That post was in reply to Speedy51
More mis-communication

Ah! OK
But since we are here why does a power outage need a Boinc re-install? I'm thinking some of the Boinc files, checkpoints, etc live in the OS temp space and thus disappear... but I'm guessing.

What happens to all the WU in progress and in the queue?

it's not really off topic. The topic is "What hardware are you guys using"

Sgt Joe said:

Will do. I'm learning as I go. About to study for a Linux Professional Institute certification so some of the basics should be fresher on my mind. Debian 12 (Bookworm) will be released this week, so I'm waiting for that. But honestly, I'm hesitant to bring new systems to WCG because of the longstanding "new devices" issue not showing up in the database. That's frustrating to a lot of people, so I'm currently only using a few older systems for WCG until they resolve that for good.

Some of the security things I've added to my setup are enabling a host-based firewall and also configuring the unattended-upgrades package, which checks every night for security updates and reboots the PC if necessary. I like my crunchers to be as hands-off as possible.

Learning more about AppArmor and SELinux.

Will eventually put dedicated physical crunchers and VMs on their own dedicated VLAN in my network for further security. I use pfSense as my router/firewall and recently rebuilt a new pfSense computer so there's lots more work to be done there.

Re: not concerned, there's still a possibility that if someone breaks through your edge firewall/router device, a 24/7 cruncher can be used as a pivot point to gain persistence into your home network and be used to attack your important devices. That's the idea anyway.

I basically plan on documenting in a blog or video (or both) -- "Hey, spend another 10-15 minutes and follow these steps and you're good to go forever."

BobbyB said:

The BOINC team lost their NSF funding a few years ago I believe, so while there's still a good half-dozen or so volunteers on the BOINC GitHub and BOINC forums, it's still a labor of love. They're not infallible. That being said, "security is a process," so while it's good that the BOINC developers and IBM Security took a look at older versions, there's always new vulnerabilities that crop up.

BobbyB said:

I've installed Debian Linux and BOINC and Folding@home to USB drives and run them for years. Works great and very cheap and lean. I minimize writes and also set the swap to 0% in Linux and make sure there's enough RAM in that PC.

Sgt Joe said:

I remember you talking about your setups and running live instances off USB. I've managed to just install the OS permanently to a new USB stick for my crunchboxes and that way there's persistence and I can reboot/power down/lose power and it's not a big deal. I'll try to document what's worked for me. Eventually LOL. I bet even if I put it off I'll have my guide ready before WCG is stable. :P

I only thought about a live USB thing this morning before reading these posts. I was thinking about how the Raspberry Pi people do it.

From the Pi thread I seem to remember that their install is permanent and is a variant of Linux.

I have thought about a 24/7 machine being a prime target.... Hmmm maybe a router behind the main router just for the crunchers. Maybe this is paranoia.

I don't even check the stats anymore. Used to keep my own spreadsheet.

Lastly, How much more electricity does the HD take?

Interesting link for power usage. I will have to compute since I have no gadgets which will measure my usage per PC. I use to guesstimate.

I use a low-end UPS just to protect against brown outs which occur a number of times in winter during bad storms and freezing rain and sometimes in summer.

Interesting about 2.5 and 3.5 HD

So my Ryzen 9 3900X uses about 173w
mobo 45, mem 6, graphic 5, hd 7.5, fan 3, cpu 105, cpu fan 1.5