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Brendonshire · May 20, 2002, 07:41 PM

There is a new client that may be released very soon Beta 3.0. This client sports a new core, and is supposed to utilize Altivec. The new client is tied in with genome@home. Hopefully this will be a short Beta period.

Join the Fold!!

Shaktai · May 20, 2002, 08:01 PM

Darn, you scooped me on that one. Well anyways, here are some of the details. -- The Beta could be released as soon as this week.

1. Better user security. There is now extra protection for users running Folding@Home (we use schemes similar to SSH [a public/private key infrastructure] for maxmimal security).

2. New scientific cores. We have integrated Genome@Home into the F@H infrastructure. Soon, the F@H 3.x client will allow one to choose which project (and eventually, sub parts of the project).

3. Faster scientific cores. Our new MD core (based on Gromacs) is considerably faster (10x to 20x).

4. Better network compatibility. We now be able to transmit packets over HTTP port 80 if needed. The last firewall problems should be solved.

5. Improved client. There are lots of miscellaneous fixes to the client, including a completely overhauled graphics engine, better configuration, etc.

No certainty on Altivec, but they are still looking at it, and the new core may make it possible. It would be real cool if both F@H and G@H were altivec enabled.

Shaktai · May 20, 2002, 08:27 PM

Also, from the Genome at Home folks, their news release.

Genome@home 2.0 to merge with Folding@home 3.0

The Genome@home project is proud to announce that we will be combining forces with Folding@home, our sister project at the Pande Group. The Genome@home protein design algorithm (specifically the 2.0 version, which has been under development for several months now) will be included as a F@h3.0 scientific "core", which will allow F@h and G@h users to run both projects from the same client. The original Genome@home project (i.e. version 0.99, soon to be referred to as "G@h Classic") will continue as a separate project indefinitely. Current G@h users need not switch to the new F@h3.0 client, but are encouraged to do so, as very little further development will take place on G@h Classic. The vast majority of new work will take place within the new F@h3.0 architecture. User and team statistics from G@h Classic will not be integrated into F@h3.0 and vice-versa. The two will exist as separate distributed computing research projects.

SkiBikeSki · May 20, 2002, 08:33 PM

If we got two Alti-Vec enabled clients for the price of one, that'd be-unbeleivable. The F@H or G@H teams would get tons of power when RC5 finishes.

Scotttheking · May 20, 2002, 08:39 PM

One thing is for sure, anyone who is running genome right now, stop, since it's not gonna help the team at all.

reader50 · May 20, 2002, 08:55 PM

From the wording, it remains unclear if crunching on the Genome core will produce stats in Folding or in the existing Genome stats. I checked their forums and the Folding site FAQ for FH3, as well as the news from both projects.

If it becomes clear that Mac users cannot crunch into the existing Genome stats, they will have to be abandoned. But we may have to wait on the beta client to find that out.

Shaktai · May 20, 2002, 10:38 PM

Originally posted by Scotttheking:
One thing is for sure, anyone who is running genome right now, stop, since it's not gonna help the team at all.

I was just re-reading what I posted, and you are right. The Genome Classic will be a different stand along project from Genome & Folding combined. That's okay though. I haven't had much opportunity to crunch on Genome and jbcool dropped it after he was well past me in the lead, to put his power on F@H.

There was some discussion about combining F@H & G@H stats with the combined client, but I have never seen anything definitive on it. Come to think about it, though, that might put us on even ground with all the other Genome teams outside of the "classic" project.

Fresh start, new beginning and all that, and the ability to be one of the top teams from the outcome. Hmmm! It sounds interesting.

jbcool · May 20, 2002, 11:32 PM

Originally posted by Shaktai:


I was just re-reading what I posted, and you are right. The Genome Classic will be a different stand along project from Genome & Folding combined. That's okay though. I haven't had much opportunity to crunch on Genome and jbcool dropped it after he was well past me in the lead, to put his power on F@H.

Fresh start, new beginning and all that, and the ability to be one of the top teams from the outcome. Hmmm! It sounds interesting.

Hmmm! This does sound interesting.

Shaktai I will leave it up to you to let me know when this happens so I can make sure it doesn't take me more than two day to get ahead of you.

You are such a good sport. I fill the tanks on my flame thrower back up to cover your trail.

reader50 · May 20, 2002, 11:33 PM

Shaktai, I'm not sure which way the stats will go. The wording could be interpreted either way.

Originally posted by Scotttheking:
One thing is for sure, anyone who is running genome right now, stop, since it's not gonna help the team at all.

Er, Genome 0.99 may or may not help our Team's stats. But if you find Genome 0.99 a worthwhile cause, I have no objections. DC = team competition, individual competition, fun, and ... supporting projects that one likes.

Shaktai · May 21, 2002, 12:50 AM

Originally posted by reader50:
Shaktai, I'm not sure which way the stats will go. The wording could be interpreted either way.

Er, Genome 0.99 may or may not help our Team's stats. But if you find Genome 0.99 a worthwhile cause, I have no objections. DC = team competition, individual competition, fun, and ... supporting projects that one likes.

