Of the Woods (Feb 19 2009)

Message boards : Technical News : Of the Woods (Feb 19 2009)

Author	Message
Swibby Bear Send message Joined: 1 Aug 01 Posts: 236 Credit: 6,639,432 RAC: 2,144	Message 868279 - Posted: 22 Feb 2009, 22:58:12 UTC - in response to Message 868254.
	"requesting 0 seconds of work". If BOINC is not requesting any work, then it either thinks it has enough or it owes CPU time to another project that you may be attached to. ... or one or more WUs are suspended in the task list on your computer.
	ID: 868279 ·

XWing69 Send message Joined: 3 Jan 08 Posts: 43 Credit: 2,134,965 RAC: 1,097	Message 868281 - Posted: 22 Feb 2009, 23:05:30 UTC - in response to Message 868254.
	"requesting 0 seconds of work". If BOINC is not requesting any work, then it either thinks it has enough or it owes CPU time to another project that you may be attached to. ...finally downloading, sort of. I can see the bandwidth problem. I have 12 WUs in the queue trying to download, but the two that are trying to download are not actually downloading and sometimes time out and have to retry). Oh, only on single project (SETI). Will take the moderators advise and put on a backup project (lower priority) so I don't run dry when SETI issues arise. ____________
	ID: 868281 ·

Claggy Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 5 Jul 99 Posts: 3509 Credit: 26,365,098 RAC: 17,237	Message 868282 - Posted: 22 Feb 2009, 23:11:53 UTC - in response to Message 868279.
	"requesting 0 seconds of work". If BOINC is not requesting any work, then it either thinks it has enough or it owes CPU time to another project that you may be attached to. ... or one or more WUs are suspended in the task list on your computer. ... or there are more than (about) 4 wu's waiting to upload, epecially if any uploads are counting down to their next try. Claggy
	ID: 868282 ·

Fred W Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 13 Jun 99 Posts: 2524 Credit: 11,954,210 RAC: 0	Message 868301 - Posted: 22 Feb 2009, 23:52:27 UTC - in response to Message 868282.
	"requesting 0 seconds of work". If BOINC is not requesting any work, then it either thinks it has enough or it owes CPU time to another project that you may be attached to. ... or one or more WUs are suspended in the task list on your computer. ... or there are more than (about) 4 wu's waiting to upload, epecially if any uploads are counting down to their next try. Claggy More accurately, that's twice the number of processors trying to upload. F. ____________
	ID: 868301 ·

Tim Lee Send message Joined: 15 Feb 00 Posts: 22 Credit: 6,914,248 RAC: 3,046	Message 868309 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 0:29:24 UTC - in response to Message 867158.
	I wouldn't be surprised if there are network hiccups or if the assimilator queue swells during the weekend. - Matt As I write this the server status page shows 2,594,416 "Results returned and awaiting validation" This seems quite an achievement as I am unable to return any results, my fastest machine has about 100 results which cannot upload. I guess this will get sorted out Monday morning (when California eventually gets around to Monday morning) Time to stop fretting over boinc and go and do something useful. It would be interesting to be able to view some trend data on the server stats - I'm assuming that 2.5e6 is an abnormally large number of results waiting, but I'm relying on my memory of something I've not taken a lot of notice before - I'm usually just looking at the ready to send data. ____________
	ID: 868309 ·

archae86 Send message Joined: 31 Aug 99 Posts: 873 Credit: 1,566,085 RAC: 4	Message 868362 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 2:45:04 UTC - in response to Message 868309.
	It would be interesting to be able to view some trend data on the server stats - I'm assuming that 2.5e6 is an abnormally large number of results waiting... To see trends, try Scarecrow trend graphs I chose the 30-day period, as it speaks to your assumption--false as it turns out. That number was near 4 million a couple of weeks ago. ____________
	ID: 868362 ·

