Tapping the Matrix: Revisited 1
Carlos Justiniano · 2005
The software infrastructure used on Volunteered Distributed Computing is evolving to meet the diverse needs of researchers. These emerging systems are being built using Open Source tools. We describe a number of such systems in the context of this emerging field. Throughout this paper we revisit concepts presented in the April 2004 paper entitled, “Tapping the Matrix”. 1. Machines are underutilized Modern machines are capable of executing billions of instructions in the time it takes us to blink. This fact may be less surprising when we consider that the typical machine’s sold today feature processors running at multiple gigahertz supported by hundreds of megabytes of main memory. Surprisingly, the vast majority of personal computers are underutilized. The truth is many machines are idle for as much as 90 % of an entire day. Even when active, most applications utilize fewer than 10 % percent of the machines CPU. Furthermore, this trend shows no signs of reversing, in fact, conservative estimates indicate that there are roughly 800 million personal computers in use. About 150 million are Internet connected machines which are expected to increase to one billion by 2015 [2] It is an observable fact that the vast majority of the desktop computers found in businesses, universities and homes are largely idle. This author works for a company that has a work force of over 30,000 employees; most employees have one to two machines at their desk. Most machines are always on, largely because our IT department monitors machines and applies software updates as required. Additionally, many of our high-tech employees have powerful