Reducing Unemployment (Apr 25 2007)

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Profile Matt Lebofsky
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Message 553599 - Posted: 25 Apr 2007, 22:37:15 UTC

Yesterday afternoon I mapped out a bunch of ethernet cables in the closet. Still stumped by stymied splitters I went ahead and started moving all the BOINC backend servers to the new gigabit switch. Right off the bat there were no obvious gains by doing this, except for the much nicer monitoring tools. This is not to say the switch is useless - the problem is we are currently running mostly on servers that can't speak faster than 100 Mbit. This will vastly change once bruno/sidious/et al. are brought into the closet. Jeff and I re-routed some of those cables this afternoon - cleaning up some of the spaghetti.

Back to the splitters: I pretty much determined the bottleneck is strictly CPU. Some tests this afternoon (which caused even less work to be created/distributed) more or less proved this. We can only run splitters under solaris and those machines are almost tapped out. Jeff is close to compiling the splitters under linux, and then more servers can come to our rescue. We'll get you more work, I promise.

Bob fixed the replica problems I was having last night. Simple configuration stuff. Now I know so I could fix the problem myself next time. But then it failed when trying to sync up from the vast master backlog. Turns out one of my donation-processing scripts was still writing to the replica, so this caused it to barf on updates from master with duplicate IDs. Luckily I was able to track this down and clean it up rather easily, so the replica is back on line and probably caught up by the time you read this sentence. Or maybe this sentence.

By the way, after the outage yesterday I purposefully didn't restart the web server on kryten, so bruno is now officially the only upload/download server. Kryten was still getting a few hits here and there, but enough is enough already.

Some pesky search engine robots (from livebot) were causing our web servers to slow to a crawl - a link to our cvsweb.cgi utility sent them into a frenzy. I firewalled them (for now) and updated my robots.txt.

- Matt

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-- "Any idiot can have a good idea. What is hard is to do it." - Jeanne-Claude
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Message 553987 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 5:24:38 UTC - in response to Message 553599.  
Last modified: 26 Apr 2007, 5:28:36 UTC

[snip]

Back to the splitters: I pretty much determined the bottleneck is strictly CPU. Some tests this afternoon (which caused even less work to be created/distributed) more or less proved this. We can only run splitters under solaris and those machines are almost tapped out. Jeff is close to compiling the splitters under linux, and then more servers can come to our rescue. We'll get you more work, I promise.

[snip]
- Matt


Matt: this may be posted elsewhere, but, if so, I haven't seen it...

Is there a simple table of which computer has which OS and version number (if available)? (and if so, where? [as a link]...) I'd just like to understand the setup a little better, not that I'm any great shakes as a Unix/Linux geek... (I've never used any flavor of those OS's)
.

Hello, from Albany, CA!...
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Message 554021 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 6:42:58 UTC

Thanx for the splitter update Matt. I have noticed that the cache on me quaddy be dwindling. Managed to snag 23 WUs today, but hardly enough to keep a hungry cruncher going. Glad you're on the job!
"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

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Message 554033 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 6:58:14 UTC - in response to Message 553987.  

Matt: this may be posted elsewhere, but, if so, I haven't seen it...

Is there a simple table of which computer has which OS and version number (if available)? (and if so, where? [as a link]...) I'd just like to understand the setup a little better, not that I'm any great shakes as a Unix/Linux geek... (I've never used any flavor of those OS's)


The physical server stats are on the server status page, but it doesn't list OS. A stabbing guess says the Sun machines using 400-440MHz Sparc CPUs run Solaris (they're all listed as running a splitter process up top) and the other newer machines (with Xeon and Opteron CPUs) run Linux. I notice a splitter listed under the tape section (kang) that isn't listed anywhere else. It's either another Solaris box or possibly a test-bed for a Linux splitter process.

Justin
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Message 554084 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 8:16:49 UTC - in response to Message 553599.  


...
Back to the splitters: I pretty much determined the bottleneck is strictly CPU. Some tests this afternoon (which caused even less work to be created/distributed) more or less proved this. We can only run splitters under solaris and those machines are almost tapped out. Jeff is close to compiling the splitters under linux, and then more servers can come to our rescue. We'll get you more work, I promise.
...
- Matt


Hi Matt,

I made the mistake of updating BOINC last night. (I knew I shouldn't, I was seduced by the message in the BOINC Manager message window).

