Boinc

Introduction

BOINC is an application that uses your server's idle computer time to process information sent to it from other servers that you signed up to, in order to do many types of scientific research. These may range from climate change to artificial intelligence, and even the LHC accelerator.

A perhaps more well known project would be the World Community Grid. The World Community Grid researches ways to cure cancer, and sends computers protein structures to analyze. After analysis, computers send back the results and the WCG servers try to "piece them together". WCG details, and WCG FAQ can be found at these links.

Installation

In the terminal, using either an attached monitor, VNC, or SSHing in using Putty, type the following:

bash code
​​ yum install boinc-client boinc-manager​

When prompted, hit "y" for 'yes' to agree to install the software.

Starting the BOINC Manager

The BOINC manager can be found under Applications-->System Tools-->BOINC Manager

Customizing the BOINC Manager

To set up specific time frames during which the server will donate it's resources (for example, at night), open up BOINC manager, go to "Preferences" at the bottom, check the lone check box, and select your times.

Adding Projects

Once the manager is open, click "Add Project" (Next to "My Projects")

A list of projectswith their descriptions and a more complete version can be used to find a potential project you would like to donate your computer resources to.

Troubleshooting

• 'My manager is open, but it refuses to receive anything'
  • In my case, this was a result of not having the server itself running. To resolve, go to System-->Administration-->Services. Once the window shows up, click on 'boinc-client', and then "Enable" and after that "Start" it. Your server should now be receiving projects from the groups you signed up to.