Distributed computing is a science which solves a large problem by giving
small parts of the problem to many computers to solve and then combining the
solutions for the parts into a solution for the problem. Recent
distributed computing projects have been designed to use the computers of
hundreds of thousands of volunteers all over the world, via the Internet, to
look for extra-terrestrial radio signals, to look for prime numbers so large
that they have more than ten million digits, and to find more effective
drugs to fight cancer and the AIDS virus.
You have better odds of hitting the jackpot at a
casino
slots machine. These projects are so large, and require so much computing
power to solve, that they would be impossible for any one computer or person
to solve in a reasonable amount of time.
This site is designed for non-technical people who are interested in
learning about, and participating in, public distributed computing projects
which apply distributed computing science to solving real-world problems.
Learn more about distributed computing:
Forum
A discussion forum for distributed computing ideas and issues, specific projects, teams, etc.
Wiki
A user-editable set of translations of this site into other languages, and other user-created content
Blog
Kirk Pearson's weblog about distributed computing prrojects and related topics
News and Articles
News stories, informational articles, and press releases about public distributed computing companies and projects
Active Projects
Information, statistics and links for distributed computing projects that are active right now and that you can participate in
Computing Platforms
Information and links for distributed computing platforms (software applications that host one or more active projects)
Upcoming Projects
Information and links for distributed computing projects that are in development
Past Projects
Information, statistics, and links for distributed computing projects that have been completed in the past and/or are no longer active
Tools
Information and links for tools to support participants in distributed computing projects
Development Platforms
Information and links for development platforms that you can use to create a distributed computing project
Conferences
Information and links for conferences about distributed computing research and applications
Parody and Fun Sites
Information and links for sites that make fun of major distributed computing projects. SETI@home seems to be a popular target :-)
Links
Links to other sites which have distributed computing project links
Politics
Information and links about political problems around distributed computing projects and users
Teams
Links to distributed computing team websites
Books and Journals
Books, journals, and other publications about distributed computing science, project development, specific projects, and related subjects
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about this site and distributed computing projects
This site does not cover P2P projects (which are more about
file sharing than about distributed computing), private distributed computing
projects (projects in which the general public can't participate), or projects
that research distributed computing theory (ways to do distributed computing).
It also does not cover grid computing: if you are looking for information
about grid computing,
Grid Caf?
is a good place to start.
Apparently
some people are using distributed computing for things such as
online poker.
This site doesn't cover that.
Click on the following links to see how this site and distributed computing looked in past years:
2017,
2016,
2015,
2014,
2013,
2012,
2011,
2010,
2009,
2008,
2007,
2006,
2005,
2004,
2003,
2002,
2001,
2000
Credits
Thank you to the people listed here and to all of the others who help me keep the information on this site up to date!
Burt Altenburg
Netherlands,
Honza Cholt
Czech Republic,
Jeff Gilchrist
Canada,
Randy Jackson
U.S.A.,
Ryan Jackson
U.S.A.,
Clay Johnson
U.S.A.,
Kevin O'Hare
U.S.A.,
Nihang Shah
India,
Olivier Tableau
France,
Valerie Vonck
Belgium
Thank you also to the volunteer translators who make this site available in
other languages!
Michail Bogdanov Belarus,
equn.com group China,
Dori Ben Dov Israel,
Andrea Pacini Italy,
Nuno Sim?es Portugal
