"To Completion" Estimates WAY Wrong

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Wesley Johnston

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Message 11722 - Posted: 24 Jul 2004, 3:23:20 UTC

I have a PC that has been processing work units in 11-14 hours. However, the estimated "to completion" times are showing 149:31:26 for the units that downloaded after the big BOINC problems finally ended. The estimate is off by a factor of more than 10. As a result, my cache of "Ready to Run" work units is more than 10 times smaller than it should be.

I know there is a lot going on right now, but once that dust settles, here is another issue that needs to be addressed.
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Profile Marcin Radzikowski

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Message 11730 - Posted: 24 Jul 2004, 3:48:13 UTC

Not sure if it is an issue. Someone on another thread suggested that the estimate has been intentionally inflated to make sure that people who have their caches set to something like 1-2 weeks won't grab a slew of work units and the rest of us are left with nothing. Don't worry. When the unit gets close to completion, your computer will grab a new one.

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Wesley Johnston

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Message 11772 - Posted: 24 Jul 2004, 5:04:26 UTC

If that is the case, then it sounds like there needs to be an upper limit on the number of days that can be set for the cache. The fact that the units expire (the "report deadline") in only 7-8 days after they are downloaded certainly puts an effective upper limit on the cache.

Will the report deadline eventually be longer for people who request more days of work units?

What happens to someone who goes on the road with a laptop for 3 weeks but has no internet access during that time, even though their CPU is crunching away for SETI? If the 8 day report deadline is in place, they may as well just forget about SETI, which means SETI is effectively losing 3 weeks of CPU time.
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CyberGoyle
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Message 11779 - Posted: 24 Jul 2004, 5:12:09 UTC

This is only a real problem if you are using BOINC on PC's that have disparate performance (like I am). I have a 200mhz PC that just finished its 3rd WU in 17 days, and a 3.2Ghz HT laptop that smokes through 2 WU's every 2.7 hours.

There are a few ways to approach this. First, set your minimum and maximum cache to the same number, like 8days/8days. That way your PC's are always trying to maintain that much work, and if work isnt available for a few days, you can ride the storm out. Also, make use of the three different preferences (home, school, work). I set my cache at 14days/14days for my 'home' preference, and then add all my slow PC's to 'home'. That way they will be sure to have work.

Hope this helps.


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Heffed
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Message 11780 - Posted: 24 Jul 2004, 5:13:56 UTC

It's actually only off by a factor of 6. Apparently one of the Devs noticed the alpha project was off by a factor of 6, so the change was made to this project as well, which didn't need it. It has since been rectified.

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DerekL

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Message 11808 - Posted: 24 Jul 2004, 6:00:14 UTC - in response to Message 11772.  

> If that is the case, then it sounds like there needs to be an upper limit on
> the number of days that can be set for the cache. The fact that the units
> expire (the "report deadline") in only 7-8 days after they are downloaded
> certainly puts an effective upper limit on the cache.

I think that there should be a throttle not on the cache size, but on the number of WU's available to a given machine ID per unit time. (Say 1 WU/hour?)
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Profile KWSN - MajorKong
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Message 11813 - Posted: 24 Jul 2004, 6:05:26 UTC - in response to Message 11808.  

> > If that is the case, then it sounds like there needs to be an upper limit
> on
> > the number of days that can be set for the cache. The fact that the
> units
> > expire (the "report deadline") in only 7-8 days after they are
> downloaded
> > certainly puts an effective upper limit on the cache.
>
> I think that there should be a throttle not on the cache size, but on the
> number of WU's available to a given machine ID per unit time. (Say 1
> WU/hour?)
>

The report deadline is 2 weeks for BOINC/S@H...

There *IS* a limit on number of workunits per host per a time period...

It is 50 work units / host / day.
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Wesley Johnston

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Message 11955 - Posted: 24 Jul 2004, 15:34:09 UTC - in response to Message 11813.  

> The report deadline is 2 weeks for BOINC/S@H...

If that is the case, then there is another bug somewhere. The work units that downloaded to my PC on 7/23 have a deadline of 7/31, which is 8 days and not 2 weeks.
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Profile KWSN - MajorKong
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Message 11960 - Posted: 24 Jul 2004, 16:20:59 UTC - in response to Message 11955.  

> > The report deadline is 2 weeks for BOINC/S@H...
>
> If that is the case, then there is another bug somewhere. The work units that
> downloaded to my PC on 7/23 have a deadline of 7/31, which is 8 days and not 2
> weeks.
>

thats funny... the units i downloaded yesterday (the 23rd of july) list the 6th of august as the deadline... thats 14 days...

You got me why yours are different.
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Heffed
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Message 12009 - Posted: 24 Jul 2004, 18:20:10 UTC - in response to Message 11960.  

> thats funny... the units i downloaded yesterday (the 23rd of july) list the
> 6th of august as the deadline... thats 14 days...

It depends on the WU. Two weeks is average.

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Message boards : Number crunching : "To Completion" Estimates WAY Wrong


 
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