Soon, hopefully this week, we'll be sending out a bunch of GARLI workunits to the entire population -- meaning, each host should get one copy of each workunit, whether you have a GPU or not. This is meant to be a sort of benchmarking, and also a test of the GPU version of GARLI. Update: the tests have commenced!
I upgraded the server software to version 6.7.0, which in limited testing seems to fix the aforementioned memory scheduling bug.
January 29, 2009 - GARLI Failures
As some of you realize, many of the recent GARLI workunits were erroneously sent to hosts without enough memory to crunch them. We're still looking into the cause of this problem. If you were affected, we apologize!
January 23, 2009 - New Work
Despite the fact that we're still waiting on a front end upgrade, we are issuing workunits for a couple of applications, GARLI and MARXAN. Many of the GARLI jobs will be memory intensive, requiring a minimum of 1.2G of RAM. Also, we expect approximately 38,000 MARXAN jobs some time next week.
December 16, 2008 - Upgrades
The server has been upgraded to RHEL5, and the BOINC server software has been upgraded to 6.3.14. Upgrading the web site is on hold until either our main web server is upgraded to RHEL5, or I get the OK to run the frontend on a different host. In any case, it should be soon.
December 1, 2008 - Downtime
We are upgrading our BOINC server to RHEL5, so the project will be temporarily unavailable for that. Shortly after that work is complete, I will be upgrading the server software, so you can expect still more downtime, so I will keep everyone posted!
October 9, 2008 - Spam Stinks
Attacks by a very persistent spammer have caused us to shut down account creation temporarily. Sorry for the inconvenience!
August 14, 2008 - MARXAN Returns
Completing the trifecta, MARXAN enters the fray...
August 11, 2008 - HMMPfam Returns
In what will be seen as a welcome respite from the recent batch of long-running and otherwise problematic GARLI jobs, we now have HMMPfam flowing into the system!
August 7, 2008 - RAM Upgrade
We are taking a brief downtime to upgrade the RAM in our main BOINC server from 2.5G to 8G! Hope this helps now and down the road.
July 3, 2008 - GARLI Codon Model Runs
The GARLI jobs currently in the system are going to take *much* longer than any we have run previously. Please see this thread for more details.
July 3, 2008 - Unexpected Outage, Part II
We are hopefully back online from an extended and unexpected outage. Many apologies to all those who were wondering what in the world was going on. A couple days turned into a week, and then several weeks as problems kept mounting. In any case, thanks for your patience!
June 6, 2008 - Unexpected Outage
Some days ago we experienced an HVAC failure which caused our main file server to overheat. We have since been working on fixing the problems that resulted, and are still in the process of doing so, but we hope to be back online and fully functional shortly. As for the outstanding work in the system, we'll just have to see how well the system recovers. Sorry for the extended absence!
May 15, 2008 - Results in Progress Dropping?
I've noticed our results in progress continues to drop despite a fair amount of work unsent. I have been unable to find an obvious reason on this end; has anyone running Windows been unable to pull down MARXAN jobs?
Please make a post about it. Thanks! Update: Having extended our workunit deadlines, I think this problem is resolved.
May 2, 2008 - Note about MARXAN
MARXAN is not a native BOINC application and as such doesn't do checkpointing or progress bar updates! Will make a note of this on the applications page.
April 26, 2008 - Fast CGI Woes
In attempting to upgrade to Fast CGI versions of the cgi/file_upload_handler programs, it seems we've broken file uploads. Update: I'm hoping this issue is resolved. However, please report any errors! (as usual)
April 17, 2008 - HMMPfam Compatibility Problem
A recent re-release of HMMPfam to change the way it reports some errors was not backwards compatible with Intel Macs running 10.4. I've just released a new version which should fix this problem. Sorry to those that were affected!
April 3, 2008 - MARXAN Jobs
In case you haven't already noticed, we've started sending some MARXAN jobs through the system. Look for more of these in the days to come!
