Volunteer computing

A program running on a volunteer's computer periodically contacts a research application server via the Internet to request jobs and report results.

Volunteer computing is a type of distributed computing in which people donate their computers' unused resources to a research-oriented project,^[1] and sometimes in exchange for credit points.^[2] The fundamental idea behind it is that a modern desktop computer is sufficiently powerful to perform billions of operations a second, but for most users only between 10–15% of its capacity is used. Common tasks such as word processing or web browsing leave the computer mostly idle.

The practice of volunteer computing, which dates back to the mid-1990s, can potentially make substantial processing power available to researchers at minimal cost. Typically, a program running on a volunteer's computer periodically contacts a research application to request jobs and report results. A middleware system usually serves as an intermediary.^[3]

^ "Volunteer Computing". BOINC.Berkeley.edu. BOINC. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
^ Y. Chen, Lydia; P. Reiser, Hans (2017). Distributed Applications and Interoperable Systems: 17th IFIP WG 6.1 International Conference, DAIS 2017, Held as Part of the 12th International Federated Conference on Distributed Computing Techniques, DisCoTec 2017, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, June 19–22, 2017, Proceedings. Springer. p. 192. ISBN 9783319596655. Archived from the original on 2023-01-20. Retrieved 2022-08-12. In volunteer computing, participants donate computational resources in exchange for credit points.
^ Chorazyk, Pawel; Byrski, Aleksander; Pietak, Kamil; Kisiel-Dorohinicki, Marek; Turek, Wojciech (2017-09-13). "Volunteer Computing in a Scalable Lightweight Web-Based Environment". Computer Assisted Methods in Engineering and Science. 24 (1): 17–40. doi:10.24423/cames.201 (inactive 1 November 2024). ISSN 2299-3649. Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2022-09-19.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)

[berkeley.edu-1] "Volunteer Computing". BOINC.Berkeley.edu. BOINC. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2023.

[ChenAndRiser2017-2] Y. Chen, Lydia; P. Reiser, Hans (2017). Distributed Applications and Interoperable Systems: 17th IFIP WG 6.1 International Conference, DAIS 2017, Held as Part of the 12th International Federated Conference on Distributed Computing Techniques, DisCoTec 2017, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, June 19–22, 2017, Proceedings. Springer. p. 192. ISBN 9783319596655. Archived from the original on 2023-01-20. Retrieved 2022-08-12. In volunteer computing, participants donate computational resources in exchange for credit points.

[3] Chorazyk, Pawel; Byrski, Aleksander; Pietak, Kamil; Kisiel-Dorohinicki, Marek; Turek, Wojciech (2017-09-13). "Volunteer Computing in a Scalable Lightweight Web-Based Environment". Computer Assisted Methods in Engineering and Science. 24 (1): 17–40. doi:10.24423/cames.201 (inactive 1 November 2024). ISSN 2299-3649. Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2022-09-19.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)

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