[WINNERS ANNOUNCED] Community Challenge: Folding@home

[MeredithW]

🎉🎉🎉UPDATE 12 May 2020: Winners have been announced! Thank you to all who participated! 🎉🎉🎉

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UPDATE: We have been blown away by your participation in this cause! Your folding has even helped bump the Cisco Meraki team into the top 400!

To celebrate your success and encourage even more participation, we've decided to add 3 additional chances for you to win swag. 

Everyone who joins the Cisco Meraki team and earns at least 200 "Credits" towards fighting COVID-19 will be entered into a random drawing for a Meraki Cloud Pin set:

Meraki Cloud Pin Set

When the contest ends on Friday, June 12th, we will announce the top 3 ranking winners and ALSO the 3 randomly selected winners from the rest of the Folding@home Cisco Meraki team. That means, even if you aren't able to contribute at a high enough level to compete for the top ranks, you'll still have a chance to win sweet swag! 

It's anyone's race now, so get folding and tell us your username in a comment on this post today!

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A major hurdle for researchers trying to defeat COVID-19 right now is access to computer power; running analysis and simulations on complex proteins takes a lot of time and computational resources that limit researchers' ability to make progress with their work. Folding@home is an organization that allows you to donate CPU/GPU cycles on your own computers/servers to run portions of these simulations for researchers and speed up results. By crowdsourcing processing power, researchers can complete simulations that would take days to weeks in just a couple hours. Dozens of our own Merakians have formed the Cisco Meraki team, which has already ranked 590 of 253,120!

We think this is an excellent cause and that it should absolutely involve swag. Therefore, over the next 30 days, the three community members who achieve the highest ranks among fellow members by donating their processing power towards Cisco Meraki team 243108 will be awarded fabulous Meraki prizes. 

Check out our first, second, and third place prizes:

First Place — Osprey Ultralight Stuff Pack

Second Place — Magnetic Desk Sculpture

Thermal Water Bottle

How to enter

If you have access to gaming computers, servers and/or even just a home PC, get started by following THIS link. Once you’ve set up your account, share your username in a comment on this blog post before 11 a.m. PDT on Friday, June 12th. Only points credited to Cisco Meraki team 243108 will be counted. To join the team, simply enter “243108” into the client setup when you install the client. 

On June 12th, we will announce the top three ranking community members, as determined by Folding@Home’s scoring. You must post your username here to be eligible. Note that your comment on this blog post containing your username will be public and visible throughout the contest. 

The fine print:

• The winners will be announced on Friday, June 12th at 11am PDT
• One entry per community member
• Full terms, conditions, and eligibility information

For more information regarding Folding@home, please see useful links below:

Folding@Home FAQ

Creating a User and Joining Team 243108

Folding@Home Reaches exaFLOP of computer power

[JamesMHussey]

VM's running Windows Enterprise with 1 processors each, Estimated Points 730, points per day 1777. VM Host has dual Xeon Gold 6152.

[cdaveygo]

Look at me, late to the party but helping out.  

[PierreSirois]

Hi, my ID is Wallpix

[BradCroft]

Count me in.

[KeenLogic]

@MMoss I am running a single VM with 24 processors, Windows Server 2016 Standard. Points per day ~ 127135.

Host is running dual 12-core Xeon processors with 128 GB RAM. OS is Windows Server 2016 Datacenter Edition. Hyper-threading is also turned on.

The FAH VM is one of 20 VMs on the server.

[Network-dad]

Better late than never... Im Folding as Network_dad... If I fold from several computers does it all add up?

[ChrisLaird]

@Network-dad Yes it does add up, just make sure your username is the same on each. You should also get a (1) pass key and use that on each

[Network-dad]

@ChrisLaird  Thank you, I have about 10 computers folding now with a total of 62 CPU cores and 3 Graphics cards.. no where close to some of the bug guys in this competition but I'm giving it a good shot

[ChrisLaird]

@Network-dadnice, that's great! What kind of cards are you using? I have 6x GTX 1070s which each push about 750,000 points a day. But I also have 16x old Quadro K2000 cards that only push about 20,000 points a day. I wonder how some of the newer cards perform... even the 1070 is a few years old now.

[JanVincent]

Always depends on the WU you get assigned. I've seen my GTX 980 TI rated for 729k points a day. This is the oldest card i'm running. I actually have it installed in a eGFX box over Thunderbolt 3 connected to an Intel NUC.

[JMalcore]

I've got a new AMD 3900x build with an older EVGA GTX1060 6gb SSC overclocked a bit. Averaging around 800,000 ppd.

