Pages: [1]
ritterm
 
Tester - BOINCstats SOFA member
BAM!ID: 53610
Joined: 2008-06-03
Posts: 1771
Credits: 220,806,959
World-rank: 6,233

2008-10-03 19:47:14

Hi Fellow BOINCers,

I'm considering adding one or more projects and would like to know what other crunchers think of Einstein, Malaria, uFluids, and Lattice. Rather than the relative merit of what they're doing or the underlying science, I'm more interested in thoughts on how the project is run, problems, available work, admin response, etc. I've kept an eye on the websites' message boards and news, but would like to hear what folks here at BOINCstats think.

Thanks for your input!

MarkR
Rakarin
 
BAM!ID: 1019
Joined: 2006-05-30
Posts: 92
Credits: 0
World-rank: 0

2008-10-03 20:19:09

Hi Fellow BOINCers,
I'm considering adding one or more projects and would like to know what other crunchers think of Einstein, Malaria, uFluids, and Lattice. Rather than the relative merit of what they're doing or the underlying science, I'm more interested in thoughts on how the project is run, problems, available work, admin response, etc. I've kept an eye on the websites' message boards and news, but would like to hear what folks here at BOINCstats think.
Thanks for your input!
MarkR


I run Einstein and Malaria, on 32-bit Windows, 64-bit Linux, and Mac G5 (PowerPC, not Intel). I like both.

Einstein is stable. There is usually, but not always, work. The work units tend to be large. They start, crank for hours and hours, then report. Problems are rare. They have occurred (rarely), but usually the errors are silent and I find them after the fact. They also are pretty good about posting beta clients, if you know where to look on their site. I've rarely had issues with the beta clients. If credit is a big motivator to you, Einstein is also one of the most generous with credit per cobblestone. Einstein supports many platforms. It also has several different kinds of work unit, which have different computation time, so you cannot assume or say "most work units take 10-12 hours". Some models take 4-5 hours on my Linux box, some 30-35, but most 10-20.

Malaria (no PPC client) always has work. Always. Always always always. For me, it has also historically been one of the three buggiest projects. The bugs are not frequent, but they tend to be a bit more dramatic. If a malaria WU crashes, you have to acknowledge the error message (Windows only), and go through the "do you want to send an error report?" before the BOINC client will release it. That means the core it's using will sit idle until you acknowledge it, which I don't like. Old Malaria WU's would occasionally sink BOINC entirely, but it hasn't done that to me in a long time. Also, I stopped running the Java based data optimizer client. On my PC, the processes it would spawn would run at normal priority, and the processor drag would bring my PC to a crawl. I would have to halt all Malaria work until I was finished doing whatever I was doing. I disabled these work units a month or so after they were released, so I have not tried them lately. (This is similar to a problem I would also sometimes have with LHC@Home.) I was able to get into one of their open beta enrollments, so I've been using it for a while. The error rates have improved greatly over time. (Aside from the Java optimizer client, Windows only, it's become pretty stable on Windows on AMD Athlon 32-bit, Fedora Core Linux on AMD 64 bit, and Ubuntu Linux on Via C7-D 32-bit.) I would call it stable and recommend it, but it may crash on occasion. (I had a Windows Malaria WU crash last week, but none for moths before that.)

Both are good. Malaria WU's are much smaller. If you run Einstein, check the web site occasionally to make sure your results are checking OK. If you run Malaria, and you don't touch the PC often, check it occasionally for errors, as well as checking the web site.
mewbysea
BAM!ID: 30787
Joined: 2007-07-21
Posts: 13
Credits: 337,551,136
World-rank: 4,644

2008-10-04 13:52:11

I'll second (or third?) the comments on Einstein. Very stable, I think the only breaks in work flow were in the switches between runs -- very rare. Strong boards from users with good project interaction. Strongly recommend.

I've run Malaria on only Windows-based machines -- both XP and Vista (32-bit) -- and it has been very good. Lots of work, an ability to select the types of work you get, and good project interaction on pretty active boards. Malaria sets shorter deadlines than most projects (3-4 days vs. normally 1 week or longer), so it will tend to jump ahead of the pack to finish some work units. I have had a few of their developmental work units bomb out, but with just the typical "compute error" result. I've never seen it affect the rest of BOINC or the PC as Rakarin described. Strongly recommend.

I also run Lattice and they have good project interaction on their boards. Their work tends to come in batches, so there will be periods of no work available. Some of the GARLI work units can run very long (75 hours or more), and their credit value is scaled accordingly. You can choose not to get GARLI work units in your project preferences. Strongly recommend.

Sorry, no experience with uFluids. Enjoy whatever you choose to run.


Kenneth Larsen
BAM!ID: 18810
Joined: 2007-02-07
Posts: 10
Credits: 199,368,716
World-rank: 6,691

2008-10-04 18:21:48

I run uFluids from time to time, and it is an OK project, but nothing more. First, after several years of activity, they still don't have a Linux client, only Windows. Second, there are literally months when you don't hear ANY news from the project admins or developers, though WUs seem to continue to trickle out.
I haven't had any errors on the single Windows machine I have crunching this project.
Science papers do seem to come out from time to time, so some activity is going on behind the scenes at this project.

I won't tell you to stay away from uFluids, but Einstein and Malaria may well be better choices.
Martin Otis
BAM!ID: 47131
Joined: 2008-03-01
Posts: 40
Credits: 20,702,562
World-rank: 32,023

2008-10-11 21:02:11

I've just cancelled a uFluids wu because it block at 39% and restart and a new wu just arrive, don't know if it do the same pattern, i'm considering put a hold on this project...
Pages: [1]

Index :: The Projects :: General Impressions of Einstein, Malaria, uFluids, & Lattice
Reason: