Spotlight on BOINC: Ankr’s inspiration

Introduction
So far in this series I’ve covered the SAP, Celer and Pantera relationships with the Ankr project. This time I’d like to cover probably the most fundamental and significant partnership in terms of technology; the one with BOINC.

What’s BOINC?
Well it stands for ‘Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing’ (again, the Berkeley connection that seems to be a strong theme running through this project; indeed I’ve heard that BOINC was part of the original inspiration for Ankr).

It’s a high-performance, distributed computing platform; pretty much what Ankr aims to achieve utilising BlockChain. The idea is that the BOINC client can be run on hardware with spare CPU cycles, and the BOINC system can then utilise these to execute complex compute tasks, effectively taking advantage of ‘free’ compute power.

As a result, the BOINC network has an entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest grid-computing network in the world.

The BOINC project is headed up by David Anderson, who is also an advisor for Ankr, and who also leads the SETI@home project. SETI stands for ‘Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence’, funded by NASA. SETI allows individuals to run clients that use spare CPU cycles to scan radio telescope content for patterns that might indicate signals or communication from somewhere other than Earth. SETI projects in one form or another have been running for decades and the search continues. I’ll speculate now, that the search will soon be fuelled by Ankr; the appointment of David Anderson as advisor is just too perfect for there not to be a full Ankr/BOINC/SETI triumvirate!

Ankr & BOINC
I think it’s pretty clear that Ankr and BOINC are very closely aligned; fundamentally, they aim to achieve the same thing with regard to executing complex compute tasks through a distributed grid. I think what’s interesting though is to consider what Ankr brings to the party; how can Ankr extend the BOINC paradigm?

Firstly, although BOINC is the largest Grid Computing network in the world, its current distribution tends to be quite limited; mostly throughout North America and Europe. Additionally, the major sources for the grid are from volunteers. Ankr introduces a couple of features that can change this significantly:

• Wider range of devices that can join the grid: anything from a mobile phone, a home computer or a server in a datacenter can become part of the network
• A reward system, meaning that contributors to the network can receive payment for their compute power. So now, idle cycles in data centres, school computers on idle throughout the night and even mobile phones on standby, can earn rewards for their owners by contributing to the grid.
• Trusted results through blockchain verification and through the optional secure features provided by the SGX chipset.
• A highly usable interface to make this complex world accessible to everyone.

The reward system is most significant; currently BOINC suffers from a relative instability simply because volunteer, rewardless contributions to the network tend to have greater periods of unavailability. However if an individual knows they’ll be paid for providing the resource, they’ll try to optimise this.

Extending the Grid
When Ankr ran their competition for ideas and feedback about their project, one of the contributions I made was to propose a model for incorporating the Ankr client into video game libraries to introduce an interesting business model for game creators. Here’s my submission:

My suggestion here is to have ANKR client-capabilities built in to game development libraries, in such a way as to render any game utilising that library, an Ankr device — particularly when in ‘Sleep’ or ‘Pause’ mode. Ankr could build such a library themselves, or partner with someone like Unity to develop this.

The library could be free to use, and the developers could even receive tokens generated from the network contribution their game delivers. This may then lead to a ‘freeware’ model, where it is cost-effective for developers to produce free-to-use games, in return for receiving Ankr tokens for network contribution.

I still love this idea — I really hope the Ankr team see some potential in this; can you imagine how much compute resource this could represent? And I love the win-win model this introduces. What makes this even more possible is the more recent development with Ankr that means SGX-enabled CPU’s are now optional. Initially they were intended to be mandatory, but this is no longer the case, which opens up so many more possibilities for where Ankr clients can exist.

Conclusion
Well there you go; another glimpse of how all the parts of Ankr and their partnerships fit together! Personally, I love the whole concept here; the possibilities are so exciting. I can see so many more partnerships springing forth in the future; possibly with Console manufacturers, Game Developers and Telcos, to help extend the network across every part of the globe.

Oh… and could Ankr take BOINC’s entry in the Guinness Book of Records away, one day?!

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About the author: Jamie Badman is a keen crypto-enthusiast who’s worked in the IT software industry for over 30 years and is currently an IT manager, application architect and UX consultant working for Deutsche Bank in London, England.