Since last I wrote a lot has happened. Looking at the traffic graphs it's like feast or famine - either we are unable to create/send out workunits, or we're sending out as many as we can fit through the pipe. Mostly it's been the usual gremlins.

However regarding the past 24 hours it was a new problem: the result space on the upload server filled up unexpectedly, which would have been fine except this (perhaps) inspired some RAID freakout on the system. We couldn't really sort it out until this morning. From the looks of it we had something like a six drive simultaneous failure. Jeff and I beat on it for a while - we eventually assumed this was just a hardware blip, and the data was more or less intact on the drives, but the RAID metadata got a little screwed up. Long story short we were able to carefully bring down the RAID and recreate the meta devices from scratch with the data intact, and all was well. Phew. For the record we do have a virtually-up-to-date result storage backup at all times in case of catastrophic failure on this system.

In any case, the main culprit was our disks filling up, so as I write this we're keeping the project down until major queues drain and the constituent workunit/result files can be deleted.

On a more happy (perhaps) note, yesterday the core group of us were in the same place at the same time (which is rare) and we had an ad hoc meeting about our current project status/plans, especially in light of many recent server problems, increasingly random schedules, and embarrassingly low funding. We're all kind of tired and beaten up and wanting some results already - so I like to think this paved the way for several large and ultimately positive changes in the future.

Also Jeff has been working on this nagging mysterious problem where some of our raw data files are only getting partially processed (which vastly increases our "burn rate" and leads to unexpected workunit shortages). He found some major clues today, and we brainstormed why this is happening and what the exact effect is. At least there's a smoking gun on that front.

- Matt

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-- BOINC/SETI@home network/web/science/development person
-- "Any idiot can have a good idea. What is hard is to do it." - Jeanne-Claude

Thanks for the update Matt,

Claggy

Thanks for the update. You guys do a "Yeoman" job. I am curious, what would it cost for a new server? It seems that if the people who seem to be venting the most are those who haven't given cash. That is not to say they haven't donated time and electrical costs, but the project could use more of the cash. Maybe a "fundraiser" for a new server or two would shake loose a few dollars that may make your lives a bit easier.

Again thanks for the update and the day to day work you do to keep the project going.

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Thanks for the excellent news item. Most of us are a patient lot and understand you are reduced to rock soup. Don't let the others get you down.

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I know you guys have your hands full-sometimes those sudden meetings are the best to have occurred.

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Thank you Matt.
David A, Eric, Dan, Jeff, Josh Von Korff, Robert Bankay, Kevin Douglas.
You folks show outstanding dedication to SETI@home.
Best wishes and peace.
from Vancouver, Canada.
Byron.

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Matt, thank you very much for the update, it really shed's a lot of light on the recent problems. Here's hoping you guys get it running smooth again, or as smooth as you can for a bit. LOL Have a great rest of the week!

Thank you for the update Matt and for all the hard work you and the team have put in!

Thanks for the update. I, also, would like to know the cost of the type of server you need.

Again, thanks for informing us so promptly of the issues involved.

Be Blessed & Be A Blessing,

ront

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Thanks Matt! I'm interested in donating to the cause for new hardware.
Please let us know.
Todd

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Hi Matt,

Thanks for the update and the great job you guys do to keep things running.

Since Blurf decided to reduce his involvement we don't seem to have anyone to coordinate hardware (or other) funding drives. Is is possible to get the list of required equipment updated so we have an idea of what is currently needed please.

Cheers

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BOINC blog

Hi Guys,

On behalf of the SETI@Netherlands team I would like to thank you for all your hard work you are putting in.
No budget, no manpower and no luck. It's a bitch.
But please, don't get discouraged and keep up the good work.

When you've got the flow running again, we will again do our part in the search :)

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Thanks for all your hard work & for keeping us updated. I was concerned when I ran out of work.

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Hey folks. We need to do something about this funding issue. SETI has more crunchers than just about any other project. This is a huge resource, and it feels like the operation at Berkeley is slowly deteriorating. The guys there can only do so much to keep things running and eventually, critical hardware will fail that they cannot afford to replace.

Given the broad spectrum of people who contribute to this project, there have to be some profs who can help pursue grants to reinvigorate the project. Any ideas?

We're on our way!!! Uploads and downloads are flowing again!!


Sorry, I was so excited to see things moving again I forgot to thank all the guys at SAH for getting us there!

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PROUD MEMBER OF Team Starfire World BOINC

Shouldn't the thread title be "Fill 'er up (Jun 23 2010)" ?

It ain't July yet.

Obviously a severe bug in the poster's date conversion module. Roll 'im back.

We're on our way!!! Uploads and downloads are flowing again!!


Sorry, I was so excited to see things moving again I forgot to thank all the guys at SAH for getting us there!

Only If Your Quota isn't a quota of 904,250,952 tasks... And so I can't download either cpu or gpu tasks...

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

It might be a good idea to get on Congress's case. They have for years been wringing their hands over the fact that American kids are woefully lacking in math and science. A few grants might just be the thing from Congress to SETI in the spirit of getting young people more interested in science. SETI is science and fun at that. I intend to rattle their cages on it. By not signing on we can accuse them of not being serious when they bring up our young people being behind in science and math. They certainly have a long history of pissing away money on projects that do us very little good.

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It might be a good idea to get on Congress's case. They have for years been wringing their hands over the fact that American kids are woefully lacking in math and science. A few grants might just be the thing from Congress to SETI in the spirit of getting young people more interested in science. SETI is science and fun at that. I intend to rattle their cages on it. By not signing on we can accuse them of not being serious when they bring up our young people being behind in science and math. They certainly have a long history of pissing away money on projects that do us very little good.

Last time I looked, Congress doesn't do grants. Earmarks, yes, grants, no. (8{)

Congress allocates money to Federal agencies such as NASA, DoD, the National Institute for Standards and Testing (NIST), The National Science Foundation, etc. to be given as grants for scientific research, but the Congress doesn't hand out grants directly to researchers.

So don't bug your Congresscritter about a grant to help SETI. There are still some in Congress who remember Sen. Proxmire and his "Golden Fleece" awards for wasting Federal tax dollars on such things as SETI, $600 toilet seats on military transports, etc.

I'm not here to split hairs with you or anyone else. Congress cut the money off in the early 90's to NASA on SETI. Short-sighted people like Sen. Richard Bryan and Rep. Silvio Conte were two of the culprits. I can't help it of Proxmire is short-sighted as well. Restoring the funding will bring SETI more into the public eye. Indirectly it may help the project. I fail to see where it would hurt. We're talking about only 4 mil. That's almost nothing to Congress. Doing nothing will not get us anywhere. Anyone on this board that thinks SETI deserves a Golden Fleese Award shouldn't be here.

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