Changes between Version 1 and Version 2 of VirtualCampusSupercomputerCenter


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Timestamp:
Apr 25, 2007, 12:09:49 PM (17 years ago)
Author:
Nicolas
Comment:

Required manual changes to automatic conversion.

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  • VirtualCampusSupercomputerCenter

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    11= Create a Virtual Campus Supercomputing Center (VCSC) =
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    3       Universities and other research institutions can use BOINC to create a 'Virtual Campus Supercomputing Center' (VCSC). A VSCS can provide university researchers with the computational power of a very large cluster, for a small fraction of the cost.  A VCSC is a BOINC project whose applications are supplied by campus researchers. The computing power is supplied by campus PCs - computing lab machines, desktop and laptops belonging to faculty, staff, and students, and home PCs belonging to alumni.
     3Universities and other research institutions can use BOINC to create a 'Virtual Campus Supercomputing Center' (VCSC). A VSCS can provide university researchers with the computational power of a very large cluster, for a small fraction of the cost.  A VCSC is a BOINC project whose applications are supplied by campus researchers. The computing power is supplied by campus PCs - computing lab machines, desktop and laptops belonging to faculty, staff, and students, and home PCs belonging to alumni.
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    55As an example, suppose that a VSCS recruits the participation of 10,000 PCs, running an average of 50% of the time. In terms of computing power, this is roughly equivalent to a 5,000-node cluster, for which the initial hardware cost is roughly $5 million, with ongoing yearly energy and maintenance costs of at least $1 million. The VSCS, in contrast, has hardware costs of about $10K.
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     7== Creating a VCSC ==
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    8 == Creating a VCSC ==
    9  A VCSC is typically created by a campus unit involved in computing and information technology, by a research unit, or as a collaboration between such units. It involves the following functions, which typically would be carried out by different staff: [[Image(http://boinc.berkeley.edu/vcsc.png)]]
     9[[Image(http://boinc.berkeley.edu/vcsc.png)]]
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     11A VCSC is typically created by a campus unit involved in computing and information technology, by a research unit, or as a collaboration between such units. It involves the following functions, which typically would be carried out by different staff:
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    1213 * '''Application identification and porting''': This involves canvassing campus researchers, identifying those with computationally-intensive problems that map well to volunteer computing. The applications used by those researchers are then ported to BOINC, and mechanisms set up for the researchers to submit jobs and get results.
    … …  
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    1718== Benefits of a VCSC ==
    18  The benefits of creating a VCSC include
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     20The benefits of creating a VCSC include
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    1922 * It creates a new pool of computing power, available at little or no cost to campus researchers. This resource enables previously infeasible research, and may attract prospective faculty.
    2023 * It creates a path by which computational scientists can use distributed computing; many of these scientists lack the expertise and resources to do it themselves.
    … …  
    2225 * It generates PR for university research, and for the university itself.
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     27== Getting started ==
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    25 == Getting started ==
    26  Technical information about porting applications and setting up a BOINC server is [CreateProjectOutline here]. Budget at least a few person-months for getting a working system running.
     29Technical information about porting applications and setting up a BOINC server is [CreateProjectOutline here]. Budget at least a few person-months for getting a working system running.
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    2831For more information about setting up a VCSC, please [ProjectPeople contact us].
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