Nearly all of the distributed computing projects our team is active on are running on the BOINC platform. This open source framework for volunteer and grid computing has dozens of projects running on it, and handles most of the grunt work between the project servers and the user's client software.

The project administrators and programmers write an application (program) that runs within the BOINC framework. They install the server software for BOINC on their servers. You install the BOINC client software on your computer. Go to the ACTIVITY dropdown menu and select Network Activity Always Available from the bottom group of choices, Use GPU Always from the middle group, and Suspend from the top group. You don't want the client to download too many work units until you've attached to all your projects. Now, you can attach to a project by going to the TOOLS dropdown menu and choosing Attach to Project. You attach to a project by selecting it from a dropdown list or entering the project's BOINC address (URL) on the dialog box that opens. If you are new to BOINC crunching, it will ask for a username and password you want to use for the project. We recommend using the same username for all projects. The BOINC client will now download its application and any other files it needs, as well as a work unit or two for each project. Go back to the ACTIVITY dropdown menu and select Run Always from the top group of choices, once you've attached to a few projects.

Your computer will now start crunching (processing) the work units. If you're new to these projects, the client will open your web browser each time you attach to a project, to a page where you can fill in your account details for that project. When you return to the project's website, you can log into your account and set a number of options, but for now you can just enter your username to match what you've decided to use. The first time you attach a computer to a new account, it just puts the name of the computer username in there, so you need to change it. You repeat this process for all of the projects you want this computer to work on. Depending on the computer, this could be anywhere from about six to sixteen projects.

At some point, after you've gotten a feel for what the program is doing and assured yourself that you really can go on working with your computer without any serious lag or anything, you'll want to go to each of the project websites you've attached to and set up some of the various options you have. You may also want to join a team. You will get credits for your crunching (we call them cobblestones) and the team you are on will get the same amount. If you leave that team, you and the team both keep the credits earned while you were a member. If you join a different team, they will only get credits that you earn while you are a member of that team.

That's pretty much it. Sure, there are some other things you should know that will help you out, and we try to cover all these things on our site. That's why you should look around, check out the forums, etc. and join a team with members that will help you get started. We highly recommend the Guru Mountain DC Team as an excellent choice. Sure, there's thousands of teams out there, but you're here, aren't you? Obviously, that inner voice is telling you something. Guiding you to the wise choice. Steering you toward the mountain.