171.64.65.54

[7im]

It is now 07:00 GMT on 7/2/2012. I have been unable to return, or obtain a new WU, from 171.64.65.54 since very early on 7/1/2012. This would appear to be a repeat of the shutdown that occured on/about 6/17/2012. There was a time when one could feel that PG/Stanford would "go the extra mile' to ensure that the Folders would be allowed to return completed WUs as they finished. Are those days Gone? Is it now a Mon-Fri 9 to 5 operation? It does take the "fun" out of the FAH when you sense the Vitality is possibly leaving the Project.
Just Saying.

I don't think it's the vitality. Development of a new client like V7 seems rather vital... just seems like something is missing, like PG isn't getting a heads up about server problems like they used to... hmmmm. Or if PG is getting a heads up, they don't post updates as quickly or as often.

[csvanefalk]

Just out of curiosity, can you say how many work servers are available for machines running Ubuntu? This would be interesting for me to know - I am in the mid-early stages of building my own machine running Ubuntu, dedicated entirely to F@H.

An exact number, no. You could count the number from the Server Status page, but that is not really necessary. There are at least several dozen work servers listed as having work for Linux machines, how many would have work for your machine would depend on its configuration.

The count of WS for OS X and version 6 is easy because there is only one WS for that combination. That is because the OS X V6 client only supports use of the A3 folding core. There are other servers with A3 work, but the projects on them require a later version of the A3 core that has not been made available for OS X. The software development effort for OS X folding has been put towards the V7 beta instead, but there are issues with it that are still being worked on. The issues are currently relatively minor if and only if the V7 beta is used with OS X 10.6, totally unusable with 10.5 and earlier, and very problematic with 10.7.

I was under the impression that the servers were OS-agnostic? Aren't they only concerned of what kind of slots each client has available? Wouldn't an SMP project run on any platform with an SMP slot, no matter if the underlying OS is Ubuntu, OSX or Win7?

[7im]

Check the source for that impression... Some are, some are not.

Look at the server status page. Each server has an W, L, and/or X as an OS designation. Not all have WLX. Some are WL only, etc.

[Joe_H]

I was under the impression that the servers were OS-agnostic? Aren't they only concerned of what kind of slots each client has available? Wouldn't an SMP project run on any platform with an SMP slot, no matter if the underlying OS is Ubuntu, OSX or Win7?

Only some servers and projects are as you put it "OS-agnostic". But that requires folding clients and the folding cores being available for all OS's. An obvious example where that does not hold is GPU folding which is only available on Windows. There are other cases, this server happens to be one. It is currently the only one serving projects that use the version 2.22 core A3 to process. If you check the server status pages, you will find that it is set to only provide work to OS X systems. Other A3 projects require a later version of the core, version 2.27. That was released only for Linux and Windows machines for whatever reason.

The other issue is that development of the V6 client for OS X ended with version 6.29.3. That will not handle the A4 core, that takes a later version of 6 or the version 7 beta. For reasons already mentioned V7 is not yet an option for many OS X folders. Many OS X folders are waiting on V7, that brings the possibility of folding a number of projects using the A4 core.

As for the server itself, the status has gone from Down to Reject. That means they have at least got the hardware back up and running. Whatever else needs doing is possibly under way, but it is a weekend.

[kasson]

Hardware is back up, but one of the key files got corrupted--we keep *very* frequent backups and are restoring, but it requires manual intervention.

[kasson]

Ok--server should be back up now.

[Aardvark]

Thanks for the info, kasson. The server has just picked up my complete WU and supplied new work

[Joe_H]

Good, I have a WU waiting to upload on my MacBook at home. I switched it back to using the V7 client yesterday after shutting down V6, will have to send it when I get home this evening.

[TomJohnson]

Dr. Kasson,
Thanks for the info and getting us Mac Users back to Folding again.
I am the one requesting a Connection on LinkedIn.

[TomJohnson]

This Server is DOWN again, again, again ............

[Ravage7779]

This server has never been known for its reliability. A working OS X v7 client would allow everyone to get off of it, or an updated v6 core at the least would allow for other server options...

[kasson]

The machine is down, and I've put in a request to the sysadmins to reboot it. I agree that a good updated OS/X client and core would solve a lot of problems, and I'd love to see one. (My current time for code development is limited due to the fact that I'm running a research group and vastly oversubscribed at the moment, so I can't personally make this happen.)

[Aardvark]

For the 3rd time, in an elapsed one month time span, 171.64.65.54 is unable to receive completed WUs. I have a WU that just completed and it can not be delivered. It would seem that this situation is causing not only lost time for the Folders but also added expenses to the PG/Stanford due to the required reissue of WUs that are not "officially" received. Is it unreasonable for us Folders to expect some comment from PG as to just what the PLAN is???

I understand, and appreciate, that Dr. kasson is "between a rock and a hard place" on this issue. Maybe it is time to summon the Fire Brigade.

[kasson]

Server is up and running.

[Aardvark]

And my WU was just accepted and new work assigned. The sun did rise today