DistributedComputing

From SeventeenOrBust

DistributedComputing is a way of using many computers, working together, to solve a problem. The computers don't have to be located in the same place – computers scattered around the world can use the Internet to coordinate with each other. By assigning smaller pieces of a problem to each computer, the problem as a whole can be solved much faster than by using a single computer.

This has proven to be a cheap and very effective way for independent hobbyists to build what amounts to a supercomputer. A good computer programmer can write software that takes care of the hard stuff. A server is created that knows how to split the problem down into smaller pieces. Another program, the client, can be distributed to other computers around the world. The computers connect to the server, get their work assignment, crunch the numbers, and report back when they're done. If the software is written well, anybody that stumbles on the project's Web site can download and run the software. They get the satisfaction of participating in a real-world research project, and the project maintainers get the advantage of extra computing power.

Users usually gather in DistributedComputingTeams.

DistributedComputing Projects http://distributedcomputing.info/ - largest DistributedComputing list at net.

Help me fill out this list! –DavidNorris

• 100 Million digit prefactor project (removes exponents which can be factored from GIMPS' search) http://www.geocities.com/onehundredmdpp/index.htm
• 12121 (finds primes of the form 121 * 2^(n - 1) http://12121.vocabulate.com/
• 3x+1 (find ever higher 3x+1 class records) http://www.ericr.nl/wondrous/index.html
• 2721 (finds primes of the form 27 * 2^(n - 1) http://12121.vocabulate.com/27k/
• BOINC Common platform for many DistributedComputing projects http://boinc.berkeley.edu/
  • BOLERO+ (Japanese stuff - creating antibiotic) http://www.cellcomputing.net/simple/project/01.php
  • CHRONOS (Japanese stuff - analyzing chromosomes) http://www.cellcomputing.net/simple/project/02.php
  • Climateprediction.net (simulating the Earth's weather patterns) http://www.climateprediction.net
  • Einstein@Home (searches for pulsars and stuff in space) http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu/
  • LHC@Home (simulates a Large Hadron Collider) http://lhcathome.cern.ch/
  • Predictor@Home (predicts protein structures) http://predictor.scripps.edu/
  • Rosetta@Home (protein folding, design, and docking) http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/
  • Seti@Home BOINC (newer version of Seti@Home) http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/
• CapCal (evaluate performance of websites and earn money. Not always work to do) http://www.capcal.com/
• D2OL (searches for cures) http://www.d2ol.com/
• dCrawl (creating a search index) http://www.dcrawl.com/dc/ - on hold
• DHEP (creates self-diagnosing hardware) http://dhep.dbestern.com/
• DIMES (study the Internet) http://www.netdimes.org/
• Distributed.net (breaking crypto and finding Optimal Golomb Rulers) http://www.distributed.net
• DPAD Muon1 (simulates a particle accelerator) http://stephenbrooks.org/muon1/
• ECC2-109 (breaking Certicom.com crypto) http://ecc2.com - completed
• ECMNET (find factors of Cunningham numbers) http://www.loria.fr/~zimmerma/ecmnet/
• Elevensmooth http://elevensmooth.com/
• eOn (calculating chemical reactions and stuff) http://eon.cm.utexas.edu/
• Euler (computing minimal equal sums of like powers) http://euler.free.fr/
• Evolution@Home (studies evolution and genetic causes of extinction) http://www.evolutionary-research.org/
• Factorizations of Cyclotomic Numbers (take a guess...) http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~KC2H-MSM/cn/index.htm
• Fermatsearch (searching for Fermat number divisors) http://www.fermatsearch.org/
• FightAIDS@Home (take a guess...) http://fightaidsathome.scripps.edu/ - on hold
