Grid.org NEWS ! ! !

[Nflight]

Posted December 11, 2006

Greetings and Happy Holidays!

First of all, on behalf of United Devices I’d like to thank each and every one of you for your steadfast support of this unique, invaluable resource. For the last several years, Grid.org has played an important role in some tremendously important research and it is the largest and most respected volunteer-based grid of its kind in existence. None of that would be possible without all of you!

We have some exciting information to convey concerning Grid.org status and plans – but before I do that, please allow me to express our sincere regret for the frustrations that some of you have been experiencing lately. During the past year we have had technical difficulties with Grid.org that have contributed to your frustrations, but we have changes planned that should significantly improve your experience.

These are some of the plan highlights we have for Grid.org in the coming months:

We will migrate the Grid.org software to the latest version. Planning for this is well underway, and the migration will begin in the first quarter of 2007! In the first quarter (Jan-Mar) of 2007, we’ll begin a Beta Program (see below) in preparation for the final upgrade to the new release. We will perform the entire upgrade to the new version by end of Q2 of 2007.

The following new features will be introduced with the latest version.

- Support for multi-processor and multi-core machines
- Support for cache ahead so that users can request multiple work units
- Enhanced non-intrusiveness options
- The possibility for members to generate their own tools, GUIs, and reports using a new Grid MP Agent API
- New look and feel for the Grid MP Agent GUI
- Improved support for Microsoft XP operating system – enhances support for multi-users and allows fast user switching
- Support for Microsoft Vista operating system (both 32-bit and 64-bit)
- Support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 7
- Overall performance improvements to the grid
- General defect repairs

Right now our outreach committee is actively working on reviewing and selecting new projects to run on the updated Grid.org software. The initial conversations we’ve been having look very promising and we should be ready to make an announcement about the selected project by end of Q1 2007, to launch in the May-June time frame. Your active co-operation in the Beta program will be key toward expediting this process!

As mentioned above, we will implement a Beta program and ask for volunteers to help with Beta testing of the new system. This program will initially be implemented with a target of 100 volunteers as the first phase of the upgrade to the new version of Grid.org. The Beta program will run for several weeks and is intended to identify any deployment issues that might be lingering in the new version so we can resolve them prior to the upgrade of the entire member community. We will provide you with additional details and initiate a call for Beta volunteers shortly before we begin the program.

Thank you once again for your continued support of Grid.org. We’re looking forward to keeping you informed on status of the initiatives outlined above – visit this site regularly for more information.


Sincerely,

Mary Bass
Directory of Marketing
United Devices, Inc.
Austin, Texas 78759

[daddygeek]

No Linux support.

[spikey_richie]

I think I'll stick with WCG

[Nflight]

A pdf File that shows the progress the UD project is doing.
http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/cancer/AACR_UPAposter.pdf

[Ototero]

At last, it shows we are doing some good.

[Nflight]

Greetings from UD!

My apologies for not posting an update sooner -- in case you aren't aware of this, UD had our yearly conference last week in Boston (see http://www.ud07.com/index.php ). Check out the agenda and speakers -- it was our best conference yet!

So, it's time for an update on the Grid.org migration and beta program I wrote about last quarter. The good news is that the new release of Grid MP is complete and we are still targeting Q2 for the upgrade of Grid.org (as previously announced).

We are still planning to implement a beta program for testing of this version prior to final upgrade. Several new requirements (including something exciting we'll be announcing by the end of Q2) have necessitated a slight delay in scheduling the beta program, so the target timeline to begin beta has slipped to early Q2 -- though we still intend to complete the full upgrade by end of Q2 as originally planned.

If you've already volunteered for the beta program, thanks! If you would like to, please let us know as there is still time. We will reach out to all volunteers with beta program info in the next few weeks.

So, to summarize, here's what you can expect from UD regarding grid.org in the next 3-4 months:


By early Q2: Beta program initiated
Mid Q2: Announcement about the next big Grid.org project
By end of Q2: Grid.org migration to the latest release complete
Thanks once again for your support of Grid.org!

--Mary
_________________
Mary Bass
Director of Marketing
United Devices
www.ud.com (http://www.ud.com/)

[gatekeeper53]

And this excites you Why? I'm not trying to be flip it's just that I see no news. It's all "we're going to this and we're about to that, they aren't saying they are doing anything.

[Bender10]

I just put one of my spares on UD today. We'll see for how long....

[Nflight]

Thank You veery much ! :) :blob3:

[Bender10]

Had a minor burp. The nic was set for 'disable to save power' Ooops..

Up and running again, I think.

[Bubben]

Is grid.org closing down on 27th?

http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/viewthread?thread=12904

https://secure.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/viewthread?thread=12901

http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/viewthread?thread=12899

[Big Whiskey]

Seems to be true
http://forum.grid.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=22375
strike that one off my list

[LeBo]

I think everyone has crunched that project at one time or another.

[Lagu]

This is taken from WCG´s forum:

I am copying the 25 April 2007 post on grid.org for historical purposes.

With seven years and five projects under its belt, Grid.org has successfully completed its mission: To evangelize the benefits (and demonstrate the viability and security) of large-scale Internet-based grid computing. Therefore, it is with great pride for all the accomplishments of this pioneering resource, and above all with the utmost gratitude to each of our members around the globe, that we announce Grid.org will be retiring on Friday, April 27, 2007.

