Building A Better SETI@Home: Hardware Donations

Hello Everyone:

A new thread for a new set of projects for SETI at Home.

The Basics

How To Donate
Please visit http://www.gpuug.org/catalog. From there, you will be able to donate to our current projects using Paypal, check or money order.

What We Do With Your Money
As we are a 100% volunteer funded and supported organization, we are able to allocated 100% of all donated funds (minus Paypal fees) toward projects which directly benefit SETI at Home.

Thanks to our corporate sponsor NKOL http://www.nkol.net/, we are able to build these servers at a steep discount allowing us to stretch our donor's dollars.

Direct SETI Donations
We now offer the ability to donate directly to SETI at Home via the Paypal service. If you would like to donate directly to SETI at Home please visit http://www.gpuug.org/donatecash.

Hardware Donations
You can also donate hardware directly to the project. Please visit http://www.gpuug.org/donatehardware and browse our list of currently needed hardware.

Our Past Projects
Since our inception, through the generosity of our donors we have donated:
1) QTY 1, 4 Drive SATA Dock which has slots to utilize 3TB SATA drives for Astropulse data transportation.
2. QTY 6 3TB Hard Drives for Astropulse data transportation.
3. QTY 4, 2TB SATA Hard Drives (Donated by member Deltoid) for data transportation.
4. QTY 45, 2TB Seagate Hard Drives for:
5. QTY 1, SuperMicro JBOD Array which will house the science database along with other future throughput improvements for SETI at Home. To read more on this please visit: http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=66635
6. $3700USD in cash via donors that utilized our direct to SETI Paypal feature.

Our Current Projects
1. Astropulse/NTPCKR Server: We are building a backend processing server at Jeff's request. This server is a SYNERGY clone bumped to 128G of RAM and will be utilized to process Astropulse and NTPCKR data.
2. Download/Upload Server: This server will be utilized to replace either the download server or the upload server or both depending on the status of the currently implemented servers. This server is in high demand due to ailing hardware at the current 3 servers which handle the uploads and downloads for the project.

Useful Links
How to Donate: http://www.gpuug.org/catalog
Past Purchases for SETI with Tracking Info: http://www.gpuug.org/purchases
About Paypal Donations: http://www.gpuug.org/content/about-paypal-donations
About Direct SETI Donations: http://www.gpuug.org/content/direct-donations-setihome
Tax Exempt Status: http://www.gpuug.org/content/tax-exemption-status-information
Forums: http://www.gpuug.org/forum
About Us: http://www.gpuug.org/content/about-gpu-users-group-inc
Staff: http://www.gpuug.org/content/about-gpu-users-group-inc
Mission: http://www.gpuug.org/content/our-mission

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Current Projects as of the time of this post:

Astropulse/NTPCKR Server: Raised: $4048 / Goal: $ 9577.00: $5,529 to go
Download/Upload Server: Raised: $280 / Goal: $ 8200.00 : $7,920 to go
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Executive Director GPU Users Group Inc. -
brad@gpuug.org

Well done, Slavac. Nice summation of our current goals and our accomplishments to date.
Every little bit helps, folks!
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******

"Ask not, what your kitty can do for you. Ask what you can do for your kitty."

As it is kitten, so shall it be done.

Ditto, +1
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Damsel Rescuer, Kitty Patron, Raccoon Friend, Uli Fan,
Julie Supporter, ES99 Admirer, PETA Member, 1st Childhood

We've had some very generous donors this week. Here's where we stand on our projects:

Astropulse Server: Raised: $4098 / Goal: $ 9577.00 $5,479 to go
Download/Upload Server: Raised: $900 / Goal: $ 8200.00 $7,300 to go

Way to go guys!
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Executive Director GPU Users Group Inc. -
brad@gpuug.org

Just put my yearly donation on the up/download server.

Not much, but every little penny counts.
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I'll be working on green star awards this weekend. If you haven't received yours hang tight a bit as I have to manually check the status of each one to see what's going on. We're working on a more efficient solution but unfortunately we can't implement until Matt gets back from touring.

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Bit of news: Tomorrow I'll be rolling out with some very big news indeed for the GPU Users Group as well as SETI at Home. Please be sure to check in and see what's come down the pipeline.

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Here's where we stand as of the time of this post:

Astropulse Server: Raised: $4113 / Goal: $ 9577.00: $5,464 to go
Download/Upload Server: Raised: $1475 / Goal: $ 8200.00: $6,725 to go
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Executive Director GPU Users Group Inc. -
brad@gpuug.org

Hello Everyone:

Here's a quite lengthy update in light of recent developments.

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Graham's Donation

Graham has donated a very large sum of money to the GPU Users Group. This sum is large enough to finish off both the Astropulse/NTPCKR server as well as the Upload/Download server projects.

Graham's donation has also allowed us, coupled with the overwhelming generosity of all of our donors combined, to have quite a nice nest egg which will be applied in full toward our next projects and as a result, allowing us to complete our future projects more quickly.

We are truly honored that Graham chose us as the medium to turn tragedy into tangible good. Our collective hats are off to him along with our sympathy for his loss.

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Astropulse/NTPCKR and Download/Upload Server

We have reached and in fact surpassed the fundraising goals for both the Astropulse and Upload/Download servers. As a result:

1. Our corporate sponsor NKOL has ordered the necessary components for both servers in order to have them completed in the most expeditious manner possible.