[Network-dad]

@ChrisLaird  Today i added my RTX2070 and it alone is doing 1.1M points a day last night i did 300,000 points.. I'm hoping to catch up 😁

[JMalcore]

@Network-dad ....turn that back off please 😛

[Network-dad]

@JMalcore don't worry its in a laptop so it wont be folding all the time.... 🤣

[Network-dad]

 This is off of my laptop.... it dropped down a bit 😂 @JMalcore @ChrisLaird 

[ChrisLaird]

@Network-dad  woah nice! I'm jealous... most of my devices are macs, which don't support GPU folding. I haven't tried OCing any of my windows cards, I figure everything is already hot enough as is. Your laptop alone pushes you up into the top tier of team contributors. It's fun watching the extemeoverclocking page to see our projected growth in team rankings. We've moved from 590 down to 380 in the last few weeks, and EO has us moving up another few positions every day, although the competition is certainly getting fiercer now.

https://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?t=243108

[Network-dad]

@ChrisLaird I'm just happy to be behind a good cause... I still have no chance agents the big shots

[MelissaW]

Folding as Melby78 🙂

[JanVincent]

@ChrisLaird  thanks for sharing the link to extreme overclocking. Had no idea this was available. Makes it easier to see i'm trending for second place 😃 😂

[michelemazz]

[Nick]

I am underway!

Obviously as a man with a large imagination I joined as Nick. Seems suitable as its my name 😃

Go Team Meraki!!!!

[gstarnes]

[freshdrew]

 

[JM]

[Network-dad]

Anyone notice that points are not updating on there work stations? also it looks like online too?

[ChrisLaird]

@Network-dad ive seen others reporting on Twitter that updating has been broken for the last 24-48 hours 

[Network-dad]

Thanks @ChrisLaird  glad to know I wasn't going crazy...

[Network-dad]

@ChrisLaird  it looks like its still working here maybe https://apps.foldingathome.org/teamstats/team243108.html

[ChrisLaird]

@Network-dad nice find!! And look at that, we broke a billion points sometime in the last few hours!!! 

[JMalcore]

points standings on the normal page appear to be fixed today.

[Network-dad]

@ChrisLaird did you crank up the power since I added my RTX 2070. 

[ChrisLaird]

@Network-dadI wish I could push it a little more, but I've actually had to slow down a bit. For a few days there I was at ~13,000,000 a day, but I ran into some cooling issues so I bumped a bunch down to "low", so I'm currently around ~9,500,000 a day

[Network-dad]

@ChrisLaird Only 9,500,000 a day.   haha

[JanVincent]

Confused, where are you guys seeing 9,500,000 a day? At the bottom left in the FaH Console?  Where are you getting that number from?

ExtremeOverclocking has you @Network-dad averaging about 700k per day.

https://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?s=&t=243108

[ChrisLaird]

@JanVincent  I check it in both places. ExtremeOverclocking is good at tracking the 24hour average, but I'm not sure it's entirely accurate. In the FAHControl application, it says I'm at 9,173,000 for today. I think ExtremeOverclocking actually took about 72 hours for the 24 hour average to catch up and "match" the estimate from FAHcontrol.

edit: I mean I do think EO is accurate, I'm just not sure it updates as quickly as I expected to large changes in daily point totals.

[JanVincent]

I think EO is more accurate since it averages out your points for WUs you've completed and submitted. 

Whereas that estimate in the App itself is basically that, an estimate of how many points you would get per day based on the current value of the WUs you are working on. 

Even still, I must be looking at something wrong because the most I've ever seen estimated in the App on my rig with an RTX2080 is around 900k points per day. No where even close to what you are estimating so I'm at a loss as to how yours is arriving at that number. Perhaps you have your App configured to manage all of your FaH installs? 

i don't have mine centralized so I just look at each rig individually.

[ChrisLaird]

@JanVincentah yes, sorry I didn't mention that. My FAHcontrol is configured to monitor about ~130 machines, with machines ranging anywhere from the 20,000 per day to the 750,000 per day.

[Network-dad]

@JanVincent I'm only pushing 700K to 1.4M a day I was talking about @ChrisLaird running 9.5M.. I only have one RTC2070 and 2 GTX1050TI and about 10 servers with about 50 combined CPU cores across the servers.. No where near the super computer that @ChrisLaird is running.

[MMoss]

I can run just over 2 Million daily with a Nvidia 2080 and a i9-9900k. It really makes me wish I still had my GPU mining rigs though. I've actually set my gpu to run at 65% power and still manage to do around 1.9M with less wattage and heat. I generate so much heat in the little room its in I can't even run it all the time because its a shared home office 😞

[ChrisLaird]

@Network-dad    no supercomputer here lol, just a lot of empty classrooms during covid shutdowns and an interest in trying to help somehow.

[JanVincent]

@ChrisLaird  it all makes sense now lol. I wish i wasn't so lazy and aggregated all my machines into a single console. 

[Network-dad]

@ChrisLaird how did you deploy to all of thoughts computers? 😈

[ChrisLaird]

@Network-dad  Fun question. The Macs I deployed through JAMF. Took about 48 hours to get a working deployment that will drop the correct config in place. For some reason that kept breaking the ability to launch on its own. The final version will check the config and if it’s wrong, reinstall and unload/reload the daemon. Bummer that macos can’t fold using the gpu. 

windows machines I did by hand over RDP. I had the installer and accessory  files in a network share to make it quicker, and used a .bat file to update firewall rules and move the config into place. To use the GPU I couldn’t install it as a service, so if those reboot I can tell in my central FAHcontrol and can log back in. 

