bandwidth a problem?

Started by Tony Origami

bertro Lv 1

Hi vixx,

Please have a look at the two attached files. They show the uploaded and downloaded Bytes for one hour for two Foldit clients running 459. Here are the numbers:

                                                       /hour*2 clients  /24h*2 clients  /30.5Days*2client Sent(uploaded) Bytes:         957,490,342 -   947,866,013 =   9,624,329      230,983,896     ~7  GB  Received(Downloaded) Bytes: 8,472,883,565 - 8,366,421,298 = 106,462,267    2,555,094,408     ~77 GB

As you can see, even for one client running 24h * 30.5 days, it will represent (~3.5 + ~38.5 =) 42 GB for ONE client.

In my opinion, it is way to much (at least for the downloaded data) even if I run only one client 24 hours a day doing scripts or not.

I understand Foldit must receive the uploaded data for analysis. But surely some of the downloaded data could be compressed, reduced, eliminated or the frequency reduced to get the downloaded amount to a more manageable value.

I wish someone look into this.

Regards,

Bertro

bertro Lv 1

Sorry, the formatting did not hold…

Here it is again:

Sent(uploaded) Bytes:
957,490,342 - 947,866,013 = 9,624,329 /hour * 2 clients
230,983,896 /24h * 2 clients
~7 GB /30.5Days * 2clients

Received(Downloaded) Bytes:
8,472,883,565 - 8,366,421,298 = 106,462,267 /hour * 2 clients
2,555,094,408 /24h * 2 clients
~77 GB /30.5Days * 2 clients

steveB Lv 1

Thanks for pointing this out Toni Origami, and I agree with you 100 %.

Attached is a graphic of my bandwidth usage over the last month, which has dramatically increased since 19th of the month, the same date reported by bertro.

There is something not right somewhere in the software.

infjamc Lv 1

Just out of curiosity:

Could it be that Foldit is using so much bandwidth because solutions are uploaded to the server at a very high frequency? If so, would it be possible to reduce the frequency without losing too much detail? (For an analogy, it's like reducing the quality setting of a JPEG image from 100 to 95.)

bertro Lv 1

@beta_helix: Thanks for considering this a priority.

@infamc: it is the downloaded part that is the major problem, not the uploaded information to the server. But yes, they could probably reduce the frequency of the downloaded data to the client(s). Look at posts 3 and 11 above.

Seth Cooper Staff Lv 1

We've posted an update yesterday that should reduce the amount of communication with the server and hopefully bandwidth usage. Let us know if this helps out.

bertro Lv 1

Hi Seth Cooper,

Thanks for the reduced communication Update.

Here are the current numbers after the update (from attached files):

Sent(uploaded) Bytes:
1,075,134,948 - 1,066,935,882 = 8,199,066 /hour * 2 clients
196,777,584 /24h * 2 clients
~6 GB /30.5Days * 2clients

Received(Downloaded) Bytes:
9,669,320,721 - 9,634,838,172 = 34,482,549 /hour * 2 clients
827,581,176 /24h * 2 clients
~25 GB /30.5Days * 2 clients

So, a reduction of ~66% [before ~7+~77=~84GB, now ~6+~25=31GB].

Very good for a first improvement but, like Foldit itself, I would like to see you get a better «score».

I used to run 3-4 clients per 24h*month (July-August) and including my whole internet usage (browsing, downloading, online games, …) was under 30GB. Today, 4 clients «alone» will require ~62GB. Way too much!

In summary, large improvement but would like to play 4 clients for under ~30GB at least.

Thanks again for your dedication to this wonderful «possibly life saving» game.

vixx Lv 1

I have just checked mine, which I never do as I never exceed 5GB a month.

Today I have 700MB left of my 10GB plan….that is meant to last me until 13 October.

When client is logged in, I average 1200MB download a day(24hrs)…when it isnt, my maximum was 390MB a day

My highest upload per day was 218MB that was once only ( average is usually under 100MB)

Currently my client isnt logged in and it wont be, as I dont have enough left to test to see if it has reduced.

Vixx with no internet for two weeks..is not a good thing ;)