2. We will be paying for both servers in full once the funds settle into our bank account which should occur on 02/14/20120 or 02/15/2012.

3. I will be updating this thread as well as the http://www.gpuug.org website as the server builds progress. I will also be following up with tracking information at http://www.gpuug.org/purchases

4. Lastly the two server names will be GeorgeM and PaddyM (named after Graham's parents).

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Current Projects and Future Projects:

1. As I mentioned above, we have finished our two current server projects. These will be delivered to SETI at Home as soon as our corporate sponsor NKOL can receive the necessary components and build the servers.

2. Unfortunately, we do not have any backup projects to work on. The sudden completion of these two servers has left us at a brief stall. Per my phone call with Eric yesterday, Eric, Jeff and Matt will be getting together next week when Matt gets back in the office to hash out our future projects.

3. In the mean time, if you would like to donate directly to SETI at Home please visit http://www.gpuug.org/donatecash. You can also donate hardware at http://www.gpuug.org/donatehardware or send in a donation to our general operating fund by visiting, http://www.gpuug.org/catalog/28

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Update on previously completed projects

1. Hard Drives and SATA Dock: The 6 3TB hard drives our donors supplied to SETI have been pressed into service transporting Astropulse data to and from the observation sites and SETI at Home. The new SATA dock which allows the SETI team to accommodate the larger 3TB drives will be utilized to transfer this data into the SETI hardware. Additionally the four 2TB hard drives donated by Phil have also been pressed into similar service.

2. JBOD: The JBOD array is awaiting the finishing touches from Matt et al, which will likely occur next week once Matt is back in the office. I'll be bugging him for updates on this project as they come. Additionally the JBOD will be hooked up to the new Upload/Download server and will house the entire science DB which should significantly help smooth out throughput issues with the project. For more on this, please visit http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=66635 and http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=66044&nowrap=true#1179009.

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A Note About Cumulative Donations and our Donor Pool

I would like to briefly extend a warm thank you to all of our donors. Without the generosity of all of our combined donors, we could not have reached the level of progress we currently are enjoying today.

Each donation we receive puts us one step closer toward reaching our goals. We are truly grateful to each and every donor who takes the time out of their day and money out of his or her wallet to help us help SETI. Without the generosity of all of our donors, I'd be just a guy with a plan that would have never born fruit. I owe all of you many beers and you have my heartfelt gratitude.
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Wrapping Up

I think I've covered everything that's going on to date. If there's anything at all you'd like more information on, please don't hesitate to post in this thread and I'll fill you in to the best of my abilities. I like to err on the side of full disclosure but sometimes I forget to include X or Y in an update, so if I missed something, please let me know.

Thanks everyone.
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Executive Director GPU Users Group Inc. -
brad@gpuug.org

Thank you for the update on all the great news, Brad.
Special kitty thanks to Graham for such amazing generosity in his time of loss.
And thanks to all the other donors that are making it possible to build for the continued success of this project that we all believe in.

What an amazing way to end the week for Seti!

Meowza!
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******

"Ask not, what your kitty can do for you. Ask what you can do for your kitty."

As it is kitten, so shall it be done.

We are truly honored that Graham chose us as the medium to turn tragedy into tangible good. Our collective hats are off to him along with our sympathy for his loss.

4. Lastly the two server names will be GeorgeM and PaddyM (named after Graham's parents).

A Quick Note on Green Star Awards

Hello everyone:

Please be sure to include your SETI user name or more preferably your SETI User ID when donating through us. This helps us streamline the green star award system.

After looking through 465 donations I've noticed about half entered no data, 20% their user names, 20% project ID's and the remaining 10% either entered such a generic user name that I couldn't decide who was who or entered gibberish. Please do me a favor of putting your SETI ID in when donating.

With that said I've finished up with the reports and hunted down everyone I could. These reports have been sent up the hill for implementation.

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We will be streamlining the process once Matt gets back in the office via processes that are entirely over my head and best left for Matt and Phil to discuss. Needless to say, we'll get things sorted out on our end to get our donors their green stars more efficiently.

I apologize for the delay in awarding stars. I let it lapse in favor of grant writing and other paper shuffling duties which was an oversight on my part. Mea maxima culpa my friends.
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Executive Director GPU Users Group Inc. -
brad@gpuug.org

Thanks, I suppose we should give you a bit of slack as getting grants pays you....
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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

I would like to add my thanks to Graham for his incredibly generous donations, that is tremendous news to hear. I take my hat off to you sir!
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Damsel Rescuer, Kitty Patron, Raccoon Friend, Uli Fan,
Julie Supporter, ES99 Admirer, PETA Member, 1st Childhood

Thanks, I suppose we should give you a bit of slack as getting grants pays you....

Thanks, I suppose we should give you a bit of slack as getting grants pays you....

I suppose I should clarify that Brad does not get paid a dime for his enormous expenditure of time for the GPUUG on behalf of Seti. His efforts are a donation to the project in themselves.

Thanks, I suppose we should give you a bit of slack as getting grants pays you....

I suppose I should clarify that Brad does not get paid a dime for his enormous expenditure of time for the GPUUG on behalf of Seti. His efforts are a donation to the project in themselves.

I think I've spend a few grand so far. That said it'll all be worth it in the end for SETI :)