I have 1 Linux VM running using the fling appliance. I gave it the whole host, which is normally great at being a vm host, but is surprisingly terrible at folding. 

[mikewinkler]

miwi for team 243108 😉

[Comstor_Germany]

 

[Network-dad]

I wish I would have got an earlier start.. but on a positive note today I moved into the top 30 on our team and I'm the 7 highest producer.... added 8 more computers today. My goal is to to finish in the top 20 😎

[Network-dad]

Me over here folding like crazy trying to catch up be like....

 

[Network-dad]

Did any one notice we are now ranking #350!!! Way to go everyone!!!! Lets keep it up!

[Nick]

I've got all my cores on the job!

[Roger_Beurskens]

i threw an extra GTX1050 into the game 😉

Really have to try to get in the top75+ 😉

[ChrisLaird]

@Network-dadwelcome to the top 20! Didn't take you long at all to make it to your goal (although there's still a few days left)

[Network-dad]

@ChrisLaird  Top 10 hear I come!      

[sebastianfranco]

Go go go go. !!!! Fire in te hole !!

sebastianf

Team 243108

[Network-dad]

Last Day!!!!!! Folding like there is no tomorrow!!!!! All machines set to full power!

 

[Nick]

Come on team!!!

[Roger_Beurskens]

GO GO GO GO !!!! 😄 

P70 is the target now 😉 

[JMalcore]

Trying to crack 25 mil and the top 10! Got to PUSH! I really wanted that desk sculpture too 😄

[BrechtSchamp]

I fold

[JanVincent]

@JMalcore I really wanted the bag. lol

[KeenLogic]

The Curecoin team is over 1 trillion. Wow!

[Network-dad]

an hour to go!!!!! 

[Roger_Beurskens]

yes yes place 68 now.....  But just gonna mis out 22k points from 1 pc 😞 

[CarolineS]

This marks the end of the month-long Folding@home Community Challenge! We are so thrilled at how much processing power community members were able to donate over this time, bringing the Cisco Meraki team from rank 579 to 🎉331 out of 250,000+ teams 🎉 across the globe, and ultimately helping to make a difference in the fight against COVID-19. 

Now, on to the swag! Based on the ranking on Folding@home, the top 3 prize winners among community members who shared their Folding names in a comment here are:

First place winner of the Osprey backpack:

@ChrisLaird (aka Moravian_College) (Read more about Chris and his Folding setup in our latest Member Spotlight)

Second place winner of the desk sculpture:

@JanVincent (aka only1jva)

Third place winner of the water bottle:

@JMalcore (aka Ppipanman)

🎉Congratulations you three! 🎉And now, here are the three randomly selected winners from all the participants who’ll each receive a Meraki pin set: @spencerrees, @viking, and @wperry1.

Huge thanks to everyone who donated!

[Roger_Beurskens]

Congrats all !!

[Network-dad]

Congrats everyone!!!    @ChrisLaird  I'll break out my RTX 2070 earlier next time and give you a run for your money....😂

[viking]

Wow, thanks for adding the random winners.  I had quickly realized I wasn't going to be in the top 3, but I'm happy I was able to contribute.

[Network-dad]

I'de love to do another one of these I think it would be fun!

[BrechtSchamp]

Well done all! Impressive results.

[Nick]

Congratulations all - some very impressive results indeed!

[JMalcore]

Look what showed up today!

 

[JanVincent]

you need more fans

[JMalcore]

@JanVincent I can keep my AMD 3900x overclocked and air cooled under 85C when folding and un-overclocked it stays under 80C. VRM stays under 50C and my graphics card never hits 60C. I'll keep the airflow high 😄

[ChrisLaird]

 @JMalcore Hey look at that mine showed up too! 

[MeredithW]

As an added bonus, we just awarded special badges to everyone who participated! Check your profile for one of these:

For anyone not keeping an obsessive eye on the stats, the Cisco Meraki team is SO CLOSE to hitting the top 200s in the world: https://stats.foldingathome.org/team/243108

Go team, way to make a real impact!

[JanVincent]

May 2020...

which sounds like there will be a NEXT challenge! BRING IT

[Network-dad]

@MeredithW  Epic!!! Will there be another folding challenge? 

[MeredithW]

Perhaps.....

[Network-dad]

[JMalcore]

Can't wait to see the numbers when the new graphics cards come out this fall.

[Network-dad]

Going to get ready to go all in this time.... 

@ChrisLaird 

HAHA

[CN]

Folding at Home just published a paper on how SARS-CoV-2 moves and folds. It's also pretty awesome that the community helped drive the Cisco Meraki team to be ranked in the top 300!

[MeredithW]

@CN this is so cool, thanks for sharing and thanks for introducing the idea to us in the first place 🙂

Here's the abstract to save you a click (though, of course, the rest of the paper is worth a perusal and they'll be updating with new info as it becomes available). So exciting to know we have been part of such an impactful project: