4 computers for one WU - is waste of resources

AK1001
AK1001
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Topic 188510

isn't it?
why do not assign 3 computers for the work?
and only if the results are different from anyone of these 3 - assign same work for additional workers?

is this aproach - assign work for 4 computers - have some statistical/mathematical background?

do you have statistics from existed results - how different they are?

Dogbytes™
Dogbytes™
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4 computers for one WU - is waste of resources

I agree four is a bit much. But the whole idea of having several like results to validate a work unit goes back to the rampant cheating by some scumbag users at the original pre-Boinc Seti@Home. I like the number 3.

networkman
networkman
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I like 4; it's the square of

I like 4; it's the square of 2 and the square root of 16. Ahh.. happiness. :)

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Bruno G. Olsen & ESEA @ greenholt
Bruno G. Olsen ...
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I'm just guessing here, but

I'm just guessing here, but maybe 4 was chosen for a good reason. I mean, it's not like they haven't had the opportunity to see that 3 is a possible choice on boinc, as seti is using the number 3 ;)

Ed1934158
Ed1934158
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I'm not sure what are you

I'm not sure what are you talkin about? Is it that one unit is processed by 4 users? If so, I also agree that 4 units are too much.

John McLeod VII
John McLeod VII
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It really depends onhow fast

It really depends onhow fast yu need a verified result. Three is enough to weed out bad results, but the 4th can be looked at as insurance. If the results have to be verified quickly then the 4th is useful. If there is no real necessity for fast verification, then 3 is enough.

Fafnir
Fafnir
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Well, there is hopefully a

Message 8349 in response to message 8348

Well, there is hopefully a better explanation for this than fast verification. Because if 3 computers suffice there is one quarter of the computation power wasted. (Read it this way: The Einstein project could be one third faster!)

thegoons
thegoons
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HI I still have 2 unverified

HI
I still have 2 unverified results which were returned on the 5th of March. (This was written on the 16th of march) The other client who reported did so on the 3rd. Two of the four clients failed to report. So even with 4 there can be a significant time lapse before a result is confirmed. The organisers seem to know what they are doing. We are not privy to the detailed research that was carried out before this system was set in place.
I consider this a redundant thread.

you can lead a horse to water but a pencil must be led

Iron Sun 254
Iron Sun 254
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Since the goal is to only

Since the goal is to only declare a result valid if 3 computers have checked it, the purpose of having a WU sent to 4 computers is to prevent more time being wasted if one computer doesn't return a result. Remember that the extra computer is the slowest of the bunch or one which has had an error so the wasted computer effort is one which is contributing the least.

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