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Folding@Home configuration FAQ
INTRODUCTION The Folding@Home client can be configured in several different ways. The reason for this range of configurations is to make it possible for donors to choose the amount of resources they choose to donate to Folding@Home. Below, we list some of the configuration switches and their impact on the FAH client. Please note that certain switches will lead to experimental projects, which will be much less stable or more complex and are not intended for machines in environments where the machine stability or usability is a primary concern (eg corporate environments). Also, note that the high performance clients (SMP, GPU, etc) by design use a lot of resources and should only be run on machines which can tolerate heavy use. Several settings or flags will lead to projects with bonus points. Please note that bonus points are a reward for the resource demands that may be placed on your system or complexity of the WUs. WUs with a bonus are not suited for machines in high reliability environments and should only be used with caution and strong familiarity with FAH. They should never be used on machines that are not monitored regularly. Bonus points may be adjusted or withdrawn at any time.
GENERAL SETTINGS The default configuration (no flags): the most stable way to run FAH is without any flags and with the default answers to the client configuration settings. One will get a variety of work units. The majority of disease related work units are assigned to clients without any flags.
SETTINGS UNIQUE TO THE VERSION 5.0x CLIENT Combining advanced methods and BigWU: this combination unlocks the most demanding work units, including QMD and very large RAM and/or download WUs. We do not suggest this setting for a machine which is not readily administered, as this setting is the most demanding and would likely require more donor intervention than any other setting. To compensate for this, these WUs have a large bonus. The donor should monitor the client regularly and report unusual situations to the folding community forum (http://forum.folding-community.org). THIS COMBINATION SHOULD BE ONLY USED WITH EXTREME CAUTION AND FAMILIARITY WITH FAH -- THERE WILL BE HUGE DEMANDS ON THE CLIENT MACHINE, INCLUDING (BUT NOT LIMITED TO) RAM, HARD DRIVE, NETWORK CONNECTION. Bonus points are awarded due to these increased demands. Also, please note that work unit availability is based on the current projects that are running. If you choose to use -advmethods, BigWU, or the combination of both, it does not guarantee that you will get a specific type of work unit all of the time. These work units, like all others, come and go depending on the research we are doing. If an advanced, QMD, or BigWU project is not available, you will be assigned to another server that may give you a work unit that does not carry bonus points.
SPECIAL ISSUES Computers with multiple CPUs (SMP) are supported under FAH in two ways. For Intel-based Macs and x86 PC's running linux, there is a special SMP client. For other machines, one can use multiple processors by running multiple clients (one for each CPU). This is clearly non-ideal and better support is under development. There are certain caveats of using SMP boxes with special flags. Do not run multiple clients with each set to the most aggressive settings (bigWU + adv), as this can overwhelm most computers. Instead, we suggest bigWU+adv on one client and the default settings on the other(s). In situations where reliability, stability, and/or responsiveness a premium, we suggest either all clients with the default settings or just one client with the big WU enabled. Slower computers or computers which spend only of a fraction of the day on FAH should run with "timeless" or deadlineless work units. These work units are designed to not require a deadline time for return, and thus are well suited to these types of machines. In the GUI, deadlineless WUs can be selected in the config panel. Do not use the -advmethods flag or the bigWU setting with this setting.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE SEE
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