1. What is this? It is a way for Star Trek fans all over the globe to participate in non-profit scientific research by donating their spare computing/processing resources. You do this by downloading a small program that will take advantage of your computer's unused CPU cycles to perform calculations on math-intesive problems. In other words, whatever is left of the "brain" of your computer after your normal programs/processes, will go to support philanthropic enterprises at no cost to you. This is called "Distributed Computing" (DC). Your computational donation will go to support a variety of DC "projects". Current projects include cancer drug therapy research (GRID.ORG), the search for extraterrestrial intelligence via radio telescope analysis (BOINC), different types of human protein research (both), climate prediction (BOINC), and more. You can choose to help many or just one of the available projects.

2. How does it work? The vast majority of consumer and business computers in operation today don't make use of their Central Processing Units (CPUs) 100% of the time; the CPU capacity ("cycles") that is left over just goes to waste. DC projects, however, use these spare cycles from millions of participants around the world to "crunch" time-consuming data. The program you install downloads "work units" from one or more of these projects, processes them until they are complete, and then uploads the resulting information. Each computer you volunteer joins millions of other "devices" on the Internet to create a greater source of raw computing power than any single supercomputer in existence, and at a fraction of the cost to researchers!

3. What is "BOINC" and "GRID.ORG"? Rather than each individual DC project having to create its own software and run its own servers, DC "platforms" have been setup to provide researchers with an existing hardware/software solution. This provides two main benefits: It reduces the time and expense of running a DC project for researchers, and it gives individual participants like you and me a choice of what projects to support via a single client program.

BOINC, or Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing, is an open-source DC platform sponsored by the University of California, Berkeley. BOINC lets you choose from the greatest number and widest variety of DC projects. It also has clients available for the Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and Solaris operating systems.

GRID.ORG is a closed-source DC platform run and powered by United Devices. While UD is a commercial company, GRID.ORG is their community-based, not-for-profit DC network. The two projects that are currently available for selection are the Cancer Research Project from the University of Oxford and the Human Proteome Folding Project from the University of Washington, Seattle. GRID.ORG presently only supports the Windows operating system.

4. What does this have to do with Star Trek/TrekUnited? Both of the above DC platforms assign points and statistics to its members based on their contributions in order to encourage friendly competition and increased participation. Both platforms also allow for the creation of "teams", which are simply groups of members who combine their efforts. TrekUnited, in its mission to benefit charitable causes through programs that enhance the public awareness and opinion of Star Trek fans, has set up teams for both of the above distributed computing platforms. Now you can contribute to any project associated with either platform while supporting a TrekUnited team at the same time! Joining a team is optional and does not affect your computer or resource donation, but, by becoming a free member of either TrekUnited team, you will unite with fellow Star Trek fans to raise the overall visibility of your team and heighten the sense of community among its members.

5. Does this affect my computer's performance or its internet connection? The client programs from both BOINC and GRID.ORG are not designed to interfere with your normal computer use. Both of the clients are set as Low Priority tasks. This means that your operating system will only allocate to the client the CPU cycles left over after all of your other programs make their resource requests. The clients are also designed to give up the CPU time they are currently using whenever you start or expand another program. Some of you may still experience a minor reduction in overall performance, but it isn't likely, especially when you are browsing the web or using e-mail. Both clients also have the ability to be turned off or suspended at any time. They can be set to run and/or connect to the Internet only during specific hours of the day as well. Finally, they both can be set to run only as a screensaver.Internet usage is very low, even for dial-up users, and only occurs when the client finishes the current work unit so it can upload its results and download a new work unit. If you leave your computer on overnight or while you are away these DC clients will make full use of that otherwise wasted potential.

6. Does this affect anything else? By utilizing any CPU cycles left over from your other programs these DC clients make your CPU run continuously at 100%. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this as your computer is (or should be) designed to run at its full potential, but compared to not running a DC client you do have to acknowledge and accept the following drawbacks:

• Increased CPU usage causes an increase in electricity usage by the CPU.
• Increased electricity usage causes an increase in heat production by the CPU.
• Increased heat production can lead to premature failure of the CPU and/or other components in your computer if it has a poor or blocked (dusty) cooling system.

If you have a good and properly maintained (cleaned of dust) cooling system then you should notice no increased mechanical failure over the normal lifetime of your computer. Notebooks or laptops, due to the density of components and compactness of the case, are more greatly affected by the increased heat production. It is recommended that laptop users who wish to run a DC client pay careful attention to the temperature of their CPU and overall system. Heatsink and fan-based laptop coolers are available on the market which will cool the bottom (hottest part) of your laptop. Other options include turning your laptop upside down (with the lid closed) or setting it upon a pie/cookie rack.

7. How do I get started and where can I find support/answers to my questions? You can get started immediately by visiting your chosen platform's official website (see below). However, for the purpose of supporting TrekUnited team members and providing beginner information, each TU team (one for BOINC and one for GRID.ORG) has its own community thread on the TrekUnited forums. Here you can learn how to get started and how to join the team, read other member questions/comments, and post your own questions or thoughts. It is also recommended and required for you to visit your chosen platform's official website to download their client and learn more about their network and projects. Links to these are below. The TrekUnited staff and DC community wish to thank you for reading this FAQ!

We hope you will put your spare computing resources to good use and join a TrekUnited team.

View : BOINC
View : Grid.Org
View : United Devices
Discuss : BOINC Discussion
Discuss : Grid.Org Discussion