WinterKnight Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 18 May 99 Posts: 6985 Credit: 17,545,132 RAC: 15,679	Message 868371 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 3:17:17 UTC - in response to Message 868309.
	I wouldn't be surprised if there are network hiccups or if the assimilator queue swells during the weekend. - Matt As I write this the server status page shows 2,594,416 "Results returned and awaiting validation" This seems quite an achievement as I am unable to return any results, my fastest machine has about 100 results which cannot upload. I guess this will get sorted out Monday morning (when California eventually gets around to Monday morning) Time to stop fretting over boinc and go and do something useful. It would be interesting to be able to view some trend data on the server stats - I'm assuming that 2.5e6 is an abnormally large number of results waiting, but I'm relying on my memory of something I've not taken a lot of notice before - I'm usually just looking at the ready to send data. The results awaiting Validation are the ones waiting for the wingman to report. With about a million MB tasks generated/day and with an average of 3 days turn round time, 2.5 million waiting for a wingman is reasonable.
	ID: 868371 ·

Speedy Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 26 Jun 04 Posts: 587 Credit: 3,626,231 RAC: 4,848	Message 868445 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 7:58:41 UTC Last modified: 23 Feb 2009, 8:02:17 UTC
	I'm amazed at the speed that the ap results are coming in. As I write this the average turn around time is 13.74 hours and mb result turn around time is 96.34 hours. This morning ap result turn around time was the lowest I've ever seen it 7 or so hours. Has anyone seen ap times this low before? Maybe they have hit a noisy section of sky for the ap data or could this be thanks to the latest optimized application? I'm crunching 2 ap unit at present they have been running for 7 hours with just under 2.5 hours go, I'm using the latest optimized application. This could also help explain why the cricket graph is all but maxed out. ____________ Live in NZ y not join Smile City?
	ID: 868445 ·

uBronan Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 19 Sep 99 Posts: 21 Credit: 215,127 RAC: 0	Message 868446 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 8:12:53 UTC - in response to Message 867158.
	Well my data is not flowing at all, i am getting no units nor finished units being uploading. After some time they get rewarded as client errors.... Or stay in the upload to the server untill time passes then they get deleted ending in ofcourse again not rewarded ____________
	ID: 868446 ·

Andreas Send message Joined: 21 Jan 02 Posts: 16 Credit: 9,911,789 RAC: 1	Message 868461 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 9:50:19 UTC - in response to Message 868254. Last modified: 23 Feb 2009, 9:53:19 UTC
	"requesting 0 seconds of work". If BOINC is not requesting any work, then it either thinks it has enough or it owes CPU time to another project that you may be attached to. As I am not attached to any other projects, BOINC must be "thinking" it has enough work, but all it has on my main cruncher is ~275 WU to upload. So BOINC seems quite "stupid" in this case, and my cache is empty :-( And talking about cache I do have a question to the more experienced users: My BOINC (6.4.5) does not factor in the number of cores (4 in my case), so a 10 day cache lasts only aprox. 2.5 days. Is this by design or a known bug or is it just my instance of BOINC behaving strange? Greetings to all Earthlings, Andreas
	ID: 868461 ·

Grant (SSSF) Send message Joined: 19 Aug 99 Posts: 5284 Credit: 41,814,826 RAC: 32,751	Message 868467 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 10:06:42 UTC - in response to Message 868461.
	And talking about cache I do have a question to the more experienced users: My BOINC (6.4.5) does not factor in the number of cores (4 in my case), so a 10 day cache lasts only aprox. 2.5 days. Is this by design or a known bug or is it just my instance of BOINC behaving strange? Setting a cache larger than 5 days can limit the amount of work that is downloaded in order to not miss a deadline. I've got a 4 day cache & have only run out of work twice in the last 4-5 years. ____________ Grant Darwin NT.
	ID: 868467 ·

