The cost of Distributed Client Computing

[dmcowen674]

This was discussed adnausium during my case.

10-15-2003 The Cost of Distributed Client Computing?

"I only recently decided to install SETI@home on my mostly idle home computer. It got me thinking though, are those free processor cycles truly free? Has anyone had experience with processors dying prematurely due to a constant, heavy load, or is usage pretty inconsequential? What about other components, like harddrives? And how much does a 100% processor load increase your power bill versus a 1-2% idle load over the course of a year? It's easy to think of idle computers as an untapped computational resource, but what are the costs to the computer owners?"
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I thought this response summed it it up well why it is better to not have Computers attempt to benefit mankind ;

"Inherent danger (Score:5, Funny)
by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 15, @11:51AM (#7220264)

I used to run a protein folding application on a spare Athlon I had. I thought it would help advance humanity. Then I discovered that the deamon I was running was spining my hard drive up and down all the time. Eventually the bearing gave out, and the disk platter came flying out of the case at high speed. It sliced through my cat and embedded itself in the opposite wall. The computer itself then caught fire when the drive motor over heated. It burnt my entire house and all of the contents, including a twelve thousand page thesis I had been working on (That work is classified, so I can't tell you what it was about). I stubbed my toe escaping, and a fire fighter died trying to put the fire out.

Just don't bother is my advice. "

 

[Assimilator1]

lol ,naturally a joke!

 

[winr]

I can sympathize with that story.

I got a virus last week that made my harddrive spin so fast the liquid in the fluid bearings evaporated.
Then when the bearing seized suddenly, the platters shattered spraying out in a circle.

I discovered all this after creeping back into my computer room and noticed my PC looked odd.
When I went to move it half of the case fell off.
The broken platters had literally cut my PC in half!!

I am just glad no one got hurt like in the story above.

The moral is to trash all those fancy drives and get a heavy duty 5.25 slow turning Big Foot drive that could contain a clutch explosion.

 

[Overkiller]

I will NOT give up my 10K raptor drive : caresses Raptor drive in hope it doesn't kill its master:

 

[ProviaFan]

Well, when you run your processor at 100% load, it puts out more heat, which indicates that it's using more electricity. So no, the cycles aren't "free," but the cost is so freaking inconsequential, that it's not worth even wasting time thinking about.

Oh, and slashdot sucks. The comments are just stupid, useless, silly, or a combination of the aforementioned, so I don't see why anyone should bother reading them.

 

[ZapZilla]

Running a distributed client when you would have your computer on anyway has negligible dollar cost: Being a few watts of power difference between idle vs. high CPU load.

However, keeping your computer on for the sole purpose of allowing a distributed client to run, obviously, results in 100% of that up-time cost going to the distributed client.

A computer on 24/7 uses what, approximately the same energy as a household light bulb would if on 24/7? That cost is small, and to most, negligible as well.

For many, the enjoyment, satisfaction, and stats of participating in distributed projects is well worth the small cost of running your own computer(s), indeed, the best entertainment value around [emphasis on "your own"].

For others though, as our own Team AT membership's participation history indicates, the real and or psychological cost(s), hassle(s), and/or stress(es) are not negligible.

 

[RaySun2Be]

The moral is to trash all those fancy drives and get a heavy duty 5.25 slow turning Big Foot drive that could contain a clutch explosion

Heh, I'm good then, I have 2 of those 5.25" Quantum Big Foot drives, 12G each.

Oh, and there has been previous discussions, even in the early RC5 days, of the consequences of leaving a computer on 24x7, 100% CPU usage.

I'm too tired tonight to go look up the links, but do a search on this forum's archives, and there are links to some fairly scientific and not so scientific facts and opinions on the subject.

Me, I believe that the more stable the temperature, as long as it is within specs, the less damage to a CPU. The less hot cold, cold hot, on off, off on on the CPU and moving parts, the better.

Hmmm, maybe that's why servers are kept in controlled environments, and are left on 24x7.

 

[SlangNRox]

I wonder if I'm the only one that sees the irony in the title on this thread of the poster.

 

[ericlp]

No it's not free. And HEAT does kill... Tho, I don't think they rate CPU by Cycle it's more in years. If Properly Cooled even an OverClocked CPU should last 5-10 years. By that time you will have either A) upgraded B) sold it on E-bay or to some other collector of old relic hardware.

Speaking of 10K Platters busting up in your PC. They had something on the discovery channeld about EXPLODING CDS. 52X. Tho, it's really rare and I've never seen it happen, some people have. I'm sure it wouldn't cause that much damage since it's only plastic and it's not spinning up to 10K RPM's.

I have only heard of people reving race cars up to 10-15K RPM's and the clutch comming apart to chop off thier legs. Oh well. Time to get some of those titinum hard drive covers!

 

[ericlp]

oops double post... First time for everything I suppose.

 

[RaySun2Be]

And HEAT does kill

Can't argue with that, main reason server rooms are kept cold, but I'll take a CPU running at a constant temp (within specs) over a CPU that is shut down and started up everyday, and subjected to large variances in tempurature.

 

[Assimilator1]

Re exploding CDs ,yeah thats when people used cracked ones!:Q

 

[RemyCanad]

Or put a CD on the end of a dremel.

 

[Wiz]

On the Discovery Channel here there is a show called MythBusters that examined the very subject of exploding CD's.
They ran them up to 75k rpm if I remember right.
They could get all of them to explode if they ran fast enough, but when done inside the CD drive enclosure this only resulted in dents to the enclosure.
Of course they had to subject their dummy to the exploding CD's and see how deep the pieces would go in when exploding a CD outside of the enclosure, and it could do some damage when spun up to 75K rpm, but this is well outside the normal use of CD's today.

MythBusters is a great show, I particularly liked the one where they welded a JDAM rocket to a car and ran it out in the desert, although the car didn't leave the ground it did run very fast. They hooked up a bunch of remote controls to the car and ran it from a helicopter.

 

[Assimilator1]

lol ,welding a rocket to a car!:Q