Running BOINC Headless

[ichy]

What's the easiest way to run BOINC on a computer that doesn't have a hard drive? When I upgraded my current computer I was left with an old motherboard, processor, RAM and video card that have just been sitting around. I wanted to connect them to my network and use them to run BOINC, but I've had some trouble finding a guide on how to set it up.

 

[MedicBob]

No idea, but I have a feeling one of the frequenters here can tell you. If there isn't a way or it is too involved what about a small HDD?

 

[Rudy Toody]

If the BIOS allows it, you could use a thumb drive.

 

[deerslayer]

You mean you could run boinc without windows installed?

 

[ichy]

Yep. That's how people run "SETI farms" where they have a bunch of really barebones systems doing nothing but number-crunching. I think you have to have one computer that has a hard drive and Windows or Linux in order to run everything. What I'm trying to do is find a simple way to run such a setup at home.

 

[Philippart]

Yes, you can run boinc or any other application from a USB stick Pendrive distribution of Linux, like Ubuntu, Knoppix, DSL, MiniMe, Slax... (you can use pendrive from 64MB and up)

The distro creates a Ramdisk and uses it as a harddrive, REMEMBER: all WUs and data will be lost when you shut down your computer! (If you still want to do it, make sure you install boinc on the USB stick.)

 

[Silverthorne]

Originally posted by: ppatin
Yep. That's how people run "SETI farms" where they have a bunch of really barebones systems doing nothing but number-crunching. I think you have to have one computer that has a hard drive and Windows or Linux in order to run everything. What I'm trying to do is find a simple way to run such a setup at home.

This is was I need. 🙂