Zydor Send message Joined: 4 Oct 03 Posts: 172 Credit: 491,111 RAC: 0	Message 868472 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 10:22:46 UTC - in response to Message 868461. Last modified: 23 Feb 2009, 10:24:34 UTC
	My BOINC (6.4.5) does not factor in the number of cores (4 in my case), so a 10 day cache lasts only aprox. 2.5 days. Is this by design or a known bug or is it just my instance of BOINC behaving strange? Sounds like you are running CUDA. CUDA WUs (albeit they are the same in reality to cpu WUs just run on a GPU) are limited not by the number of days set, but by the hardware. A quad with one gpu running gets as a quota 100 for each core plus 100 for the gpu. For you thats a max download of 500, which would be in line with only lasting 2.5 days and the amount you have ready to upload. They did it that way because GPUs eat CUDA WUs like there is no tomorrow, and cant be managed with the "normal" by days protocol. The Cache is empty because it cant get past the AP download issue, when that clears, you'll refill. ____________
	ID: 868472 ·

Andreas Send message Joined: 21 Jan 02 Posts: 16 Credit: 9,911,789 RAC: 1	Message 868479 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 10:40:17 UTC - in response to Message 868467. Last modified: 23 Feb 2009, 10:46:45 UTC
	Setting a cache larger than 5 days can limit the amount of work that is downloaded in order to not miss a deadline. I've got a 4 day cache & have only run out of work twice in the last 4-5 years. Deadlines are no problem, average turnaround is below 3days. Sounds like you are running CUDA. CUDA WUs (albeit they are the same in reality to cpu WUs just run on a GPU) are limited not by the number of days set, but by the hardware. A quad with one gpu running gets as a quota 100 for each core plus 100 for the gpu. For you thats a max download of 500, which would be in line with only lasting 2.5 days and the amount you have ready to upload. IMHO quotas work different, they are to prevent machines from going "nuts" when producing errors and download all available work. If you return a completed task, the quota is set back to 100. I have downloaded more than 100WU/day/cpu in the past, no problem if you return completed results inbetween. This strange cache behavior was with no CUDA enabeled. The sum of the estimated work was allways ~10 Days and filled up to that when lower. But spread over 4 cores 10 days of work only last 2.5 days. ____________
	ID: 868479 ·

Richard Haselgrove Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 4 Jul 99 Posts: 7669 Credit: 40,260,820 RAC: 21,570	Message 868485 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 11:14:16 UTC - in response to Message 868461.
	"requesting 0 seconds of work". If BOINC is not requesting any work, then it either thinks it has enough or it owes CPU time to another project that you may be attached to. As I am not attached to any other projects, BOINC must be "thinking" it has enough work, but all it has on my main cruncher is ~275 WU to upload. So BOINC seems quite "stupid" in this case, and my cache is empty :-( BOINC also has another safety mechanism, designed to prevent it producing work faster than the results can be processed. If there are tasks waiting to be uploaded, BOINC won't ask for new work to add to the problem. Many, many users will have hit that restriction this weekend.
	ID: 868485 ·

Andreas Send message Joined: 21 Jan 02 Posts: 16 Credit: 9,911,789 RAC: 1	Message 868486 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 11:33:36 UTC - in response to Message 868485.
	BOINC also has another safety mechanism, designed to prevent it producing work faster than the results can be processed. If there are tasks waiting to be uploaded, BOINC won't ask for new work to add to the problem. Many, many users will have hit that restriction this weekend. Thanks for the answer Richard, Andreas
	ID: 868486 ·

David J. Moritz Send message Joined: 15 Aug 99 Posts: 21 Credit: 1,225,323 RAC: 923	Message 868505 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 13:08:33 UTC - in response to Message 868486.
	Once again it appears that AP has caused a weekend outage for most SETI contributors. If the purpose of SETI@Home is to process information, it would seem that AP needs to go back to beta testing until it is ready for prime time and does not stop overall system processing. Maybe adding a preference to exclude AP processing on client computers would be appropriate? As an enginering manager (including classisied computer systems needed to design and test product), my experience tells me that nearly weekly system crashes/outages result from improper management above the "worker" level. The performance of SETI@Home would never be tolerated in the commercial world. Is there anything we clients can do, other than donate more money that with bad management seems to be wasted, to help improve consistant system operation? The bottom line is, if you want to find ET's message, the system must be up! ____________ David Moritz
	ID: 868505 ·

Andreas Send message Joined: 21 Jan 02 Posts: 16 Credit: 9,911,789 RAC: 1	Message 868507 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 13:13:20 UTC - in response to Message 868485.
	BOINC also has another safety mechanism, designed to prevent it producing work faster than the results can be processed. If there are tasks waiting to be uploaded, BOINC won't ask for new work to add to the problem. Any chance to "hide" these tasks from BOINC? ____________
	ID: 868507 ·

Zebra3 Send message Joined: 22 Oct 01 Posts: 186 Credit: 13,657,908 RAC: 0	Message 868514 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 13:27:26 UTC - in response to Message 868505.
	Once again it appears that AP has caused a weekend outage for most SETI contributors. If the purpose of SETI@Home is to process information, it would seem that AP needs to go back to beta testing until it is ready for prime time and does not stop overall system processing. Maybe adding a preference to exclude AP processing on client computers would be appropriate? As an enginering manager (including classisied computer systems needed to design and test product), my experience tells me that nearly weekly system crashes/outages result from improper management above the "worker" level. The performance of SETI@Home would never be tolerated in the commercial world. Is there anything we clients can do, other than donate more money that with bad management seems to be wasted, to help improve consistant system operation? The bottom line is, if you want to find ET's message, the system must be up! but...most corporate computer systems are not old and bandaged up like S@H and thus less susceptible to down time. When there is a problem with these corporate systems the hardware is replaced more often than not or there is a backup unit to put online. It all comes down to money and Seti dosen't have it. ____________ http://www.novascotia.com
	ID: 868514 ·

Lutz Michaelis Send message Joined: 15 Mar 02 Posts: 79 Credit: 302,071 RAC: 0	Message 868516 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 13:33:46 UTC
	I was already afraid that I am the only one who can not upload the finished WU's. I hope the problem will be fixed soon that I get more tasks to calculate. ____________ *»beeprrrruuuuhpiepuhhhhhhhbeeeeeepuhhuhh«
	ID: 868516 ·

Chelski Send message Joined: 3 Jan 00 Posts: 121 Credit: 8,528,055 RAC: 201	Message 868519 - Posted: 23 Feb 2009, 13:39:55 UTC - in response to Message 868505.
	Once again it appears that AP has caused a weekend outage for most SETI contributors. If the purpose of SETI@Home is to process information, it would seem that AP needs to go back to beta testing until it is ready for prime time and does not stop overall system processing. Maybe adding a preference to exclude AP processing on client computers would be appropriate? As an enginering manager (including classisied computer systems needed to design and test product), my experience tells me that nearly weekly system crashes/outages result from improper management above the "worker" level. The performance of SETI@Home would never be tolerated in the commercial world. Is there anything we clients can do, other than donate more money that with bad management seems to be wasted, to help improve consistant system operation? The bottom line is, if you want to find ET's message, the system must be up! Yes, there is a setting on your account where you can pick which one of your profiles (e.g. work/home/school) that you want to turn AP off. And remember to deselect the "If no work for selected applications is available, accept work from other applications?" option. As for SETI, there are really limited scope for management improvement when there's only like 3 person in the team. The project is run on a tight shoestring budget - unlike IT departments in the the commercial world - given the magnitude of the task handled by the team so far - would likely have ended with probably a brigade size organisation with an overall director, an OS director, UHD director, multiple project managers, drones of coordinators and still one "Herbert" to do the work. ____________
	ID: 868519 ·

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Message boards : Technical News : Of the Woods (Feb 19 2009)