All went well until the new version fired up and tried to connect to S@H to get the current status...

I sat for ages pressing the retry button but sooner or later I'll have to go to work, leaving my old laptop idle.

Is there anything I can do to get round this problem or do I have to wait until everyone has filled their workunit queue?

Cheers,

- Nick
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Message 554097 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 9:01:02 UTC - in response to Message 554084.  
Last modified: 26 Apr 2007, 9:01:30 UTC


Is there anything I can do to get round this problem or do I have to wait until everyone has filled their workunit queue?

Cheers,

- Nick


Crunch for another project. You can set resource use per project. Set the other project(s) at 5 or lower (I use 1 for other projects and 99 for SETI) and you'll crunch way more SETI work when it's available, but other projects when it's not.
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Message 554175 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 13:55:51 UTC

Well Done Matt . . . You guys are doing a great job . . .
BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .
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Message 554194 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 14:54:48 UTC - in response to Message 554084.  


Hi Matt,

I made the mistake of updating BOINC last night. (I knew I shouldn't, I was seduced by the message in the BOINC Manager message window).

All went well until the new version fired up and tried to connect to S@H to get the current status...

I sat for ages pressing the retry button but sooner or later I'll have to go to work, leaving my old laptop idle.

Is there anything I can do to get round this problem or do I have to wait until everyone has filled their workunit queue?

Cheers,

- Nick



Not to mention the dialup interfaceing in the new "WONDER VERSION" is seriously
broken. After you force it to connect the pop up says it couldn't connect. Then when it finishes transfers it never disconnects.

Way to go.

Anybody know where to get the previous version that worked for dial-up ??

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Message 554198 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 15:10:06 UTC
Last modified: 26 Apr 2007, 15:11:54 UTC

Wow! I don't know where "Kang" came from (see Status Page, Splitter Info), but it is really ripping through the tape images to be split. It seems to be single-handedly building a backlog of WUs ready to send. Hurrah! Matt promised more WUs, and he has fulfilled! Thanks, Matt (and others)
Let me guess! Is Kang the first Linux splitter?
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Profile Matt Lebofsky
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Message 554213 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 16:01:40 UTC - in response to Message 554198.  

Let me guess! Is Kang the first Linux splitter?


Kang is the complete *opposite* of the first linux splitter, and won't be used for very much longer. I'll explain when I get around to my tech news item later.

- Matt
-- BOINC/SETI@home network/web/science/development person
-- "Any idiot can have a good idea. What is hard is to do it." - Jeanne-Claude
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Message 554214 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 16:14:37 UTC

What can be the exact oposit of a Linux Splitter?

*COMPETITION TIME*

I would guess that it is my long lost MicroBee superserver with it's stunning 4 multiplexing Z80s and a whopping 4 * 256KBs of internal memory, five MB HDD
and DRs CP/M running on two eight inch floppies (5 1/4 optional). All bundled with four stunningly monochrome workstations.
It was sold to my hometown for a gazillion around 1980, and it was the system to last untill the year 2000. In may 1983 my hometown gave it to me and a friend as long as we hauled it away... *sigh* *reminiscing of the golden days*

Or is it my Intel 4004?

So what do you guys guess?
Carl
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Message 554224 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 16:54:23 UTC - in response to Message 554214.  
Last modified: 26 Apr 2007, 16:58:57 UTC

What can be the exact oposit of a Linux Splitter?

*COMPETITION TIME*

I would guess that it is my long lost MicroBee superserver with it's stunning 4 multiplexing Z80s and a whopping 4 * 256KBs of internal memory, five MB HDD
and DRs CP/M running on two eight inch floppies (5 1/4 optional). All bundled with four stunningly monochrome workstations.
It was sold to my hometown for a gazillion around 1980, and it was the system to last untill the year 2000. In may 1983 my hometown gave it to me and a friend as long as we hauled it away... *sigh* *reminiscing of the golden days*

Or is it my Intel 4004?

So what do you guys guess?
Carl


My TI99/4A!!!
Whit
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Message 554228 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 17:00:35 UTC - in response to Message 554214.  

