3 | | Universities and other research institutions can use BOINC to create a 'Virtual Campus Supercomputing Center' (VCSC). A VSCS can provide university researchers with the computational power of a very large cluster, for a small fraction of the cost. A VCSC is a BOINC project whose applications are supplied by campus researchers. The computing power is supplied by campus PCs - computing lab machines, desktop and laptops belonging to faculty, staff, and students, and home PCs belonging to alumni. |
| 3 | Universities and other research institutions can use BOINC to create a 'Virtual Campus Supercomputing Center' (VCSC). |
| 4 | A VSCS can provide university researchers with the computational power of a very large cluster, |
| 5 | for a small fraction of the cost. |
| 6 | A VCSC is a BOINC project whose applications are supplied by campus researchers. |
| 7 | The computing power is supplied by campus PCs - computing lab machines, |
| 8 | desktop and laptops belonging to faculty, staff, and students, |
| 9 | and home PCs belonging to alumni. |
5 | | As an example, suppose that a VSCS recruits the participation of 10,000 PCs, running an average of 50% of the time. In terms of computing power, this is roughly equivalent to a 5,000-node cluster, for which the initial hardware cost is roughly $5 million, with ongoing yearly energy and maintenance costs of at least $1 million. The VSCS, in contrast, has hardware costs of about $10K. |
| 11 | As an example, suppose that a VSCS recruits the participation of 10,000 PCs, running an average of 50% of the time. |
| 12 | In terms of computing power, this is roughly equivalent to a 5,000-node cluster, |
| 13 | for which the initial hardware cost is roughly $5 million, |
| 14 | with ongoing yearly energy and maintenance costs of at least $1 million. |
| 15 | The VSCS, in contrast, has hardware costs of about $10K. |
11 | | A VCSC is typically created by a campus unit involved in computing and information technology, by a research unit, or as a collaboration between such units. It involves the following functions, which typically would be carried out by different staff: |
| 21 | A VCSC is typically created by a campus unit involved in computing and information technology, |
| 22 | by a research unit, or as a collaboration between such units. |
| 23 | It involves the following functions, |
| 24 | which typically would be carried out by different staff: |