distributed.net
Distributed.net is a volunteer computing effort that is attempting to solve large scale problems using otherwise idle CPU or GPU time. It is governed by Distributed Computing Technologies, Incorporated (DCTI), a non-profit organization under U.S. tax code 501(c)(3).
Type of site | Volunteer computing |
|---|---|
| Owner | Distributed Computing Technologies, Inc. |
| URL | distributed.net |
| Launched | February 1997 |
| Current status | Active |
Distributed.net is working on RC5-72 (breaking RC5 with a 72-bit key). The RC5-72 project is on pace to exhaust the keyspace in just over 40 years as of February 2024, although the project will end whenever the required key is found. RC5 has eight unsolved challenges from RSA Security, although in May 2007, RSA Security announced that they would no longer be providing prize money for a correct key to any of their secret key challenges. distributed.net has decided to sponsor the original prize offer for finding the key as a result.
In 2001, distributed.net was estimated to have a throughput of over 30 TFLOPS. As of August 2019, the throughput was estimated to be the same as a Cray XC40, as used in the Lonestar 5 supercomputer, or around 1.25 petaFLOPs.