March 24, 2008 - HMMPfam Jobs
A couple hundred HMMPfam cleanup batches are in the process of being submitted. This will be the first major test of the new file caching code, but hopefully no one notices!
March 19, 2008 - System Enhancements
I am in the process of rolling out some system enhancements, which should have a dramatic impact on the number of simultaneously running HMMPfam jobs we can allow, for example. We will mostly likely scale up this capacity gradually, but if you notice anything odd please don't hesitate to report it. Thanks!
March 11, 2008 - HMMPfam Jobs
It seems that all of the HMMPfam jobs for this massive batch have been submitted, and I will be letting the work trickle out of the system. There are some jobs that need to resubmitted, but I may investigate the results that seem to be stuck in the "Ready to Send" state first.
February 10, 2008 - Technical Difficulties (resolved?)
The problem with the feeder has hopefully been resolved...
February 9, 2008 - Technical Difficulties
Our feeder is mysteriously segfaulting so the project is down until I can get that fixed!
January 31, 2008 - Project Upgrade
I was in the middle of upgrading the server software when I realized that we really (really) need PHP5. I've reverted to what I think is the previous state until we can get PHP upgraded; but let me know if you notice anything odd.
January 9, 2008 - Scheduled Downtime
Due to a scheduled power outage, our BOINC server will be down from Friday afternoon, 1/11, to Saturday afternoon, 1/12, so please don't be alarmed!
December 19, 2007 - Latest HMMPfam Runs
1534 batches of 276 jobs (workunits) x2 results/WU = a whopping 846,768 results to crunch! This should keep us all busy for a while. For more information on HMMPfam, look here.
December 18, 2007 - The Lattice Project Makes The A-List
A new beta version of GARLI is being tested and has been released for our four supported platforms. Please inform us of any problems with the new version, thanks!
November 9, 2007 - HMMPfam Runs
Approximately 500 batches (x133 WUs each) of HMMPfam will be trickling in as they get crunched. We should have more information about this project on the research page soon.
October 10, 2007 - Choosing Applications
Some had asked for the ability to choose which applications they run. Well, now you have that option! If you're logged in, try this link. We hope that if your system meets the minimum requirements to run an application, you will decide to do so, but we provide this option to give our users additional control over the work they receive.
October 8, 2007 - Server Upgrade
The server upgrade is essentially complete, save for one feature. Please report any problems you notice or features that you think are missing. Thanks!
October 4, 2007 - Research Projects
A new page describes types of analyses run on The Lattice BOINC Project, applications used in those analyses, and specific project information. It's a work in progress! Head on over to Research Projects
October 3, 2007 - Server Upgrade
We are in the process of upgrading the server to version 6.1.0, so please report any problems you notice, especially with the web site. I will inform everyone when the upgrade is complete...
September 12, 2007 - Background and Introduction
A note to our faithful crunchers and potential newcomers: we are planning to improve the web site with better information about The Lattice BOINC Project. Hopefully this will serve to both satisfy curiosity and get everyone excited! So check out the new link, Background and Introduction
August 31, 2007 - Native GARLI Version
Finally, the day is at hand... a native version of GARLI has arrived! As a test, I will release the Windows version when the current work in the system finishes up (and I might remove some work prematurely). If all goes well, the other platforms will be right behind. Please let me know if you encounter any problems with the new version of GARLI (which should do checkpointing!)
August 22, 2007 - GARLI Update
The developer of GARLI is hard at work on a new version, which will include checkpointing. We hope to have this released next week! Thanks to everyone crunching for us...
July 31, 2007 - Native HMMPfam Version
A native BOINC version of HMMPfam has been released which does checkpointing and status bar updates. Hopefully it will improve throughput and user satisfaction! A native GARLI version is soon to follow, by the way...
July 9, 2007 - GARLI Trials
The deadline for these workunits has been made 5 days, and this should be enforced on any new workunits that are created.
July 5, 2007 - GARLI Trials
Soon we will be releasing some GARLI workunits into the wild. We have an experiment outlined that will require several thousand workunits crunched, in due time. Initially, HR will be turned off for GARLI.
June 28, 2007 - Turning On HR Once Again
Regretfully, we are turning on homogeneous redundancy for HMMPfam once again because there are simply too many inconsistencies, numerical and otherwise, that are causing results to be marked as invalid. Plans to release a native BOINC version are on hold pending developer time to work on a Windows version.
June 26, 2007 - Turning off HR
A new Windows version has been released which should correct some formatting differences in the output. Therefore, homogeneous redundancy has been turned off, but we will be monitoring any validation errors that occur. It's also worth mentioning that we are working on a wrapper-less, native BOINC version of HMMPfam that will do checkpointing. Stay tuned!
June 23, 2007 - Faster HMMPfam Versions Released
The 3x faster version of HMMPfam has been released for Windows. We are continuing to modify the source so that we may be able to turn off HR for this application eventually. We are approximately 40% of the way through this batch of work, but we are cutting off the flow of work into the system for a short time. Thanks for your continued interest in the project!
June 23, 2007 - Faster HMMPfam Versions Released
Versions of HMMPfam approximately 3x faster have been released for all platforms except Windows, which is soon to come.
June 21, 2007 - Settings Modified to Work Better with HR
I have increased the number of results available in the feeder's shared memory segment from 384 to 3840, so you should see the "there was work, but it was committed to other platforms" message more less frequently!
June 15, 2007 - Settings Modified to Work Better with HR
I have increased the number of results available in the feeder's shared memory segment from 100 to 384, and I've set it to purge stale WUs every ten minutes instead of every thirty. You should hopefully see the "there was work, but it was committed to other platforms" message less frequently now.
June 15, 2007 - Small Mishap
I just released a few workunits which contain an error that causes the HMMPfam application to terminate immediately, quite probably putting some of your clients into an endless loop. If you're affected, just reset your project, and my apologies.
June 13, 2007 - More HMMPfam On the Way
We have word that a batch of HMMPfam six times larger than the most recent batch is on its way. Look for it in the next couple of days!
June 13, 2007 - Latest News
All of the work for this batch is in the system. The output from the newly released Windows version differs slightly from the other platforms, unfortunately, so I'm going to turn homogeneous redundancy for HMMPfam back on at some point. For those whose results were marked invalid recently, we're sorry.
June 9, 2007 - Initial HMMPfam Tests
To all who participated in our first test, thanks. I also appreciate the feedback on the message boards. We have a second wave of work going in now that is approximately 16 times bigger than the first one, so it should keep everyone busy for a while! For information on this research, look here.
June 7, 2007 - Project URL Activated!
All, you should now point your clients to http://boinc.umiacs.umd.edu/. We will have a small to moderate amount of work in the system shortly. This will be our first test with public clients since the project was re-launched, so we'll see what happens. However, this is real data, not test data! Good luck, everybody.
June 4, 2007 - Account Creation Enabled
I didn't see a reason not to allow new accounts to be created at this point, so go right ahead, and post something if you encounter problems. However, do not try to attach to the project - it won't work just yet! I'll send another notice when the project URL is activated.
May 31, 2007 - Testing, testing...
We're currently trying out the new HMMPfam application. Hopefully within a couple of weeks we'll be ready to turn it loose on everyone. As the day draws near, we'll open up account creation again so all can get ready. Thanks for your patience and continued interest!
May 11, 2007 - There's Work in the Pipeline
Within a few weeks, we'll probably open up the project again in some limited capacity in order to test a new application, which is a part of the HMMER suite. This should give everyone something to look forward to!
April 17, 2007 - Hello, Everybody!
We've noticed you found the site. We are currently working on polishing up the site's features, so expect changes and things to break. We've disabled account creation and client connections for the time being. We may or may not reply to message board posts. And it's uncertain when real work will be flowing through the system again, but we'll keep you posted... Sincerely, The Lattice Project Team
