Glenn Berry37 Comments on T-SQL Tuesday #126 – Folding@Home

T-SQL Tuesday #126 – Folding@Home

Introduction

This month’s T-SQL Tuesday is devoted to the Folding@Home (FAH) distributed computing project. This project was originally launched by Pande Lab at Stanford University on October 1, 2000. It is currently based at Washington University in St. Louis, led by Dr. Greg Bowman.

Folding@Home has been around for nearly twenty years, and they have a long record of generating valuable biomedical research. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a surge of donors and attention focused on the work that the FAH team has been doing. On March 8, 2020 I started a SQLFamily team for Folding@Home. Since then, 130 other people (so far) have joined in the effort. That leads to our current topic, T-SQL Tuesday #126 – Folding@Home.

T-SQL Tuesday
T-SQL Tuesday

T-SQL Tuesday #126 – Folding@Home

I had previously heard about Folding@Home many years ago, since a number of hardware related websites used to mention it (because they had competitive teams) fairly frequently. On March 7, I downloaded the FAH client software on a few of my machines and started folding. I started the team the next day. To my happy surprise, many other people in the SQL Server community started joining the team, donating their computer resources.

Since then, I have learned quite a bit about FAH. I have also done quite a bit of hardware modification, optimization and upgrades on my small fleet of lab machines. The point of the hardware work for me was to learn how to get more FAH production in the most efficient way possible. I have also tried to spread the word about the project and our team, and to share some of my experience.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to write about what you have been doing as a response to COVID-19. Maybe you have joined the SQLFamily FAH team. Perhaps you have been printing “ear savers” using 3D-printers like Tim Radney. Perhaps you have been donating food or doing some other sort of volunteer work. Whatever you have been doing, now is your chance to talk about it and publicize it!

Personally, I would love to hear about your experience and any lesson’s learned with FAH. What kind of hardware are you using, and have you made any changes? Are you running FAH in the cloud or in some other interesting way? Have you done anything interesting from a technology perspective related to FAH?

The Rules

  1. Your post must be published on Tuesday, May 12th. This counts as long as it’s still Tuesday anywhere in the world.
  2. Include the T-SQL Tuesday Logo and make it link to this invitation post.
  3. Ping backs should work, but to be sure, add a comment to this post with a link to your own so I know where to find it.
  4. Tweet about your post using the #tsql2sday hashtag
  5. I will do a recap/summary of all of the eligible posts the week after the deadline

Do You Want to Host a Future T-SQL Tuesday?

If you would like to host a T-SQL Tuesday, you can read the rules on the T-SQL Tuesday site and ask Steve Jones if you can host. If you have an idea for a future T-SQL Tuesday topic, you can contact Steve Jones.

Additional Resources

I have written a number of blog posts about Folding@Home. There will be more. Here is the current list:

Published by Glenn Berry

Glenn works as a Services Database Engineer in Elizabeth, CO. He is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, and he was previously a Microsoft Data Platform MVP from 2007-2017. He is also an Adjunct Faculty member at University College - University of Denver, where has been teaching since 2000. He has completed the Master Teacher Program at Denver University - University College. He is the author of the book SQL Server Hardware. Glenn blogs regularly at https://glennsqlperformance.com/. He is active on Twitter as @GlennAlanBerry.

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37 thoughts on “T-SQL Tuesday #126 – Folding@Home”

  1. Pingback: T-SQL Tuesday #126 – Folding@Home – T-SQL Tuesday
  2. Pingback: Some things other than a DataWeekender review - Kevin Chant
  4. Pingback: Helping the research into COVID-19 - LobsterPot Blogs
    1. (Post author)
      Glenn Berry May 11, 2020 — 7:10 pm

      Thanks for posting, Rob.

      Reply
  5. Eitan Blumin May 11, 2020 — 11:44 pm

    Thank you for hosting, Glenn. Very timely topic!

