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Message boards :
General discussion :
Long running work units
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I'm sure this has been asked before, and I should be able to find a thread on the topic, but I'm drawing a blank unfortunately.
I'm relatively new to PrimeGrid and I'm seeing my PC download work units that have no possibility of completing before the units expiry date, sometimes with a delta of several weeks.
What is the advice around how to handle these work units? If I let them run and they're submitted a month late is there any value at that point, either to the project or to my credit balance?
Many thanks,
Oliver | |
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The various executables have been modified to check on running tasks and to modify the deadlines as the need arises. Any work unit not started by the deadline will automatically be deleted and reassigned.
Either way you will not lose credit for credit started/in progress and/or for deleted units not started by the reporting deadline.
Aldo, you may wish to look into your BOINC settings in relation to how much should be downloaded since it also impacts possible discoveries and whether you are the first or simply the wingman.
Finally, the project preferences (left side of the page) will provide you with a good estimate of the runtime for the various subprojects. | |
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There is a trickle mechanism implemented so that, as long as units are in progress, the deadline can be extended quite generously. These tasks aren't really time dependant so there isn't a problem as such with returning late units.
Note that the time estimates in boinc can be quite a lot out before the unit is running. So they might not be as bad as seem once they get going.
Looking at the computer info, it looks like the processor is reasonable. The biggest CPU LLR unit is the Seventeen or Bust, and that'll take perhaps in the ball park of 2 days continuous running. The others are shorter but will still take a long time.
I'm not familiar with the CPU genefer unit, but suspect that could take a long time to run.
If you don't fancy waiting to see if they make it or not, you can just abort the units before they start. Before that, I'd suggest also going into the project options, where you can select which subprojects to run. The description indicates an average runtime for guidance. So if you prefer shorter units, you can just select those. Note that due to various bonuses, you generally get more credit per unit time if you do longer units. | |
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Thanks both. No concerns no the units taking a long time to run, so long as it is with purpose. It was a one of the recent world record units that rang bells for me, claiming it would take 230+ days to run, with a deadline around 45 days out.
I'll let them run. | |
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One note, the server changes the date but the client does not. So if the unit gets near the date it will go into different states on your client that may make you think it's bad, but it is not. First it will go into a high priority mode, then it will go in a past due mode, but just keep on going. You can check the task on your account and should see the expiry date change there.
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Thanks for that.
One more question.
If I set the "store at least" parameter to a small number of days does that have any effect on the specific work units that my client will download? i.e. if I set the client to store at least seven days of work will I still recieve the longer running work units that I'm looking for?
I'm guessing that the answer is in the "store at least" text, but it would be useful to confirm.
Cheers,
Oliver | |
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 Michael Goetz Volunteer moderator
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Thanks for that.
One more question.
If I set the "store at least" parameter to a small number of days does that have any effect on the specific work units that my client will download? i.e. if I set the client to store at least seven days of work will I still recieve the longer running work units that I'm looking for?
I'm guessing that the answer is in the "store at least" text, but it would be useful to confirm.
Cheers,
Oliver
That has no effect at all on which type of tasks you get. You select the type of task on the PrimGrid preferences webpage.
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Message boards :
General discussion :
Long running work units |