• Find-A-Drug (searching for drugs) http://www.find-a-drug.org/
• FoldingAtHome (protein folding simulation) http://folding.stanford.edu/
• Generalized Fermat Prime Search (searching for <----. When the hell does this get updated???) http://perso.wanadoo.fr/yves.gallot/primes/status.html
• Goldbach Conjecture Verification (take a guess...) http://www.ieeta.pt/~tos/goldbach.html
• Gómez (evaluate performance of websites and earn money. Not always work to do) https://peer.gomez.com/
• Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) (searching for Mersenne primes) http://www.mersenne.org
• GRUB (crawls the web and updates search index) http://www.grub.org
• md5crk (breaking md5 encryption) http://md5crk.com - completed
• Majestic-12 Distributed Search Engine project http://www.majestic12.co.uk works towards creation of the largest WWW search engine index on the Internet.
• Mersenneplustwo Factorization (factors numbers of the form 2^p+1) http://bearnol.is-a-geek.com/Mersenneplustwo/Mersenneplustwo.html
• MM61 (a search for a factor of 2^(2^61-1)-1) http://www.ltkz.demon.co.uk/ar2/mm61.htm
• MoneyBee (analyze the stock market) http://us.moneybee.net/
• NETI@Home (improving the Internet) http://www.neti.gatech.edu/
• NFSNET (searching for factors for large numbers like Cunningham Most Wanted Numbers) http://www.nfsnet.org
• OddPerfect number search http://oddperfect.org
• Pancreatic Cancer Research (commercial shit related to United Devices) http://www.nfcr.org/Default.aspx?tabid=274
• Parabon Computation (commercial shit) http://www.parabon.com/
• PCP@Home (solving Post's correspondance problem. Haven't been updated for ages) http://www.informatik.uni-leipzig.de/~pcp/pcpcontest_en.html
• Primesearch (searching for primes of the form (k * 2^n) - 1 http://www.mycgiserver.com/~primesearch/
• PSearch (searching for the 20th largest prime. Why isn't it updated?) http://www.psearch.us/
• Red Library DLV (validating links) http://www.readyresponse.org/index.php?option=com_distcomp&Itemid=52&opt=2
• Repdigit Prime Problems (searches for prime numbers of the form n*k) http://www.freewebs.com/dries5/Prime_problems.htm
• Riesel Sieve Project (attacks the Riesel problem) http://www.rieselsieve.com/
• Search for Multifactorial Primes (take a guess...) http://www.geocities.com/kradenken/mfprimes.html
• SetiAtHome (searching for little green men) http://www.setiathome.ssl.berkeley http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu
• SeventeenOrBust (attacking the Sierpinski problem) http://www.seventeenorbust.com
• TSC Childhood Diseases (searching for cures using D2OL) http://www.childhooddiseases.org/community_tsc.html
• Übero (commercial shit) http://www.ubero.com/ - on hold
• United Devices (commercial shit working with cancer)
• Virtual Lab Project (screening molecules) http://www.buyya.com/vlab/
• XGrid@Stanford (studying pharmacology) http://cmgm.stanford.edu/~cparnot/xgrid-stanford/index.html
• XYYX Project (factors numbers of the form x^y + y^x) http://xyyxf.at.tut.by/

Mersenneforum.org hosts the following projects:

• 15k Prime Search (searches for primes of the form 15k * 2n - 1) http://www.mersenneforum.org/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=16
• 321 Search (searches for primes of the form 3*2^n-1) http://www.mersenneforum.org/forumdisplay.php?f=14
• Factoring (factors different kinds of numbers) http://www.mersenneforum.org/forumdisplay.php?f=19
• Lone Mersenne Hunters (searches for Mersenne primes) http://www.mersenneforum.org/forumdisplay.php?f=12
• Prime Sierpinski Project (searches for the smallest prime Sierpinski number) http://www.mersenneforum.org/forumdisplay.php?f=48
• Sierpinski/Riesel Base 5 (searches for the smallest base 5 Sierpinski and Riesel numbers) http://www.mersenneforum.org/forumdisplay.php?f=54

Other stuff:

• Distributed.RU Russian DistributedComputing Portal http://distributed.ru/
• Prothsearch (rarely updated site about primes) http://www.prothsearch.net/