True, we will just have to wait and see. I don't think it is going to be a problem though. All three members of the Genome Classic team, are off doing other stuff now. Between Dist Fold, F@H and whatever else, Genome Classic has been put on the back burner.

Shaktai · May 21, 2002, 01:12 AM

Out of curiosity, I posted a query regarding the stats question over in the F@H forums -- http://forum.folding-community.org/viewforum.php?f=4

Have to see if we get any kind of a response.

Shaktai · May 21, 2002, 05:03 AM

This thread at Team Phoenix Rising gives an explanation by Stefan of Genome@Home, of the new Folding/Genome client and how it will work stats wise:
http://forums.teamphoenixrising.net/...;threadid=6697

In essence, the new client will initially have at least three scientific cores, one of which will be genome. The intitial client will not let you select, but future versions will. Units received from the new client, irregardless of the scientific core will count toward Folding@Home stats.

[b]UPDATE: I had to share this before hitting the sack: Altivec at last[/u]

Gromacs (the new scientific code) is built for speed. Everything about it has been optimized to be the very fastest MD code on the planet. For example, it uses the SSE instructions on Pentiums to get a 3x speed increase. 3D-Now! is supported on AMD chips. Altivec is supported on Macs.

To read the whole story go to: http://folding.stanford.edu/gromacs.html

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[ 05-21-2002: Message edited by: Shaktai ]

SkiBikeSki · May 21, 2002, 03:50 PM

Sweet Jesus, Yes! Now my G4 and Athlon XP will really have a place to show off their speed! Especially the G4!

Shaktai · May 21, 2002, 05:30 PM

Originally posted by SkiBikeSki:
Sweet Jesus, Yes! Now my G4 and Athlon XP will really have a place to show off their speed! Especially the G4!

Linux and Windows beta clients are available now. Still no OS-X beta. It doesn't look like the new science code is coming down the pipeline yet. Still getting Core65.exe.

Shaktai · May 21, 2002, 09:53 PM

A really good FAQ from the Genome@Home perspective is available at http://gah.stanford.edu/faq2.html.

It is a worhwhile read and explains the stats situation and combined client pretty well. It also seems clear that there will never be a "Genome Classic" Mac client.

I agree with Scott, that there is no real sense to continue to crunch on that project, if we will never see a Mac Client. Better to focus on Folding@Home with its combined Genome Client. However if someone, really wanted to crunch on the Genome Classic project, the team is there and they could do so.

reader50 · May 21, 2002, 10:13 PM

It sure looks like there will be no Mac client. I was about to turn on Weekly stats and Personals. That's on hold now, until and unless something comes out about a Mac client.

Shaktai · May 23, 2002, 01:04 AM

Originally posted by reader50:
It sure looks like there will be no Mac client. I was about to turn on Weekly stats and Personals. That's on hold now, until and unless something comes out about a Mac client.

Glad we found out before you did all the work. That is one less thing on your to do list.

Shaktai · May 27, 2002, 10:48 PM

Tuesday, May 28th, is supposed to be the roll out date for the new "Gromack" scientific cores. It I understand correctly, this is the new "super fast science core" (10x - 20x) that takes advantage of things like 3D Now, Altivec, etc. Apparently while the new FAH3 beta clients provided about a 10% speed boost with the old cores, this is due mostly due to just cleaner code and maybe new compilers.

The new science cores are supposed to be the ones that get the big speed boosts. Also the new Gromack cores will be compatible with both FAH2 and FAH3 clients, so Mac users won't have to wait to get a speed boost.

If they get the new cores rolled out before noon Pacific time, I hope to be able to test them on my Macs, Linux and Windows boxes, and maybe provide some quick benchmarks by late Wednesday or Thursday. Wednesday night or Thursday morning, I will be moving everything back over to dFold for Casp 5, but am anxious to test the new FAH cores first and see how they compare across platforms.

ianxwin · May 28, 2002, 02:38 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Shaktai:
Tuesday, May 28th, is supposed to be the roll out date for the new "Gromack" scientific cores.
<hr /></blockquote>I see there is a new version 2.20, this sounds a bit incremental - I'm running 2.19b at present.
Ian

Shaktai · May 29, 2002, 01:25 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by ianxwin:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Shaktai:
Tuesday, May 28th, is supposed to be the roll out date for the new "Gromack" scientific cores.
<hr /></blockquote>I see there is a new version 2.20, this sounds a bit incremental - I'm running 2.19b at present.
Ian<hr /></blockquote>Verison 2.20 is just a minor upgrade to the client. It has no impact on the Science core. When the client downloads a work unit, it also downloads the latest science core. Gromacks is the new science core. Vijay said it would be released today, but it didn't appear. The new core will improve performance dramtically across the board, and may see additional performance boosts on G4's (we hope) This new core will allow FAH to do research that previously was not possible or practical. Information on the new Gromacs core can be found at: <a href="http://folding.stanford.edu/gromacs.html" target="_blank">http://folding.stanford.edu/gromacs.html</a>