions, just ask!

 

[broadwayblue]

one last question...at least for now. if i want to remove any of these programs from my pc at a later date will i have any problems (do they possess my computer) or will they uninstall easily. thanks again!

 

[Assimilator1]

SETI GUI un-installs no probs in my experience ,the CLi(text) version is even easier you just delete the directory.

But trust me ,once your hooked onto a DC project or 3 you won't want to get rid of them!............

 

[mechBgon]

The RC5/OGR client uninstalls easily too, on a Windows computer you just go to "Add/Remove Programs" in Control Panel and uninstall it from there.

 

[broadwayblue]

ok...guess i'll get started then! which program looks cooler while running? guess i might as well have something nice to look at while my pc does all the work.

 

[Assimilator1]

SETI has some nice graphics but if you leave the window open instead of minimised it will double your WU time!:Q.But it wouldn't hurt to have a peak every now & then

 

[mechBgon]

If you do want the option of seeing the SETI client at work, the command-line version is not what you want. Instead, you'd use the GUI version.

 

[broadwayblue]

thanks guys...i'm the newest member of seti's team anand.

 

[Baldy18]

Welcome to the team broadwayblue! Happy cracking!

 

[Assimilator1]

Welcome to the team broadwayblue

BTW to store WU's for the GUI version you'll need to use SETIQ as SETIDriver only works with the CLi version.
Check out my sig for a link to that as well as links to various team stats.
Also look out for various stats posted here mainly by Hellburner.

1 more thing ,if you've set SETI to be the screen saver as well as always running in the background make sure you enable 'blank screen' & set it to less than 5 mins if you want 1/2 decent WU times .Let us know what WU times you get.