Where to start? New to this

T

Teecee

Gawd
Joined
May 31, 2005
Messages
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I have several computers at my beck and call. I have 10-20 Dell Poweredge 2650-2850s with Xeons, some dual core, some dual CPU, and several quad core desktops. Most of these machines run Windows XP/Vista/2003. I would like to start folding because these servers are idling most of the time. I do NOT want to do anything that will affect my users. So I was thinking of maybe setting up the folding client to run only at certain times of the day, or maybe run 24/7 but during production hours I can somehow limit how much cpu the folding client has access too. I would prefer it not to run at all between 7 am and 5 pm to be honest.

Is there a way to do this? Also there are SO many client guides, some for SMP, some for quad core, it is pretty confusing for someone new to the folding scene. Some even say I should load vmware on my windows box and then install a vmware session of ubuntu and install the client there. Pretty confusing. So maybe someone can help me.

Lets say I have 15 servers, they have 1 or 2 Xeon 3ghz cpus, running windows 2003 enterprise server. Lets say I want the client to work from 5pm until 7 am. And at 7 am I want it to stop running completely. I also have 4 quad core desktop pcs, that I want to install the client on to run during the same hours. I know how to install stuff as a server and I know how to schedule things to stop and start services via batch files and windows scheduler.

But what client should I get? The console or gui one? The SMP one? Where do I download the SMP one? I would be glad to help this project out but I do need a little assistance. It is almost like there is TOO much info out there on how to set things up.
 
I'd run the console version and I'd leave it running 24/7 - your users would never notice, trust me. The clients are so well designed to only use idle resources, you will not notice much of a difference. On my main rig, I have several clients running all the time and can still game quite well.

 
Welcome to the [H]orde guys!!!

Great to have you here.... bunch of great people here, hope you hang around for a while!!

 
Well a little update. I found the SMP client, and did the 5.92 update. I am doing this all on my quad core desktop pc. When I do a fah.exe -configonly I put in all the info, my username, 33, etc. Then I run fah.exe, I see it is using all 4 cores right now. Is the SMP suppose to use all four cores with 1 instance of FAH running?
 
I am wondering about running this on my servers during work hours. I use Cacti to monitor my servers to see how much use they are getting during production hours to see if they are in need to be upgraded replace. So running this during production hours will throw off my reports. So turning this on and off at certain times is ideal for my servers.
 
Hmmm, another thing I have noticed. When I run fah on my two quad core desktops, and I use synergy to control both computers via one keyboard and mouse. If I go to the client computer, mouse movement is VERY slow. If I turn off FAH on the synergy server, things run smooth again....
 
Teecee said:
I am wondering about running this on my servers during work hours. I use Cacti to monitor my servers to see how much use they are getting during production hours to see if they are in need to be upgraded replace. So running this during production hours will throw off my reports. So turning this on and off at certain times is ideal for my servers.
Click to expand...

If you want to turn it on an off take a look here, I just found this on another forum:

http://fahwiki.net/index.php/FoldingAtWork

 
Welcome!

Be sure to grab a badge a few hours after your first WU has turned in :cool:

 
Teecee said:
Well a little update. I found the SMP client, and did the 5.92 update. I am doing this all on my quad core desktop pc. When I do a fah.exe -configonly I put in all the info, my username, 33, etc. Then I run fah.exe, I see it is using all 4 cores right now. Is the SMP suppose to use all four cores with 1 instance of FAH running?
Click to expand...

You should see all four cores running yes. Something many people who start using SMP style programs don’t understand is core usage. Typically expect to see something between 17 and 23 % usage on each core.

Computer resource indicators don’t read like people would logically think they should so you won’t see 100% usage per core on a dual or quad CPU.

Logic would make you think you should be running more work to take advantage of all the power so folks tend to want to run more clients to up the usage reading thinking they will get more done. The truth is logic in this case is computer logic not human logic. If you look in Task Manager Drop down to idle processes and that little bit is what’s really available and that is a pretty small percentage.

If you haven’t already, add the –forceasm flag to the shortcut you use to start fah.exe. Folding starts with this flag assumed but if something glitches for what ever reason the program is designed to auto drop the command. By using it the command like you ensure the client can’t drop the command simply because you re-booted or took some other action.

I strongly suggest you run a small program that runs as a service called Affinity manager. This clever little program will optimize the client core relationship and give you a bit more output. I’m sure the link is here some where but if you can’t find it PM me and I’ll email you the 32 and 64 bit version.

Enjoy and have a ball folding and always keep in mind like any good drug, this becomes an unstoppable addiction.

Luck;)


 
Does the SMP version know how many cores you have and starts the appropriate number of sessions?
 
Teecee said:
Does the SMP version know how many cores you have and starts the appropriate number of sessions?
Click to expand...

It runs 4 processes. If you have 2 cores it just has 2 per core up, no harm.

There are those of us that run 2X SMP clients on our Quad boxen to squeeze every last drop out of them. For some reason (Tiger or BillR can explain better) One SMP instance ( 4 processes) runs best per 2 cores.

One must have enough RAM to support this and enough clock speed to make sure you hit the preferred deadlines.

 
Teecee said:
Hmmm, another thing I have noticed. When I run fah on my two quad core desktops, and I use synergy to control both computers via one keyboard and mouse. If I go to the client computer, mouse movement is VERY slow. If I turn off FAH on the synergy server, things run smooth again....
Click to expand...

Try to set F@H to use 90% of your CPU.

 
Teecee said:
Can I run a SMP client on a single core CPU?
Click to expand...
I never attempted it, but I believe the SMP client won't install when only a single core is present. It won't be sufficient to complete the WUs in time anyway.

 
I also read something about not meeting the preferred deadline. Should any non multi core system I just run the normal NON SMP client on just to be safe. Like some of my machines are single core 2.8-3.2 Xeons. Should I run the SMP or normal client on those?
 
Teecee said:
I also read something about not meeting the preferred deadline. Should any non multi core system I just run the normal NON SMP client on just to be safe. Like some of my machines are single core 2.8-3.2 Xeons. Should I run the SMP or normal client on those?
Click to expand...
Systems with one core total should only run the standard client. Systems with two cores or more, whether they are on one CPU or two CPUs can run the SMP client but it will depend on architecture and clock speed whether or not they meet the preferred deadline. Making the preferred deadline assures that Stanford does not reassign the WU to another computer. If that happens, overall speed of the DC project slows down. You can run the SMP client beyond the preferred deadline, but the aforementioned consequences will transpire. Post any prospective system specs and someone here will be better able to determine plausible completion times.
 
If I had a Q6600, would it be best to run two VMware sessions and install my SMP client that way rather than just have the SMP client installed on the host OS?
 
Teecee said:
If I had a Q6600, would it be best to run two VMware sessions and install my SMP client that way rather than just have the SMP client installed on the host OS?
Click to expand...

It used to be that running twin VM's gave around 10-15% more PpD than running twin Windoze SMP clients.
But with the latest client plus affinity changer the gap is a lot smaller.

Upside of running twin VM's are ...........
The client is independent of the intranet.
So it does not matter if the network goes dowm, etc, etc, the client still crunches on.
Its easy to stop one without looseing the other one.
When shutting one client down when running twin Windoze SMP ones, you have a risk that the other one will crash and loose all it work.

Downside ...............
Because the clients are running inside the VM's, they don't throttle back when other work comes along.
Makes not difference if its a pure folding box.

I have my clients running inside VM's for the pure stability reason.

Luck ................ :D
 
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