A work unit result can include several files to be uploaded, and there can be all kinds of problems and complications to get through when uploading, so to make the process safer, BOINC reports your results in two steps.

First, it uploads the result file(s) when the work unit is finished computing. This doesn't always go smoothly, and takes however long it needs. Once all the files are uploaded, the status becomes "ready to report", and BOINC schedules a second, separate server contact session to report that all the result files have been uploaded and the result can now be logged into the database.

Since you're probably going to be contacting the server again fairly soon anyway to get more work or upload another result or whatever, BOINC tries to save itself some server workload by putting off this second stage result report contact for an hour or two, to see if it can combine it with other routine traffic. If you contact the server for whatever reason within that time, the second stage report message rides along, almost for free. If you don't contact the server within that time, BOINC will eventually sigh heavily and do a whole server contact session just to report the results, grumbling all the while.

You can force it to send the results report immediately by doing a Project Update, but there isn't really much point, since you're probably going to have to wait for the quorum to get your points anyway. And really, even if you're the slowest of the quorum, who cares if you get your points now or in an hour or two? Unless maybe you're about to break a million and it's 23:50 UTC...

not really sekerob, his explanation was just more detailed. your's is a good beginning, helping me to understand the process. thank you both



actually rick, it is very important. especially if you're in a tight points race with a teamate whose less than 5k points ahead of you and with a mouth 10x's bigger than yours.