Folding @ Home: Provide your own computing power against the corona virus

Folding @ home is a distributed computer project that uses the computing power of many distributed systems just like Seti @ Home, which has since been suspended or paused. This means private systems such as PCs, notebooks or until some time also Android smartphones.

Processes of molecular dynamics are simulated via the clients for PCs with Windows, Macs with macOS and PCs with Linux. The main focus is on protein folding, which is important for numerous causes and associated solutions in medical research.

The client downloads a work unit, i.e. a single data record, and calculates it on one or more folding slots in the system. This can be a processor, but also a graphics card. If more than one graphics card is installed in the system, these can be additional folding slots. When the work units have been processed, the result is sent back to the server and the next unit is downloaded.

In the Folding @ home client, the user has the option of specifying the load on his system. This means that the system does not necessarily have to work under full load. It is also possible to pause if you need the computing power yourself (for example because you want to play a game).

NVIDIA has started actively promoting Folding @ home in the fight against the coronavirus over the weekend.

The current computing power of the Folding @ home network is not known. On July 19, 2016, 100 PFLOPS are said to have been exceeded. Folding @ Home is organized by Stanford University and shared by various scientific institutions worldwide.

All further information and the download of the clients can be found at https://foldingathome.org.

Supercomputers also count on active substances against the corona virus

Not only private systems are supposed to support the fight against the corona virus. AMD, Intel, IBM and many other companies are currently providing computing power that will not be used as part of the Folding @ Home project, but will be made available directly to certain research institutes.

Amongst other things the fastest supercomputers work on drugs and vaccines against the coronavirus. To compare the 100 PFLOPS of the Folding @ Home network: The computing power of the fastest supercomputer Summit is 148 PFLOPS. In addition, there is the second fastest supercomputer Sierra with about 95 PFLOPS and countless other systems.

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