Changes between Version 12 and Version 13 of VolunteerComputing

Timestamp:

Jun 27, 2012, 10:50:34 PM (12 years ago)

Author:

davea

Comment:

--

VolunteerComputing

@@ -7 +7 @@
 
 
- * Volunteers are typically members of the general public who own Internet-connected PCs.
+ * Volunteers are typically members of the general public who own Internet-connected personal computers.
   Organizations such as schools and businesses may also volunteer the use of their computers.
  * Projects are typically academic (university-based) and do scientific research.
@@ -28 +28 @@
     so that hackers cannot use the project as a vehicle for malicious activities.
 
-The first volunteer computing project was [http://www.mersenne.org/ GIMPS] (Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search), which started in 1995. Other early projects include [http://www.distributed.net/ distributed.net], [http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/ SETI@home], and [http://folding.stanford.edu/ Folding@home].
+The first volunteer computing project was [http://www.mersenne.org/ GIMPS] (Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search), which started in 1995.
+Other early projects include [http://www.distributed.net/ distributed.net],
+[http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/ SETI@home], and [http://folding.stanford.edu/ Folding@home].
 Today there are over 50 active projects.
 
@@ -35 +37 @@
 It's important for several reasons:
 
- * Because of the huge number (> 1 billion) of PCs in the world, volunteer computing can supply more computing power to science than does any other type of computing. This computing power enables scientific research that could not be done otherwise. This advantage will increase over time, because the laws of economics dictate that consumer products such as PCs and game consoles will advance faster than more specialized products, and that there will be more of them.
- * Volunteer computing power can't be bought; it must be earned. A research project that has limited funding but large public appeal can get huge computing power. In contrast, traditional supercomputers are extremely expensive, and are available only for applications that can afford them (for example, nuclear weapon design and espionage).
- * Volunteer computing encourages public interest in science, and provides the public with voice in determining the directions of scientific research.
+ * Because of the huge number (> 1 billion) of PCs in the world,
+  volunteer computing can supply more computing power to science than does any other type of computing.
+  This computing power enables scientific research that could not be done otherwise.
+  This advantage will increase over time,
+  because the laws of economics dictate that consumer products such as PCs and game consoles
+  will advance faster than more specialized products, and that there will be more of them.
+ * Volunteer computing power can't be bought; it must be earned.
+  A research project that has limited funding but large public appeal can get huge computing power.
+  In contrast, traditional supercomputers are extremely expensive,
+  and are available only for applications that can afford them
+  (for example, nuclear weapon design and espionage).
+ * Volunteer computing encourages public interest in science,
+  and provides the public with voice in determining the directions of scientific research.
 
 == How does it compare to 'Grid computing'? ==
@@ -44 +56 @@
 The term generally refers to the sharing of computing resources within and between organizations, with the following properties:
 
- * Each organization can act as either producer or consumer of resources (hence the analogy with the electrical power grid, in which electric companies can buy and sell power to/from other companies, according to fluctuating demand).
- * The organizations are mutually accountable. If one organization misbehaves, the others can respond by suing them or refusing to share resources with them.
+ * Each organization can act as either producer or consumer of resources (hence the analogy with the electrical power grid,
+  in which electric companies can buy and sell power to/from other companies, according to fluctuating demand).
+ * The organizations are mutually accountable. If one organization misbehaves,
+  the others can respond by suing them or refusing to share resources with them.
 
-This is different from volunteer computing. 'Desktop grid' computing - which uses desktop PCs within an organization - is superficially similar to volunteer computing,
+This is different from volunteer computing. 'Desktop grid' computing -
+which uses desktop PCs within an organization - is superficially similar to volunteer computing,
 but because it has accountability and lacks anonymity, it is significantly different.
 
@@ -65 +80 @@
 
  * Volunteer computing uses central servers. There is typically no peer-to-peer communication.
- * Peer-to-peer computing benefits the participants (i.e. the people sharing files). There's no notion of a 'project' to which resources are donated.
+ * Peer-to-peer computing benefits the participants (i.e. the people sharing files).
+  There's no notion of a 'project' to which resources are donated.
  * Peer-to-peer computing usually involves storage and retrieval, not computing.