Posts by pschoefer
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1)
(Message 8296)
Posted 9 Mar 2024 by 
pschoefer
Post: Thank you for the info, this can certainly explain the webserver issues. However, it cannot explain why the scheduler cache is empty quite often despite tasks being ready to send (and this also happened before the challenge, albeit less frequently). Maybe the feeder is just slow because of the large number of tasks in the database, but maybe something can be tweaked to make it faster even with a large database. |
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2)
(Message 8289)
Posted 9 Mar 2024 by
pschoefer
Post: "Tasks ready to send" is the number of tasks that have been generated (so they are in the database) but not sent yet. However, the scheduler works with its own job cache, not with the full task table in the database. This cache can be much smaller, and if it happens to be empty when a client requests work, the client will get the "Project has no tasks available" message. Also, not all tasks from this job cache may be suitable for every client, as there are mechanisms such as homogeneous redundancy or accelerated retries that may impose some constraints, or a project may choose not to send more than one task of each workunit to the same client or user. Usually, this is not much of a problem here, because the backoff time between two requests from the same client is only a few seconds, so the client can retry and eventually get tasks quite quickly. But if more clients compete for the same job cache, it will be empty more often, and the short backoff time then leads to even more unsuccessful retries. This likely goes a long way explaining the problems in the past few days (except for the expired SSL certificate yesterday). So it might help a lot if the scheduler's job cache was refilled more frequently. |
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3)
(Message 5816)
Posted 26 May 2018 by
pschoefer
Post: Are there currently Nvidia tasks available? Because looking at the leaderboard, I don't see many folk with more computing power than myself. And I'm only running CPUs. I would have thought anyone with a Nvidia running would have massive amounts more points than me. Any task can be sent to either CPU or NVIDIA GPU. However, GPUs are not that efficient on this project. For example, a medium-class GTX 1060 needs about 30 minutes for one task, while a medium-class i5-8600K can do a set of 6 tasks in less than an hour thanks to the AVX-optimized application. So, in contrast to other projects with GPU applications, this project is pretty much CPU-dominated. |
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4)
(Message 5764)
Posted 7 Apr 2018 by
pschoefer
Post:  It's that time again, the BOINC Pentathlon is just a few weeks away. For the ninth time, SETI.Germany invites the passionate crunchers from all over the world to compete in this team competition from 05 May to 19 May in five disciplines at five projects. The teams may sign up and vote for their favorite projects from a pre-selection using this registration form until 27 April. Late registration until 02 May is possible, but without the opportunity to vote for projects. For more information about the BOINC Pentathlon, please visit the Pentathlon pages, where you can also find the full rules and the answers to frequently asked questions. It will be exciting again at the BOINC Pentathlon! 8) |
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5)
(Message 5316)
Posted 8 Apr 2017 by
pschoefer
Post:  Less than ten months have passed since the seventh BOINC Pentathlon came to an end. Now the Pentathlon is back to its usual date from May 5 to May 19 and SETI.Germany invites all BOINC teams to compete in five disciplines at five projects for the eighth time. This year, the stable and popular project World Community Grid is set for the City Run discipline, with only one subproject being considered for the Pentathlon. The teams may enter their favorite WCG subproject and three additional project suggestions while signing up using the registration form at https://www.seti-germany.de/boinc_pentathlon/anmeldung.php until April 27. The suggestions will be taken into account in the project selection as described here. Late registration without project suggestions is possible until May 2. All information about the BOINC Pentathlon is available at Pentathlon pages, while you can find the answers to many questions in the FAQ. Looking forward to seeing you at the Pentathlon! :) |
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6)
(Message 4855)
Posted 1 May 2016 by
pschoefer
Post: Dear fellow crunchers, after a hacker had caused havoc on the server and the Pentathlon pages had been offline for one week, the BOINC Pentathlon 2016 has now been rescheduled to start one month later, i.e. on 05 June 2016 (see also this announcement). Registration for teams that wanted to participate but could not sign up in time is open again until 28 May. |
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7)
(Message 4843)
Posted 7 Apr 2016 by
pschoefer
Post:  The seventh BOINC Pentathlon is around the corner. As usual, SETI.Germany invites all BOINC teams to find out which team copes best with the challenges of five disciplines at five projects between May 5 and May 19. While there are no major rule changes this year, it is ensured that there will be only one winner after the shared gold medal last year. Furthermore, the Pentathlon pages have undergone an optical refresh, all the rules and later on the stats are there, as well. Many questions are answered in the FAQ. Each team that wants to participate can sign up and enter four project suggestions using this registration form until April 27. Later registration is possible until May 2, but without the possibility of suggesting projects. Therefore, explore the interest within your team and sign up. We're looking forward to your participation in the BOINC Pentathlon! :) |