VAGUE SOLUTIONS
Last updated
Last updated
The blockchain-based super-computer market is emerging (I still think that XEL was the one who started this movement after all hehe, but please correct me if I am wrong). In the recent two years multiple approaches have been presented, each of them with its own advantages and disadvantages. When it comes down to executing arbitrarily coded algorithms, the ones I am aware of can be understood as blockchain-driven markets that allow the rental of virtual machine droplets which can then run an arbitrarily coded algorithm. In my personal view, this is just a decentralized variant of DigitalOcean, and has very little in common with a real distributed computer that bundles the processing power of all nodes into one single massive hell-of-a CPU.
However, when it comes down to very specific use cases, other solutions really do provide an excellent performance. One very good example is Golem's rendering functionality, where people can submit a rendering job and have it distributed to a number of nodes which then render a specific area of that image. Approached tailored to (and optimized) a specific use-case will always outperform a general purpose solution. But if you need it general purpose, you will be happy it is there.
Just a little story I would like to share. I tried out a different distributed computation solution recently, which allows to run anything on the previously rented virtual server. I kinda liked the idea, i liked it much, until I began to think what could happen if I was the one, who provided his computational resources to the network and others could run whatever they want on my hardware. I would have no problem if people just host a Counterstrike server on my computer and pay me for it ... but I do mind if they set up a hidden tor service, if they run a file sharing server, if they share illegal material or do any other bad stuff that can easily be traced back to my IP address. I certainly do not want that, and running that "node" suddenly seemed a really dangerous thing to do. So I wiped that thing, ditched the bullet and ran for the hills.
Good that XEL is not allowing for that kind of stuff. It comes with an own programming language which can only be used to program "harmless" things which are always safe to be executed by others. You will soon find out what that means.
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