Managing Work Unit Run Order

Questions and Answers : Preferences : Managing Work Unit Run Order

Author	Message
Mordac 1 Send message Joined: 29 Jun 99 Posts: 1 Credit: 3,865,391 RAC: 0	Message 884021 - Posted: 10 Apr 2009, 19:47:59 UTC
	Hi All: Can someone please tell me how to manage my work unit que so the tasks with the earliest "Report deadline" run first. In other words, tasks will run in "Report deadline" sequential order. Many thanks. Mordac ____________
	ID: 884021 ·

Ageless Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 11642 Credit: 2,015,729 RAC: 4,233	Message 884022 - Posted: 10 Apr 2009, 19:55:02 UTC - in response to Message 884021.
	Why would you want that done? BOINC is very much capable of doing this all by itself, without missing deadlines. As long as you let it, it'll do the work on a first in/first out basis. ____________ Jord - BOINC FAQ Service - BOINC User Wiki Real is just a matter of perception.
	ID: 884022 ·

champ Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 12 Mar 03 Posts: 3642 Credit: 1,489,147 RAC: 0	Message 884056 - Posted: 10 Apr 2009, 21:28:42 UTC
	I can only agree with Jord. ____________
	ID: 884056 ·

John McLeod VII Volunteer developer Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 15 Jul 99 Posts: 22343 Credit: 439,209 RAC: 396	Message 884067 - Posted: 10 Apr 2009, 22:05:08 UTC - in response to Message 884021.
	Hi All: Can someone please tell me how to manage my work unit que so the tasks with the earliest "Report deadline" run first. In other words, tasks will run in "Report deadline" sequential order. Many thanks. Mordac Running in Earliest Deadline First will be done by the client if it needs to be done. Otherwise, it runs in round robin between projects and First In First Out within a project. ____________ BOINC WIKI
	ID: 884067 ·

Eduardo Bicudo Dreyfuss Send message Joined: 20 Jun 05 Posts: 58 Credit: 1,370,135 RAC: 18	Message 899170 - Posted: 24 May 2009, 23:49:18 UTC
	BOINC is definitely capable in not missing deadlines under normal conditions, considering what it knows. BUT, leaving home for a long weekend, vacations or so, one may choose to turn the computers off for protection, mainly in the rainny seasons and, in these cases, the BOINC client DOES NOT KNOW THAT and so, it cannot manage that. An EARLY-DEADLINE-FIRST option would be useful. Such absences happen to me dozen-a-year and I'm used to turn the pc off during spring and summer. I did miss deadlines once or twice a year, not a big deal, but the early-deadline-first option is an easy thing to add to the client. Regards, Eduardo ____________
	ID: 899170 ·

Ageless Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 11642 Credit: 2,015,729 RAC: 4,233	Message 899175 - Posted: 24 May 2009, 23:57:28 UTC - in response to Message 899170. Last modified: 24 May 2009, 23:58:42 UTC
	Uhuh, and then I run Milkyway constantly as it has a 3 day deadline. All the other projects I run never get done again, unless they're in their last 24 hours before deadline and then BOINC would try to push them out in that last 24 hours. So no, BOINC does not know when you are going on vacation or away for business. Then again, last I checked, BOINC wasn't slated as an artificial intelligence either. Which leaves you to make those decisions. Why not set Seti to No New Tasks a couple of days before you know you're going to switch off? That way no new tasks will come in which will miss their deadline because the computer's off. BOINC is way more than just Seti, some 70+ projects more, all with their own deadlines. In which case a first in, first out system is better. ____________ Jord - BOINC FAQ Service - BOINC User Wiki Real is just a matter of perception.
	ID: 899175 ·

Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 11987 Credit: 18,231,547 RAC: 57,179	Message 899219 - Posted: 25 May 2009, 3:00:51 UTC - in response to Message 899170.
	BOINC is definitely capable in not missing deadlines under normal conditions, considering what it knows. BUT, leaving home for a long weekend, vacations or so, one may choose to turn the computers off for protection, mainly in the rainny seasons and, in these cases, the BOINC client DOES NOT KNOW THAT and so, it cannot manage that. ...and when you turn your computer off, BOINC will noticed that it was powered down when you turn it back on. If you are in danger of missing a deadline, it will automatically revert to "Earliest Deadline First" mode without user intervention. If BOINC does not enter EDF mode, then it believes it is not in danger of missing a deadline. An EARLY-DEADLINE-FIRST option would be useful. There is already one built into BOINC. Putting this sort of power into the users hands would most certainly screw up the advanced CPU scheduling algorithm to compensate for unnecessary human intervention. Such absences happen to me dozen-a-year and I'm used to turn the pc off during spring and summer. I did miss deadlines once or twice a year, not a big deal, but the early-deadline-first option is an easy thing to add to the client. Regards, Eduardo Sure, it happens. This is why most projects have an automatic redundancy of sending out multiple copies, or re-sending a workunit that missed its deadline. THis is a nature problem with sending out scientific work to volunteer's machines of questionable stability and uptime. Adding in a user-controlled EDF mode won't make the situation any better, but I can certainly see it making things worse. ____________
	ID: 899219 ·

John McLeod VII Volunteer developer Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 15 Jul 99 Posts: 22343 Credit: 439,209 RAC: 396	Message 899223 - Posted: 25 May 2009, 3:18:14 UTC - in response to Message 899219.
	BOINC is definitely capable in not missing deadlines under normal conditions, considering what it knows. BUT, leaving home for a long weekend, vacations or so, one may choose to turn the computers off for protection, mainly in the rainny seasons and, in these cases, the BOINC client DOES NOT KNOW THAT and so, it cannot manage that. ...and when you turn your computer off, BOINC will noticed that it was powered down when you turn it back on. If you are in danger of missing a deadline, it will automatically revert to "Earliest Deadline First" mode without user intervention. If BOINC does not enter EDF mode, then it believes it is not in danger of missing a deadline. An EARLY-DEADLINE-FIRST option would be useful. There is already one built into BOINC. Putting this sort of power into the users hands would most certainly screw up the advanced CPU scheduling algorithm to compensate for unnecessary human intervention. Such absences happen to me dozen-a-year and I'm used to turn the pc off during spring and summer. I did miss deadlines once or twice a year, not a big deal, but the early-deadline-first option is an easy thing to add to the client. Regards, Eduardo Sure, it happens. This is why most projects have an automatic redundancy of sending out multiple copies, or re-sending a workunit that missed its deadline. THis is a nature problem with sending out scientific work to volunteer's machines of questionable stability and uptime. Adding in a user-controlled EDF mode won't make the situation any better, but I can certainly see it making things worse. It may be counter intuitive, but the combination of projects with LONG deadlines and correspondingly long running tasks (CPDN) and allowing the overfilling of the queue (to keep the work interesting) and running all of the time in EDF can make for late work from the long running task projects. Allowing the long running tasks to not run in EDF at least some of the time helps get through them. ____________ BOINC WIKI
	ID: 899223 ·

YoDude.SETI.USA [Top Gun] Send message Joined: 19 Jul 05 Posts: 9 Credit: 821,593 RAC: 0	Message 905645 - Posted: 10 Jun 2009, 1:41:13 UTC
	Personally, I just let Boinc do what it wants to. I don't have any issues with how it spreads out the work so long as all the work gets done. If I plan to take a leave of absence for more than a day or two, I usually know this well in advance. In those instances, I simply set all my projects to get no new work, by clicking the button that says "No new tasks". When the WUs are completed (usually in a couple 3-5 days), I turn off the computer and go about my leave. This approach works well for a couple good reasons. First is, all my work is done before I leave and (secondly) with no new WUs coming to me, credit isn't getting lost by missing deadlines. This gives the opportunity for someone else to do the work without it sitting on my computer in limbo while a wingman waits to get his credit but can't because my computer is holding him up. That to me, is just plain rude and makes for nothing but a waste of time for someone else besides me. Just my two cents worth. ____________
	ID: 905645 ·

Questions and Answers : Preferences : Managing Work Unit Run Order