Volunteer computing using BOINC

Aashish Joshi

Aashish Joshi

@aashish-VrevFC • Oct 22, 2024
Do you use your Core 2 Duo, for surfing the internet, making presentations or replying to e-mails? You can use the idle time on your computer (Windows, Mac, Linux) to cure diseases, study global warming, discover pulsars, and do many other types of scientific research.


Welcome to <a href="https://boinc.berkeley.edu/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">BOINC</a>, it stands for Berkley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing. This is a software developed by Berkley University that works, broadly, on the principles of volunteer computing.


Volunteer computing is an arrangement in which people (volunteers) provide computing resources to projects, which use the resources to do distributed computing and/or storage.

  • Volunteers are typically members of the general public who own Internet-connected PCs. Organizations such as schools and businesses may also volunteer the use of their computers.
  • Projects are typically academic (university-based) and do scientific research. But there are exceptions.
Volunteers are effectively anonymous; although they may be required to register and supply email address or other information, they are not linked to a real-world identity. Because of their anonymity, volunteers are not accountable to projects. If a volunteer misbehaves in some way (for example, by intentionally returning incorrect computational results) the project cannot prosecute or discipline the volunteer.

Why is volunteer computing important?

A research project that has limited funding but large public appeal can get huge computing power. In contrast, traditional supercomputers are extremely expensive, and are available only for applications that can afford them (for example, nuclear weapon design) .
Source: <a href="https://boinc.berkeley.edu/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">BOINC</a>


Choose from a list of <a href="https://boinc.berkeley.edu/projects.php" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Choosing BOINC projects</a>.

<a href="https://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Install BOINC</a> BOINC.
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  • safwan

    safwan

    @safwan-NH7W5Y • Aug 25, 2009

    Nice Info maddy. Reading and may register.
    0
  • Aashish Joshi

    Aashish Joshi

    @aashish-VrevFC • Aug 25, 2009

    Hey safwan..long time!! I've registered for the climate change project..to register all you need to do is give your name, e-mail and a password..nothing else!! You don't have to activate your account or anything

    I thought most of us have powerful computers, and if we're not using them to their true potential, why shouldn't they be used for a noble cause!!
    0
  • safwan

    safwan

    @safwan-NH7W5Y • Aug 25, 2009

    ya may be i am just thinking if my brother is ready then ill do it.
    0
  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Kaustubh Katdare

    @thebigk • Aug 25, 2009

    Is this similar to SETI@HOME project? Quite interesting! Thanks for the info!
    0
  • Aashish Joshi

    Aashish Joshi

    @aashish-VrevFC • Aug 25, 2009

    The_Big_K
    Is this similar to SETI@HOME project? Quite interesting! Thanks for the info!
    SETI@Home project uses the BOINC client (Earlier they had their own stand alone application) .
    0
  • itchap

    itchap

    @itchap-RKJQDB • Aug 25, 2009

    @mad_scientist Nice Stuff. I Will register. Thanks for sharing.
    0