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Show HN: RentMyCPU – An open-source computational network

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Re: Show HN: RentMyCPU – An open-source computational network

#41

Post by Jhsto »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #33
throwaway894345 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of homomorphic encryption: you can perform computations on data while it remains encrypted, which would solve the trust problems you mention afaict. This seems like it would have enormous potential to change the cloud landscape. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homomorphic_encryption

My understanding (which is admittedly very little) though is that homomorphic encryption requires many times more computations compared to running on unencrypted data, so that could dampen it's usefulness.

It indeed seems to be: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.01945.pdf

Re: Show HN: RentMyCPU – An open-source computational network

#43

Post by throwaway894345 »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #33
throwaway894345 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of homomorphic encryption: you can perform computations on data while it remains encrypted, which would solve the trust problems you mention afaict. This seems like it would have enormous potential to change the cloud landscape. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homomorphic_encryption

My understanding (which is admittedly very little) though is that homomorphic encryption requires many times more computations compared to running on unencrypted data, so that could dampen it's usefulness.

Perhaps, but there is a LOT of unused capacity out there.

Re: Show HN: RentMyCPU – An open-source computational network

#44

Post by kuroguro »

randalluk wrote: post #38
Galanwe wrote: post #34

How is that different from mining ETH, which is basically running others' programs (smart contracts) in exchange for ETH.

Every Ethereum smart contact is validated (run) on every node in the Ethereum network, in order to achieve distributed consensus. It should be possible to be thousands of times more efficient than that (which suggests they could achieve much lower prices for buyers combined with greater rewards for CPU owners).

Imagine writing a contract that could mine more ether :O

Re: Show HN: RentMyCPU – An open-source computational network

#46

Post by geocar »

geocrasher wrote: post #10

In 2007 when distributed computing was still a New Kid On The Block, I shared an idea with a colleague for what I considered to be a good idea at the time: Distributed computing for hire. Families around the world have reasonable amounts of computing power that sits mostly unused; why not make a few bucks doing things similar to Folding@Home Seti@Home, but for a price? Get paid for your computations. Of course this w…

> Distributed computing for hire.

So I've been doing this for a couple decades now: You create an ad tag that does some work, and you buy some impressions. You then get to "hire" thousands or millions of compute-nodes around the world to do some work. Tooling to split up the work into ad tags is just something I've accumulated in the while.

The real trick I think would be allowing users to join the (ad) network as an audience-of-one that we can pay directly, and my thinking is it was always less of a technical problem than a tax/legal problem. If you (or anyone) think this part of the problem is easy you should get in touch.

Re: Show HN: RentMyCPU – An open-source computational network

#47

Post by Applejinx »

mhh__ wrote: post #11

Well, it's WebAssembly, so there can't possibly be any exploits!

If there are exploits, it's definitely going to be all Bitcoin and the like. Impossible for anything to compete against literally stolen, free CPU.

Interesting way to make crypto eco-friendly: acknowledge that even the most exploitative mining rigs can't economically compete against literal cpu-jacking at scale :)

Re: Show HN: RentMyCPU – An open-source computational network

#48

Post by geek_at »

spicybright wrote: post #17
throwawaypls wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t want to be cynical (and appreciate your more constructive feedback), but i’m surprised by the kind of stuff that makes up to the front page these days.

I tend to agree. I don't expect every project to have a landing page with flat trendy graphics giving you the bullet points like a start up, but just a few paragraphs/link to a white paper would go such a long way.

One or two screenshots of the web interface would have been enough

Re: Show HN: RentMyCPU – An open-source computational network

#49

Post by dTal »

geocar wrote: post #46
geocrasher wrote: post #10

In 2007 when distributed computing was still a New Kid On The Block, I shared an idea with a colleague for what I considered to be a good idea at the time: Distributed computing for hire. Families around the world have reasonable amounts of computing power that sits mostly unused; why not make a few bucks doing things similar to Folding@Home Seti@Home, but for a price? Get paid for your computations. Of course this w…

> Distributed computing for hire. So I've been doing this for a couple decades now: You create an ad tag that does some work, and you buy some impressions. You then get to "hire" thousands or millions of compute-nodes around the world to do some work. Tooling to split up the work into ad tags is just something I've accumulated in the while. The real trick I think would be allowing users to join the (ad) network as an…

...what do you use this for?

Re: Show HN: RentMyCPU – An open-source computational network

#50

Post by darrenf »

geocrasher wrote: post #10

In 2007 when distributed computing was still a New Kid On The Block, I shared an idea with a colleague for what I considered to be a good idea at the time: Distributed computing for hire. Families around the world have reasonable amounts of computing power that sits mostly unused; why not make a few bucks doing things similar to Folding@Home Seti@Home, but for a price? Get paid for your computations. Of course this w…

Sounds to me like you're describing GridCoin[0], which operates on top of BOINC[1] which itself was spawned from Seti@Home.

[0] https://gridcoin.us/ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Open_Infrastructure_f...

Edited to add footnote: no affiliation or familiarity with GridCoin! Just that the concept described rang a bell, and I was able to find the link.

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