Volunteer computing is a type of distributed computing in which computer owners donate their computing resources (processing power, storage and Internet connection) to one or more projects. Volunteer computing is distinct from grid computing, which involves the sharing of managed computing resources within and between organisations.
- Volunteers are typically organisations such as businesses and schools who own Internet-connected PCs. Members of the general public may also volunteer the use of their computers.
- Projects are typically academic (university-based) and perform scientific research, although there are exceptions; for example, Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) and distributed.net (two major projects) are not academic.
Volunteers are effectively anonymous; although they may be required to register and supply email address or other information, they are not linked to a real-world identity.
Volunteers are not accountable to projects due to their anonymity. If a volunteer misbehaves in some way (for example, by intentionally returning incorrect computational results) the project cannot prosecute or discipline the volunteer.
Volunteers must trust projects in several ways:
The volunteer trusts the project to provide applications that do not damage their computer or invade their privacy.
The volunteer trusts that the project is truthful about what work is being done by its applications, and how the resulting intellectual property will be used.
The volunteer trusts the project to follow proper security practices, so that hackers cannot use the project as a vehicle for malicious activities.
Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing is a non-commercial program that lets you donate your idle computer time to science projects like World Community Grid, Rosetta@home, POEM@Home, Malariacontrol.net and many others.
After installing BOINC on your computer, you can connect it to as many of these projects as you like.
» boinc.berkeley.edu