BOINC Terminology: C

Cache

- In BOINC: Other word for the tasks in queue.

- On a CPU; Level 1, 2 or 3 cache: fast memory onboard the CPU for storing much used memory pages.

- On a computer; General: a collection of data duplicating original values stored elsewhere or computed earlier. Once the data is stored in the cache, future use can be made by accessing the cached copy rather than re-fetching or recomputing the original data, so that the average access time is lower.

Canonical - As in canonical results: accepted results.

CC - Abbreviation for Core Client.

cc_config.xml - A configuration file available for alpha/beta testing of the BOINC client. The flags inside this file add helpful debug information to the std*.txt files, which can then be sent to the developers.

Checkpoint/Checkpointing - The writing to disk of a temporary marker on how far the result is crunched.

Claimed Credit - When your computer completes a result (upload and report) it claims credit for the amount of work it has done. Whether or not you get the claim depends on if the project validates the results.

Client Error - Any errors made by the client, or by the user. Aborting results is a client error.

Client_state.xml - The general status file for BOINC. It contains information on all the projects you are attached to, your preferences settings, proxy settings etc. Without it BOINC will start as new, download new work and all.

Cobblestones - The original name for Credits. Named after Jeff Cobb, one of the Seti administrators.

A Cobblestone is 1/100 day of CPU Time on a Reference Computer that does:

• 1,000 double-precision MIPS based on the Whetstone Benchmark.
• 1,000 VAX MIPS based on the Dhrystone Benchmark.

Communication deferred - When the BOINC daemon cannot communicate with any of the projects attached, you get this message. It isn't an error message. It's informational, telling you also how long it will take before it will try to communicate with the project again. See Backoff and Defer/Deferal/Deferring.

Computer ID - The Identification Number for the computer you run BOINC with on the project you are attached to. See also HostID.

Connect to Network about every - With this setting in your General Preferences, you regulate how long the hiatus is between communications with the project, to ask for more work. It doesn't set the amount of work. It depends on the deadline of some projects if you get work when set too high. Default is 0.1 day, maximum is 10 days.

Core Client - Another name for the BOINC daemon, the BOINC executable.

CPID - Abbreviation for Cross Project IDentification.

CPU - Abbreviation for Central Processing Unit. This is the computer's main component, without it the computer won't start up or work.

CPU Efficiency - This number reflects the amount of CPU used for BOINC application graphics, CPU usage by non-BOINC applications and I/O activity by the BOINC application.

Minimum 0, maximum 1. Multiply by 100 to get to a percentage.

CPU Throttling - This pauses crunching for 1 or more seconds per every 10 seconds, depending on what percentage you set it to. Read CPU Usage Percentage, how does it work? for more information.

Available in BOINC 5.6.5 and above.

CPU Time - The amount of time the CPU has taken so far to crunch a result.

Credit/Credits - A reward for the computations your computer performs for a project. Other than for bragging and checking if you are doing well, they are useless. You cannot buy beer for them. :(

Cross Project Identification - A random generated 32 character hexadecimal key that identifies you on other projects if you use the same email address. Is mainly used for the statistics sites.

Crunching - Describes the CPU's computation activity that the science application does on a result.

Original writer	Original FAQ	Date & time
Jorden	110	19-04-2007 00:22:37