In the past, tapes were split in a highly random order, this tended to mix "fast" and "slow" work units, so that we didn't see the system run dry because of all fast (all noisy) work.

Looking at the splitter queue (sunday morning) it seems to be pretty much in order. If the telescope was looking at the same source all the time, that could give us a bunch of really similar work units.

Perhaps things need to be randomized a bit more....

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In the past, tapes were split in a highly random order, this tended to mix "fast" and "slow" work units, so that we didn't see the system run dry because of all fast (all noisy) work.

Looking at the splitter queue (sunday morning) it seems to be pretty much in order. If the telescope was looking at the same source all the time, that could give us a bunch of really similar work units.

Perhaps things need to be randomized a bit more....

I have had similar thoughts, however even better than randomizing would be to run a sort of preview on each disc or recording session.

It might be an additional workload on the server infrastructure, so that might be why Matt has not done it, but if they could preview each disc they might be able to choose a good mix of work before the splitters start their work.

Seems like a possible solution from my limited viewpoint.

<edit> added a word to make more gramatical sense </edit>

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Sir Arthur C Clarke 1917-2008

Well I am really surprised it's that hard for them to find hardware.

Getting hardware is part of the problem, the other problem is getting hardware that is compatible with all the other hardware received.

I just have a hard time believing that one of the big guns out there would have an issue being a corporate sponsor/donor for SETI@Home. Intel, AMD, Microsoft, etc. all have pockets so deep that they would never miss the few thousand dollars it would cost them to support SETI. And the publicity in front of SETI users would certainly be worth the investment.

Part of the problem is that there's a lot of people out there that feel the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence is a waste of time at this point (no offense to SETI, I'm a proud member myself obviously), especially considering the extreme probability that we will not find anything given our current search methods, many feel that solving our own problems such as with Folding@Home and CPDN are much more worthwhile tasks (considering everyone is concerned about going green these days). Donating servers to SETI@Home may not offer as much face time as you'd think, given the current social and political climate.

Well that brings me to another point which is I think SETI would be VERY well served by adding stuff to the code for hunt for things like pulsars while they are at. But that's for another thread too.

SETI may be a 'waste of time', but so is watching a baseball/football/basketball/hockey/soccer game yet billions do it every week. Corporations sponsoring SETI could be reminded of little facts like this (Intel sponsors a Nascar ride, and AMD has their logo on a wing of the Ferarri team).

Sun has been a great donator of hardware. Or atleast a provider at greatly reduced pricing. When on of their drive controllers (with new drives) failed. Seti expected to get another drive controller from them. They pulled all the drives so that they could be installed in the new controller, but what did Sun ship??? A new controller With NEW drives installed. They let seti keep the old drives, so they had 24 (I think) new spares.

Intel has also recently donated a server.

Well that brings me to another point which is I think SETI would be VERY well served by adding stuff to the code for hunt for things like pulsars while they are at. But that's for another thread too.

I believe that pulsars are another project. You can't have a real broad scope in science if you're looking for one specific thing and want funding for it. Otherwise, projects could share funding for the same science app, but then politics and bickering could ensue quite easily if one side seems to "pull more weight" than the other, which can happen often in science.

Still, it's something to think about.

SETI may be a 'waste of time', but so is watching a baseball/football/basketball/hockey/soccer game yet billions do it every week. Corporations sponsoring SETI could be reminded of little facts like this (Intel sponsors a Nascar ride, and AMD has their logo on a wing of the Ferarri team).

I'm there with ya!

See, the thing is, humans have a funny justification system when it comes to things that are quirky and don't make logical sense. If you were to try to tell every person on the planet that sports are a waste of time, they'd look at you like you're crazy and cite all the benefits of competition and the shear entertainment value. Most arguments I could care less for, but I'm afraid I'm in the minority on this one, and I've found that it's very hard or next to impossible to convince somebody of something they already believe is a waste of time.

One could make the argument that the majority of the things we do on this planet are a waste of time, but we need to keep ourselves entertained as well as busy to keep ourselves from losing our humanity and our minds!

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Sun has been a great donator of hardware. Or atleast a provider at greatly reduced pricing. When on of their drive controllers (with new drives) failed. Seti expected to get another drive controller from them. They pulled all the drives so that they could be installed in the new controller, but what did Sun ship??? A new controller With NEW drives installed. They let seti keep the old drives, so they had 24 (I think) new spares.

Intel has also recently donated a server.

Sun can be pretty decent that way. Having said that, they are outragously expensive to begin with, so they can afford to be that way LOL.

Oh well at least all my machines have filled up a little bit. Apologies to everyone else, but I've set my buffer size to 5 days for now. I'd rather not, but it that or have machines empty (I had a few configured at 3 with a local override that were bone dry too).. Pending is upto 9400, but the RAC is up to around 2200. (previous numbers earlier on the thread).

Noone I know would complain if you had a cache of 5 or 6, especially if that's what it takes to get you continually contributing. Perhaps, if they ever get their end straightened out, beefed up, whatever it takes, then we could get away with smaller caches.

Thanks for offering your server. Remember, they have certain needs, which can be hard to understand. I've seen them turn down a server donation offer, for reasons I don't understand, but i'm sure they had their reasons. I've also seen them accepts servers, bits and pieces. Blurf should be able to help you make contact.

Noone I know would complain if you had a cache of 5 or 6, especially if that's what it takes to get you continually contributing. Perhaps, if they ever get their end straightened out, beefed up, whatever it takes, then we could get away with smaller caches.