    Here’s my post:

    https://www.madeiradata.com/post/t-sql-tuesday-126-responding-to-covid-19

    Reply
    1. (Post author)
      Glenn Berry May 12, 2020 — 4:10 am

      Thank you for writing a post, Eitan!

      Reply
  6. Pingback: T-SQL Tuesday #126 – Folding@Home - Marcin Gminski
    1. (Post author)
      Glenn Berry May 12, 2020 — 4:09 am

      Thank you for writing a post!

      Reply
  7. Rob Litjens May 12, 2020 — 1:48 am

    Thanks Glenn for hosting this months TSQL tuesday. My post can be found here:
    http://www.maroli-ict.com/blog/t-sql-tuesday-126-helping-survive-covid-19

    Reply
    1. (Post author)
      Glenn Berry May 12, 2020 — 4:08 am

      Thank you for taking the time to write a post!

      Reply
  8. Richard Swinbank May 12, 2020 — 4:38 am

    Hi Glenn, thanks for hosting :). Posted my contribution at https://richardswinbank.net/blog/a_tale_of_two_smartphone_apps. Richard

    Reply
    1. (Post author)
      Glenn Berry May 12, 2020 — 5:22 am

      Thank you Richard for taking the time to write a post. I appreciate it!

      Reply
  9. kchant1975 May 12, 2020 — 4:45 am

    Here’s my contribution for this month Glenn. Thanks for hosting, and another thanks for speaking at DataWeekender https://www.kevinrchant.com/2020/05/12/t-sql-tuesday-126-organizing-dataweekender/

    Reply
    1. (Post author)
      Glenn Berry May 12, 2020 — 5:21 am

      Thank you for writing a post and for organizing the DataWeekender event!

      Reply
  10. Richard Swinbank May 12, 2020 — 5:22 am

    Hi Glenn, thanks for hosting :). Posted my contribution at https://bit.ly/3dwO9nc. Richard

    Reply
    1. (Post author)
      Glenn Berry May 12, 2020 — 8:00 am

      Thank you for taking the time to write a post!

      Reply
    1. (Post author)
      Glenn Berry May 12, 2020 — 9:45 am

      Thank you for posting, Steve.

      Reply
  13. Pingback: T-SQL Tuesday #126 – Folding@home – 0xSQL – SQL Server, Storage and Security
    1. (Post author)
      Glenn Berry May 12, 2020 — 10:30 am

      Thank you for writing your blog post, Argenis. Also, thanks for running FAH and helping out in other ways!

      Reply
  15. toddkleinhans May 12, 2020 — 12:47 pm

    Thanks again for hosting Glenn! https://bit.ly/3fKiiS7

    Reply
    1. (Post author)
      Glenn Berry May 12, 2020 — 1:59 pm

      Thank you for posting, Todd!

      Reply
  16. Pingback: T-SQL Tuesday #118 – My response to COVID-19 - SQL Server Fast
  17. Hugo Kornelis May 12, 2020 — 1:35 pm

    Thanks for hosting, Glenn!
    And even though I am a Folding@Home participant, I wrote about something else I do as a response to COVID-19.Thanks for keeping the invite open enough to allow that.

    Reply
    1. (Post author)
      Glenn Berry May 12, 2020 — 1:58 pm

      Thank you for posting, regardless of the subject. Thanks!

      Reply
    1. (Post author)
      Glenn Berry May 12, 2020 — 9:02 pm

      Thanks for posting, and thanks for all the other work you have been doing.

      Reply
  20. Pingback: T-SQL Tuesday #126 – Do What You Can – Elizabeth Noble
    1. (Post author)
      Glenn Berry May 13, 2020 — 7:18 am

      Thank you for your post!

      Reply
  23. Pingback: T-SQL #126 – Dreaming of Both Blue & White Gold | Todd Kleinhans
  24. Pingback: T-SQL TUESDAY #126 – HELPING TO SURVIVE COVID-19 – Speeltuin

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