What can be the exact oposit of a Linux Splitter?

*COMPETITION TIME*

I would guess that it is my long lost MicroBee superserver with it's stunning 4 multiplexing Z80s and a whopping 4 * 256KBs of internal memory, five MB HDD
and DRs CP/M running on two eight inch floppies (5 1/4 optional). All bundled with four stunningly monochrome workstations.
It was sold to my hometown for a gazillion around 1980, and it was the system to last untill the year 2000. In may 1983 my hometown gave it to me and a friend as long as we hauled it away... *sigh* *reminiscing of the golden days*

Or is it my Intel 4004?

So what do you guys guess?
Carl


My Heathkit H89A
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Message 554235 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 17:39:42 UTC


<<------------ this one!

What can be the exact oposit of a Linux Splitter?

*COMPETITION TIME*

I would guess that it is my long lost MicroBee superserver with it's stunning 4 multiplexing Z80s and a whopping 4 * 256KBs of internal memory, five MB HDD
and DRs CP/M running on two eight inch floppies (5 1/4 optional). All bundled with four stunningly monochrome workstations.
It was sold to my hometown for a gazillion around 1980, and it was the system to last untill the year 2000. In may 1983 my hometown gave it to me and a friend as long as we hauled it away... *sigh* *reminiscing of the golden days*

Or is it my Intel 4004?

So what do you guys guess?
Carl


mic.
mic.


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Message 554244 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 17:59:29 UTC - in response to Message 554213.  

Let me guess! Is Kang the first Linux splitter?


Kang is the complete *opposite* of the first linux splitter, and won't be used for very much longer. I'll explain when I get around to my tech news item later.

- Matt


Well, whatever Kang is, it sure seems do be doing the splitting job handily!!
A fresh brace of WUs all around!
Thanx, Matt!
We be doin' the Kang-o Tango.

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

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Message 554254 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 18:35:08 UTC - in response to Message 554097.  


Is there anything I can do to get round this problem or do I have to wait until everyone has filled their workunit queue?

Cheers,

- Nick


Crunch for another project. You can set resource use per project. Set the other project(s) at 5 or lower (I use 1 for other projects and 99 for SETI) and you'll crunch way more SETI work when it's available, but other projects when it's not.


I didn't want to do that because my laptop is old and slow...

So I ripped out BOINC 5.8.16 and re-installed 5.4.11 and away she went!

I have the 5.8.11 package in my recycle bin so I might try that later...

Cheers

- Nick
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Message 554288 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 19:53:54 UTC - in response to Message 554213.  

Let me guess! Is Kang the first Linux splitter?


Kang is the complete *opposite* of the first linux splitter, and won't be used for very much longer. I'll explain when I get around to my tech news item later.

- Matt


The OPPOSITE of Linux? No, No, No!!! Don't even tell me it is a Windoze box!
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Message 554473 - Posted: 26 Apr 2007, 23:36:41 UTC
Last modified: 26 Apr 2007, 23:38:08 UTC

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Message 554584 - Posted: 27 Apr 2007, 2:35:23 UTC - in response to Message 554244.  

Let me guess! Is Kang the first Linux splitter?


Kang is the complete *opposite* of the first linux splitter, and won't be used for very much longer. I'll explain when I get around to my tech news item later.

- Matt


Well, whatever Kang is, it sure seems do be doing the splitting job handily!!
A fresh brace of WUs all around!
Thanx, Matt!
We be doin' the Kang-o Tango.


Here's a tango for the kitties with the neighbor's ugly mut of a dog:

Kitty tango



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Message 554657 - Posted: 27 Apr 2007, 5:51:54 UTC - in response to Message 554584.  

Let me guess! Is Kang the first Linux splitter?


Kang is the complete *opposite* of the first linux splitter, and won't be used for very much longer. I'll explain when I get around to my tech news item later.

- Matt


Well, whatever Kang is, it sure seems do be doing the splitting job handily!!
A fresh brace of WUs all around!
Thanx, Matt!
We be doin' the Kang-o Tango.


Here's a tango for the kitties with the neighbor's ugly mut of a dog:

Kitty tango

And the kitties dance!




"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

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Message boards : Technical News : Reducing Unemployment (Apr 25 2007)


 
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