Thanks for offering your server. Remember, they have certain needs, which can be hard to understand. I've seen them turn down a server donation offer, for reasons I don't understand, but i'm sure they had their reasons. I've also seen them accepts servers, bits and pieces. Blurf should be able to help you make contact.

I bumped mine up to 4 days after I ran out on the last outage just in case it happens again.

I also want to add my thanks for the server donation, I'm sure they will put it to good use. On that note and slightly off topic, Astro, about how long does it take to get your green star? I got my thank you letter about a week ago.

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PROUD MEMBER OF Team Starfire World BOINC

In the past, tapes were split in a highly random order, this tended to mix "fast" and "slow" work units, so that we didn't see the system run dry because of all fast (all noisy) work.

Looking at the splitter queue (sunday morning) it seems to be pretty much in order. If the telescope was looking at the same source all the time, that could give us a bunch of really similar work units.

Perhaps things need to be randomized a bit more....

I have had similar thoughts, however even better than randomizing would be to run a sort of preview on each disc or recording session.

It might be an additional workload on the server infrastructure, so that might be why Matt has not done it, but if they could preview each disc they might be able to choose a good mix of work before the splitters start their work.

Seems like a possible solution from my limited viewpoint.

It'll be fascinating to see what comes off the next few 'tapes'. What sort of observing session at Arecibo allowed them to gather over 600GB of data in a single day?

On that note and slightly off topic, Astro, about how long does it take to get your green star? I got my thank you letter about a week ago.

If you used a CC it takes minutes. If you used "paypal" via "lunatics.at", then Eric has to manually input those, and does so every so often. How did you donate?

tony

<snip.............>
Already did. and frankly I'd like to have it off my desk. If someone covers the shipping I might even be able to toss in another couple gigs of ram. It'll bury those old Sparc machines, that much I know.

@ Osiris30

I see you have recently joined Boinc/Seti, Welcome and thanks so much for the hardware donation!

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Boinc....Boinc....Boinc....Boinc....

On that note and slightly off topic, Astro, about how long does it take to get your green star? I got my thank you letter about a week ago.

If you used a CC it takes minutes. If you used "paypal" via "lunatics.at", then Eric has to manually input those, and does so every so often. How did you donate?

tony

I used my bank check card on 9-4-07. Don't know why the star hasn't shown up yet

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PROUD MEMBER OF Team Starfire World BOINC

Perryjay, Write to donors@ssl.berkeley.edu. Briefly explain the situation and include your "setiathome" email addy (used for your seti account), and the confirmation numbers. Unless asked, I wouldn't give bankcard numbers etc.

Paypal donations are currently suspended.

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Perryjay, Write to donors@ssl.berkeley.edu. Briefly explain the situation and include your "setiathome" email addy (used for your seti account), and the confirmation numbers. Unless asked, I wouldn't give bankcard numbers etc.

Thanks Astro, email sent

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PROUD MEMBER OF Team Starfire World BOINC

Noone I know would complain if you had a cache of 5 or 6, especially if that's what it takes to get you continually contributing. Perhaps, if they ever get their end straightened out, beefed up, whatever it takes, then we could get away with smaller caches.

Thanks for offering your server. Remember, they have certain needs, which can be hard to understand. I've seen them turn down a server donation offer, for reasons I don't understand, but i'm sure they had their reasons. I've also seen them accepts servers, bits and pieces. Blurf should be able to help you make contact.

Oh if they don't want it that's fine and my feelings won't be hurt in the least. I'm not sure exactly what their demands are from the machine, so it's hard to say whether it's a truly good fit for them or not.

As for the thanks guys, really it's not needed (but is appreciated ;) ) SETI hasn't said yes yet, and really it's doing me as much of a favor as them. If I wasn't looking at adding 250-400 hosts in the next little while I'm sure I wouldn't be so 'generous' LOL.

Geek@play: Just FYI, this is me 'returning' to SETI. I crunched for SETI *years* ago when it was brand spanking new (1999/2000 ish)

<snip.........>
Geek@play: Just FYI, this is me 'returning' to SETI. I crunched for SETI *years* ago when it was brand spanking new (1999/2000 ish)

Well welcome back then. It's nice to see you here again.

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Boinc....Boinc....Boinc....Boinc....

<snip.........>
Geek@play: Just FYI, this is me 'returning' to SETI. I crunched for SETI *years* ago when it was brand spanking new (1999/2000 ish)

Well welcome back then. It's nice to see you here again.

Thank you. As an aside, does anyone know what kind of RAC I can expect out of a 3.0 P4 dual core system over the long haul (light office usage scenario)?

Thank you. As an aside, does anyone know what kind of RAC I can expect out of a 3.0 P4 dual core system over the long haul (light office usage scenario)?

You can look at mine P4D 930
it has been off for about 2 days now, but on 24/7 for months before that, it is down from about 970 right now...

-Dave

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Thank you. As an aside, does anyone know what kind of RAC I can expect out of a 3.0 P4 dual core system over the long haul (light office usage scenario)?

You can look at mine P4D 930
it has been off for about 2 days now, but on 24/7 for months before that, it is down from about 970 right now...

-Dave

Dave, thanks a bunch! I'll be happy if I can get 600 as a RAC out of those boxes.. it will make for some truly mind blowing numbers (not trying to brag, just nice to have something worthy of 'fleet' status under my control again LOL). If I get 'em all online I'll have a RAC around 166K (assuming 600 per). That should move things up the stats a bit ;)