Message boards : GPUGRID CAFE : cpusage.com - a BOINC for profit?
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I figured this would happen eventually. We already had big companies like Amazon leasing out CPU time to various enterprises (see http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/ ) | |
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 Retvari Zoltan Send message Joined: 20 Jan 09 Posts: 2356 Credit: 16,376,897,421 RAC: 3,492,157 Level  Scientific publications   | |
I figured this would happen eventually. We already had big companies like Amazon leasing out CPU time to various enterprises (see http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/ ) You've answered you own question: Also, there is the danger that cpusage and similar companies will rip computer users off by not even paying out enough compensation to make up for the cost of the extra electricity they'd use every month. They ought to give users an idea of how energy efficient their computer(s) are and whether participating even makes sense. There is also a danger that employees rip their employers off by crunching on company's computers using the company's electricity for their own profit. I think that the CIA-like organizations, or Exxon-Mobil-like companies (or the pharmaceutical companies for example) do not need our help, they have their own budget for this since the very beginnig of computing. The first electromechanical computing devices were built during the WWII to decipher the encrypted commands sent using the Enigma ciphering machine. Later fully electronic computers were built for the same purpose to speed up the deciphering process (called the Colossus). They were kept so secret that they were disassembled after the end of the war, and nobody knew about their existence for more than a decade. The first real general purpose electronic computer (called ENIAC) was built to calculate ballistic tables for the US Army, but it was so groundbreaking that the first calculations running on it were for the H-bomb. It was almost 70 years ago. Considering Moore's law, you can imagine what computing power is available for similar purposes today. There were "crunch for money" projects before, I saw their banner ad at the bottom of this page, and also on boincstats. These projects are very sparse, and as far as I know they don't last for long. Except the Bitcoin mining. The motivation for participating in a BOINC project is different than participating in a money-earning project, and the existence of such projects won't change this motivation. Obviously every participant could spend their money and time for something else without the existence of "crunch for money" projects so I don't think these project will threaten any BOINC project. I even know such examples, that the money earned with Bitcoin mining is used for crunching for BOINC projects. | |
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skgiven Volunteer moderator Volunteer tester  Send message Joined: 23 Apr 09 Posts: 3968 Credit: 1,995,359,260 RAC: 0 Level  Scientific publications     | |
I figured this would happen eventually. We already had big companies like Amazon leasing out CPU time to various enterprises (see http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/ ) This is a good thing; Amazon, and similar, offer high end servers and bandwidth on a short, medium or long term basis. This is a more cost effective way for small research projects to get up and running - reduced outlay, space, manpower and overheads. DA researched and published these finding years ago. It's probably the case that if you crunch on CPU's 24/7, it's more cost effective to lease such resources than buy a computer to crunch on, but if you have a computer anyway, you might as well use it. With CPU manufacturers developing for the cloud (energy efficient CPU's for data centres), and mobile devices overtaking desktops the cost effectiveness of CPU leasing is set to increase, and energy costs drop, but don't expect any significant improvements in desktop CPU's in the next few years. Conversely, GPU computing is still improving year on year. Home crunchers really need to be going in this direction to continue to improve their contribution (or maintain their relative contribution rates). There are many GPU projects to choose from now, so getting a £250 GPU to crunch on rather than a £500 CPU is a 'no brainer'. Now somebody has a startup to allow home PC users to monetize their machines' spare cycles. They plan to offer processing for web crawling, video encoding, life sciences ('coming Summer 2012,' so they are behind schedule), and application plugins. I'm nervous about how this will impact efforts like Rosetta, WCG, and GPUGrid. It might be good for universities and non-profits doing science with grid computing, as it may make the cost of doing this research lower by flooding the market with affordable options for renting computational power. Or it might suck the air out of efforts like WCG. (Why freely offer your computer's time to scientists working for the betterment of humanity when you can get paid to do Web crawling?) Unless it's significantly profitable it would be an incredibly stupid thing to do! Also, there is the danger that cpusage and similar companies will rip computer users off by not even paying out enough compensation to make up for the cost of the extra electricity they'd use every month. They ought to give users an idea of how energy efficient their computer(s) are and whether participating even makes sense. I don't think too many crunchers will want to be paid less than the running and purchase costs of their systems to web-crawl. Also, I 'hope' users will be allowed to have some say over who is renting their idle PC time. I don't want to help the CIA or Exxon-Mobil out, but I would like to help scientists trying to cure HIV and Alzheimer's. I dare say if the CIA wanted to use your computer you wouldn't know anything about it. ____________ FAQ's HOW TO: - Opt out of Beta Tests - Ask for Help | |
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Message boards : GPUGRID CAFE : cpusage.com - a BOINC for profit?