We’ll be making a public announcement on the site later this week, but we felt it was important to give you, our loyal member base, an early heads-up out of respect for the years of support you’ve given to Grid.org. This way you’ll have time to gather final statistics, exchange contact info, and prepare for the official shutdown.

What exactly is happening:
At 12:00 noon Central Time on Friday, April 27, Grid.org will retire: Jobs will stop running, forums will be closed, and the website will be updated to reflect the retired status of this resource. We will leave the actual servers up for 1 week, so agent messages about this action can continue to be sent to members around the globe who might not check forums regularly. We will also leave the Stats up for one week so you have plenty of time to gather this data. After that, only the Home and Projects pages will remain, along with the instructions for uninstalling the agent ( http://www.grid.org/help/faq_uninstalling_agent.htm (http://www.grid.org/help/faq_uninstalling_agent.htm) ).

Why?
Grid.org has completed its established mission to prove the benefits and viability of Internet-based grid computing. Grid.org was the largest and most ambitious public interest grid venture ever attempted when it was conceived – and thanks to Grid.org (and more specifically to all of you), today such a grid is no longer a novelty. Many public grids are now available, sponsored by large organizations better positioned to provide support to millions of member volunteers and the scientists who leverage their processing power. So, with the underlying technologies now well established globally in both public and private research programs, Grid.org’s goal of establishing the underlying technology has been achieved.

But what about…
We realize that over the past few months, Grid.org has made several announcements about upgrades coming in anticipation of a couple of new projects that we were working on. While we were fairly optimistic about these projects being launched, they ultimately fell through for a number of reasons. We realize that many of you had looked forward to participating in a beta program ahead of launching these projects, and we’re sorry you won’t have that opportunity.

Moving on: Where to go from here?
It’s clear from your years of loyalty to Grid.org that Internet-based research projects of this kind are important to you… and so we’re sure many of you will take your valuable resources to other projects of this kind that are ready and willing to accept you as new members.

Below are just a few of the projects we encourage you to investigate:
> World Community Grid ( http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/ (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/) ), operated by IBM
> Distributed.net ( http://www.distributed.net/ (http://www.distributed.net/) ), operated by distributed.net
> Compute Against Cancer ( http://www.computeagainstcancer.org/ (http://www.computeagainstcancer.org/) ), operated by National Cancer Institute
> Folding@Home ( http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/ (http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/) ), operated by Stanford University
> fightAIDS@Home ( http://fightaidsathome.scripps.edu/ (http://fightaidsathome.scripps.edu/) ), operated by Olson Lab at Scripps Research Institute
> LHC@home ( http://athome.web.cern.ch/athome/ (http://athome.web.cern.ch/athome/) ), operated by CERN
> Distributed Folding ( http://www.distributedfolding.org/ (http://www.distributedfolding.org/) ), operated by a group of partners including Hogue Bioinformatics Research Lab, Mount Sinai Hospital, and University of Toronto
> SETI@home ( http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ (http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/) ), operated by University of California at Berkeley

Also, here are a few great sites to visit to learn more about these and other projects:

> http://enterthegrid.com/ (http://enterthegrid.com/)
> http://gridcafe.web.cern.ch/gridcafe/gridprojects/fora.html (http://gridcafe.web.cern.ch/gridcafe/gridprojects/fora.html)
> http://www.ogf.org/ (http://www.ogf.org/)
> http://www.grid.org.il/ (http://www.grid.org.il/)

Uninstalling the agent
The agent will no longer be processing work after Friday at noon, so you will want to uninstall it from your home device. Here’s how: http://www.grid.org/help/faq_uninstalling_agent.htm (http://www.grid.org/help/faq_uninstalling_agent.htm) . Some more explicit instructions, including Troubleshooting, will be posted online Friday when Grid.org actually retires.

Last but not least
As we’ve tried to emphasize not only in this announcement but throughout our years of operations, we are fully aware of the debt of gratitude we owe to all of you, our loyal members.

The excellent work Grid.org has done, both in contributing massive research power to critical health research and in establishing this kind of research as viable, would not have been possible without your faith, efforts, and donations of compute power and goodwill. There is no superlative high enough to describe the value we place on your ongoing support for Grid.org, and so we simply say Thank you, and we hope you feel as proud as we do of the work you’ve done.

Sincerely,
The Grid.org Team

[Nflight]

I have taken my efforts and joined World Community Grid....:-( :sad5:

[Bender10]

Yup, I pulled my 3 boxes and am aimlessly looking for a place to roost....that 'we are shutting down' was a shocker.

'...it's off to werk i go..'

[Ototero]

Arrrrggggg. I was approaching number 1 spot. Another couple of weeks and I'd have been there.

Oh well.

[PcManiac]

all of you who were crunching on this must be feeling a little blue :) (http://www.kylescomputing.com/videos.htm#imblue)

[spikey_richie]

WCG is the way to go, and you know it :)

[Jason1478963]

spikey_richie is right WCG is the closest thing I found to grid.org. It sounds like WCG has a few more good projects on the way. Who's gonna be the one to take me out of the #1 spot?

[Bubben]

Looking forward to see amdusers become #1

:blob3: