LetNet Showcase: LetNet's Distributed Computing Team

Reports:

• Click here to see a detailed report of the LetNet Prime.Net team's progress!
   
• Click here to see the LetNet Prime.Net team's current ranking worldwide! (search for letnet)

Download Version 23.6.1 Clients:
(New: In the version 20 clients you can optimize your memory settings: see the included readme.txt file for details!)

• Windows 9x/ME/NT/2K/XP users click here
  • (To Run as a service, see instructions below and grab FireDaemon)
• Linux users click here
• FreeBSD users click here

Important users for WinNT/2K/XP Users about Running as Service:

This version of Prime.Net has removed the use of the NTPrime.exe service.  Please do not use it.  Delete or Disable that service and follow the instructions below:

1) Download and install firedaemon from ftp://ftp.letu.edu/internet/distributedcomputing/prime.net/firedaemon-fd009c-fdui10R3.exe.
2) Start firedaemon's UI.
3) Give the service a name, we suggest prime.net.
4) Change the startup type from Manual to Automatic.
5) Select "Interact with desktop".
6) Optionally select "Start immediately" if prime95 is not already running.
7) Check the "Auto restart" option if you want the program to restart in case
    a user accidentally exits prime95.
8) Enter the application working directory, probably C:\Program Files\Prime95.
9) Enter the executable name, likely C:\Program Files\Prime95\prime95.exe.
10) Set the priority to Idle.
11) Choose the CPU0 option.
11b)To install prime95 as a service on the second CPU of a dual processor follow
       the instructions above but use a different service name, enter -A1 in
       "Application options", and choose CPU1.
12) Once Prime.Net has launched, select the Menu Item "Options/Tray Menu" to have Prime.Net minimize to the system tray once you minimize it on startup.

Upgrading Existing Clients:
If you have an existing copy of Prime.Net running on your system and wish to upgrade, it is important that you do not delete any existing config or prime files in your directory.  You should stop the program or service, then unzip the new version on top of the old version (which will replace only certain files, not the configs or prime files) and then restart the program or service.  It is recommended that NT/2000 service users remove the service, reboot, and reinstall the service.

News:

We've received a letter from Scott Kurowski, the creator of Prime.Net and Founder of Entropia, Inc congratulating us on our move into the Top 100 producers for the Prime.Net effort.  Click here to read it!
 

About Team Prime.Net:
LetNet provides several opportunities to contribute excess computing power on personal computers to mathematical or scientific research projects, being coordinated through the Internet.

Our primary project participation recently has been with the Prime.Net project which is looking for rare primes which can be represented in the form (2^p-1).  These primes are known as Mersenne primes.  The last four Mersenne Primes discovered (#35, 36, 37 and 38 were discovered not by supercomputers or mathematical think-tanks - but by the Prime.Net effort - each time eventually by one low-end personal computer!  Download a Prime.Net client here and set it up to join LetNet's team (described below)!

Instructions for Installation:
When you have downloaded your client configuration is very simple - the instructions below are for Windows 95/98 but users of NT/2000 or alternative operating systems should be able to find the same options in their clients:

Unzip the client programs into the directory you want to run Prime.Net from. Launch the prime95.exe (NT/2000 users will launch ntsetup.exe to do this). You will see a screen like the one on the right.  Go to the Test menu and click on PrimeNet
You will now see the Configuration screen like the one to your left.  We recommend leaving most options at their defaults except that if you have a faster computer (P133 or above) we recommend you uncheck the "Request whatever type of work makes the most sense" and check the "Request Mersenne numbers to run primality tests". Now click "OK" and return to the "Test" menu and select "User Information"
You will see a screen like the one to your right.  It is important that you fill this screen out correctly.  Fill in your name and your e-mail address at the top of the screen as shown. You may either elect to receive newsletters or not at your option by checking the box. The "User ID" and "Password" need to be letnet and luprime respectively as shown for you to join the LetNet team! You should then fill in your name (or other "cool" identifying handle that you'd like to be known as on the LetNet Prime team) in the "Optional Computer ID" field.  If you have more than one computer you can use different computers to track each's progress!  Now click "OK"
Click on the "Options" menu and select "CPU."  Fill in the information that best describes your computer.  (This helps the central servers estimate how long it will take you to complete each exponent check). Also estimate how many hours per day your client will run.  Click "OK"
Now click on the "Options" menu again and select "Preferences."  You will see the screen at the right.  We recommend you adjust all the values to match the image to the right.  Then click "OK." Now you should add the prime95.exe program to your Startup group.  The client is quite unobtrusive (several of your friendly LetNet administrators have run it on our home machine all day for more than a year with no inconveniences :-).  It uses only extra CPU cycles (idle cycles).  The only recommendation we have is that you do not run Prime.Net while playing intensive games or defragmenting your disks.  All other times, including browsing the web, checking e-mail, etc. the client should not intrude at all.  It will automatically report it's progress to the main servers and retrieve new exponents to test for primes as necessary. (At this point NT users will need to follow the instructions in the accompanying readme text file for installing Prime.Net as a service if that is their desire).

If you have any questions about setting up Prime.Net and joining the LetNet team, don't hesitate to ask us.  Send e-mail to techsupport@letu.edu with any questions you have!

• Here is a statement from Prime.Net about how successful this project has gotten:
  As of 4 September 1999 PrimeNet's sustained throughput* is 0.85 Teraflop, or 850 billion floating point operations per second, 71 CPU years (Pentium 90Mhz) computing time per day. For the testing of Mersenne numbers, this is equivalent to 30 Cray T90 supercomputers, or 15 of Cray's most powerful T932 supercomputers, running continuously at peak power. As such, PrimeNet ranks among the most powerful computing systems in the world.
  
  This amazing and fun computing effort is being applied by people from around the entire planet, producing research results that promote theoretical studies in mathematical number theory, cryptography and parallel computing. It also fosters a growing international spirit of Internet cooperation for research.
  
  Anyone with an Internet-connected Windows, Linux, Mac or OS/2 PC or server, or FreeBSD UNIX box can participate using our free, easy to use research software.  The software has been carefully crafted to use only unused, spare CPU time. 

There are also several other good distributed computing projects on the web, the most famous of which is the distributed.net project.  While we are eager to have you help us look for primes, distributed.net also offers several interesting distributed computing projects which we participate in at some level.  You can read more about distributed.net's projects at their web page at http://www.distributed.net.