How large are the data files?

[hawkchalk]

Hello to all!

I have a quick question and that is how large are the data files that are being sent back after the calculations have been accomplished? The reason that I ask is that I seem to have an inordinate amount of data being transferred (50M +) off my computer and by what I can see it seems to go back to a Stanford IP. I have signed up for large problems but I just want to make sure that nothing nefarious in going on in my computer!! Any enlightment would be appreciated!!

v/r

Hawkchalk

[él Mero]

I think it differs from work unit to work unit.
Only thing I'm currently folding is the SMP WU:s (p2605):
2.5MB downloading
5.5MB uploading

I complete each of them in about 18 hours, so that means that each client has an average of (2.5 + 5.5) * (24 / 18) = 11 MB/day transfer.
Worst case: Me, folding VMware with two clients, suggests a total of 22 MB/day.

Maybe there are bigger WU:s or maybe you have a Skulltrail, or something, folding with 8 cores on 4 clients (= 44MB/day)? ^^

[7im]

Hello hawkchalk, welcome to the forum.

Work units vary in size, and range from a few 100k to 15+ MB (that I have seen, some may be larger or smaller).

Stanford uses several security techniques to prevent any kind of problems. See the FAQ entry on Security, linked and quoted below for your convenience.

What about security?

What about security issues?
We have worked very hard to maintain the best security possible with modern computer science methodology. Our software will upload and download data only from our data server here at Stanford. Also, we only interact with FAH files on your computer (we don't read, write, or transmit any other files, as we don't need to do so and doing so would violate our privacy policy). The Cores are also digitally signed (see below) to make sure that you're getting the true Stanford cores and nothing else.

How is this possible?
We take extensive measures to check all of the data entering your computer and the results we send back to Stanford with 2048 bit digital signatures. If the signatures don't match (on either the input or the output) the client will throw away the data and start again. This ensures, using the best software security measures developed to date (digital signatures and PKI in version 3.0), that we are keeping the tightest possible security. Finally, the client/screen saver are available for download only from this web site, so that we can guarantee the integrity of the software. We do not support Folding@home software obtained elsewhere and prohibit others to distribute the software.

And in 6+ years this project has been running, no one has even hinted at starting to become "nefarious." The project is safe, and the 200,000 active users would back me up.