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If you've been watching the YURT Design Thread (and even if you haven't), the YURT program is about ready for prime time. In the next week, I'd like to collect about 25 beta testers for a wider test release before we call the thing finished.
What's YURT?
YURT is an idea that enhanced08 had to collect statistical information from Folding at Home clients. The program sends information about your machine -- processor info, memory, clock speed, and so on -- to a database. It also monitors your FAH clients to watch them complete work. As work units and frames finish, the program sends completion information to the site so the amount of time spent completing a given protein is tallied for each machine configuration.
The database has a website front end, where you can view a variety of reports to see how fast your machine is, how much work its doing, how often different proteins complete, and so on. How fast are Intel machines compared to AMD machines? How fast is a 3000+ compared to a 3400+? Does L2 cache make a difference? Which proteins are fastest? Which are the most popular these days? What kind of machines are participating in the project? Who has the most memory?
And so on... In fact, there's probably plenty of interesting reports we haven't written yet, but will do so as we start collecting more data and get user requests.
YURT doesn't cost anything to use. After installed, it runs as a service. It requires Windows; specifically, one of these versions or newer:
In respose to enhanced08's solicitations, I stepped up to write the code. It's almost done; it needs some more testing, but we're ready to release what we think is version 1. The testing part is where we need your help the most.
What is a Beta Tester?
A good beta tester is someone who understand computers well, and knows something about the application being tested. They take the time to read the manual and provide coherent feedback on it. They observe what the program does and comment on how it might be made better.
When errors or crashes happen, they don't freak-out: they collect all the information they can and report the problem so that it can be fixed. They work with the developer (me!) to get the problem reproduced, understood, and addressed.
They don't give copies of the beta to their friends who are outside of the beta program. A good beta tester realizes that beta testing is a responsibility, not a status symbol. Beta testers don't use illegal copies of Windows.
They try to put the program through its paces as a normal user would, and for this application, that's "set it and forget it". They also play around and explore, trying to break the program. They look at the features and suggest ideas for new ones, but don't throw a tantrum when their idea is punted to the next release.
Beta testers try out the software on a variety of hardware.
When and Where?
If you're interested in being a beta tester, please send an email to yurt at blaszczak.com and explain what you'll do to help. Or, make a post here with your information. Don't hesitate to ask any questions you can think of.
After I select the testers, they'll have a week (or two) to run and use the software. I'll try to fix whatever problems are reported, and we'll go from there. If we don't find anything super serious, we'll probably call YURT done and release 1.0 to everyone, take a break, then get busy on 2.0. Don't bother to beta test if you're going to be travelling, busy, offline, or indisposed over the next three weeks or so.
I'll expect to take a week making a list of testers, then send out the beta on the weekend of April 29. The beta will go out on May 6th (unlikely, since that's a race weekend), shortly thereafter (more likely) or the weekend of May 13th (less likely, though possible if someone finds a juicy bug). I figure the beta will last less than two weeks.
What's YURT?
YURT is an idea that enhanced08 had to collect statistical information from Folding at Home clients. The program sends information about your machine -- processor info, memory, clock speed, and so on -- to a database. It also monitors your FAH clients to watch them complete work. As work units and frames finish, the program sends completion information to the site so the amount of time spent completing a given protein is tallied for each machine configuration.
The database has a website front end, where you can view a variety of reports to see how fast your machine is, how much work its doing, how often different proteins complete, and so on. How fast are Intel machines compared to AMD machines? How fast is a 3000+ compared to a 3400+? Does L2 cache make a difference? Which proteins are fastest? Which are the most popular these days? What kind of machines are participating in the project? Who has the most memory?
And so on... In fact, there's probably plenty of interesting reports we haven't written yet, but will do so as we start collecting more data and get user requests.
YURT doesn't cost anything to use. After installed, it runs as a service. It requires Windows; specifically, one of these versions or newer:
- Windows 2000, Service Pack 3 and later (except Datacenter Server)
- Windows XP SP1 and later
- Windows Server 2003 SP1 and later
In respose to enhanced08's solicitations, I stepped up to write the code. It's almost done; it needs some more testing, but we're ready to release what we think is version 1. The testing part is where we need your help the most.
What is a Beta Tester?
A good beta tester is someone who understand computers well, and knows something about the application being tested. They take the time to read the manual and provide coherent feedback on it. They observe what the program does and comment on how it might be made better.
When errors or crashes happen, they don't freak-out: they collect all the information they can and report the problem so that it can be fixed. They work with the developer (me!) to get the problem reproduced, understood, and addressed.
They don't give copies of the beta to their friends who are outside of the beta program. A good beta tester realizes that beta testing is a responsibility, not a status symbol. Beta testers don't use illegal copies of Windows.
They try to put the program through its paces as a normal user would, and for this application, that's "set it and forget it". They also play around and explore, trying to break the program. They look at the features and suggest ideas for new ones, but don't throw a tantrum when their idea is punted to the next release.
Beta testers try out the software on a variety of hardware.
When and Where?
If you're interested in being a beta tester, please send an email to yurt at blaszczak.com and explain what you'll do to help. Or, make a post here with your information. Don't hesitate to ask any questions you can think of.
After I select the testers, they'll have a week (or two) to run and use the software. I'll try to fix whatever problems are reported, and we'll go from there. If we don't find anything super serious, we'll probably call YURT done and release 1.0 to everyone, take a break, then get busy on 2.0. Don't bother to beta test if you're going to be travelling, busy, offline, or indisposed over the next three weeks or so.
I'll expect to take a week making a list of testers, then send out the beta on the weekend of April 29. The beta will go out on May 6th (unlikely, since that's a race weekend), shortly thereafter (more likely) or the weekend of May 13th (less likely, though possible if someone finds a juicy bug). I figure the beta will last less than two weeks.
