... continued from wibble ...
Distributed computing is one of the most significant technologies to arise from the widespread use of the internet. It allows a large number of computers to work toward a common goal. Many of you have heard of the Seti@Home distributed computing project; the largest of its kind. However, there is another project that you may not have heard as much about; Folding@Home.
Instead of processing radio data in hopes of finding distant civilizations (noble, but unlikely), Folding@Home computes the numerous configurations of protiens and how they move from one to the other; or Fold. This data has real-world implications to the medical community. Providing information critical to the search for new cures, new medicines, and giving researchers a better understanding of life, as it exists on this planet.
A better explanation, and more details can be found at the projects' home page:
All you need to start contributing your spare CPU cycles to the cause is the Linux Client software. This small program runs in the background without interfering with your work -- It only uses the CPU, when no other programs need it.
Start by downloading the Linux Console Client from:
You'll notice that there is no fancy screensaver like those available for Windows... Some may see this as a drawback, but I personally don't miss it. And since the client software runs contiinuously, you can still run your normal screensaver.
There are generally two ways to install the client software: as a user, or as root. Installing as a user is ok for testing, but when you're ready for everyday use, I'd recommend installing as root.
To install in normal user mode:
- create a directory in you home directory: mkdir ~/fah
- copy the client to that directory: cp FAH4Console-Linux.exe ~/fah
- make sure the client has exec permissions: chmod +x ~/fah/FAH4Console-Linux.exe
Now whenever you want to run the Folding@Home client, simply open a terminal window, move to the client directory, then execute ./FAH4Console-Linux.exe. Don't let the .exe fool you, it's not a Windows executable (I don't like the extension either). The reason the client should have its own directory is that it downloads and creates several 'work' files that need to exists for the program to function correctly. And it's best to keep them all in one place.
However, this type of install won't run on boot, and will only run when the user is logged in. For a cleaner install, we'll need to switch to root:
- switch to root: su
- create a directory for the client software: mkdir /opt/fah
- copy the client software to that directory: cp FAH4Console-Linux.exe /opt/fah
- make sure the client software has exec permissions: chmod +x /opt/fah/FAH4Console-Linux.exe
So far, pretty much the same as the normal user installation. Now we need to set it to execute on boot.
- add the following line to your /etc/rc.local
cd /opt/fah; /opt/fah/FAH4Console-Linux.exe > /opt/fah/myfah.log &
This should execute the Folding@Home client in the background (hence the '&') at boot and forward all messeges to /opt/fah/myfah.log. The prepended 'cd /opt/fah;' *should* run the client from the proper directory, so that the work files don't end up in the top level directory '/'. However, if I'm wrong, let me know.
If installing as root, you need to run the client once before it will run on boot:
- change to the client directory: cd /opt/fah
- run the configuration routine: ./FAH4Console-Linux.exe -config
This will create the config files needed to run correctly.
Don't forget to edit your client.cfg file!
Change your team number to: 37988
for the FedoraFolders
You can view your current info by opening the file /opt/fah/MyFolding.html
in your web browser.
Hopefully this little howto will provide some insight into getting this nifty little piece of software up and running. If any info I've provided is incorrect, vague or mispelled, go to ... er, I mean, let me know