Ebola research is URGENT, so we shouldn't restrict capacity per core.

How long units take to be returned is nothing to do with the sheer size of the cache. It is everything to do with the length of the cache. No matter how many cores someone has, if they have a cache of 10 days then their units are going to take 10 days. If they only have 2 days then they will take 2 days.

Limiting cache length to 5 days would speed up turnaround and should be enough to keep the power crunchers active.

I was sitting waiting for days for someone to return a CEP2 unit to validate my last one before my Diamond but that was timed out. Fortunately the resend was returned in under 24 hours.

Mike

There are two other sides to the discussion here;

1) The numerous new crunchers who've been attracted to WCG due to there being an Ebola project. If they're not getting a chance to sniff out a few OET1 WU's without constantly having to babysit their machines/attempt the "switch projects to and fro" process, will they stick around for long??? I don't think so - especially when other crunchers look on them in disdain for daring to ask as to how to get a few crumbs.

2) The stress being put on the servers/infrastructure by requests constantly being made for OET1 WU's that aren't actually there. If the WU limit/core is severely reduced whilst there is a far higher demand than supply - with the caches being backfilled by "secondary" projects, then I'm sure it'll benefit WCG as a whole. Note, as the limit being suggested is per core, it doesn't stop the "power crunchers" from reaching the higher badges faster than those such as myself who've only got a limited budget for processing power.

Marketing disaster, yes. That's why I said it would be a good idea to have a discussion on how WCG treats the volunteers.

As for the project, it's far better for those tasks to go to machines that are always on and not running anything else.

If you take a representative sampling of computers on the grid, I can guarantee you the "power crunchers" have a disproportionately high number of these systems.

GB, couple reasons your units sat in PV. You haven't had enough tasks to declare your system reliable yet and the wingman went to a casual machine.

Again, in the interest of getting the science completed, which computer/user is better suited?

It sucks for people who can't get work accomplished. I'm just saying what happened was better for the scientists.

KWSN-A Shrubbery, actually, my machine was the "validating" machine (i.e., it received the _1 WU's after the _0 copies had been sent out), as I'd already processed quite a few single quorum work units for this project.

And yes, before anyone dares to "pipe up" and "suggest" that my machine isn't on 24/7 - it most certainly is, and has been for a huge proportion of the 9.75 years I've been here. Yet, I found it incredibly "challenging" (i.e., frustrating) to get the few OET1 WU's that would allow me to obtain my 24th badge.

I'm here for the long haul - how would a newbie feel if they'd joined, found it virtually impossible to grab an OET1 WU, and then went to seek help via the forums - only for them to be patronised, made to feel small and worthless.

Please remember folks, we need to encourage newbies to crunch - not discourage them by gobbling up as many WU's as is possible for ourselves (i.e., attempting to create a 10 day cache of OET1 WU's) so that there's none left for others, nor any incentive for new crunchers to stick around. By having such a huge disparity between supply and demand, the work WILL GET DONE!!!

Hi Correcaminos,

As yet, no date has been stated, although now that we're basically over the Christmas/New Year holiday period, hopefully it won't be long before we hear some more news at least.