BOINC is a software platform for volunteer computing and desktop Grid computing. Its features

include:
Project autonomy
Many projects use BOINC. Projects are independent; each one operates its own servers and databases. There is no central directory or approval process.

Volunteer flexibility
Volunteers can participate in multiple projects; they control which projects they participate in, and how their resources are divided among these projects. When a project is down or has no work, the resources of its volunteers are divided among other projects.

Flexible application framework
Existing applications in common languages (C, C++, Fortran) can run as BOINC applications with little or no modification. An application can consist of several files (e.g. multiple programs and a coordinating script). New versions of applications can be deployed without required any action by volunteers.

Security
BOINC protects against several types of attacks. For example, digital signatures based on public-key encryption protect against the distribution of viruses.

Server performance and scalability
The BOINC server software is extremely efficient, so that a single mid-range server can dispatch and handle millions of jobs per day. The server architecture is also highly scalable, making it easy to increase server capacity or availability by adding more machines.

Source code availability
BOINC is distributed under the Lesser General Public License. However, BOINC applications need not be open source.

Support for large data
BOINC supports applications that produce or consume large amounts of data, or that use large amounts of memory. Data distribution and collection can be spread across many servers, and participant hosts transfer large data unobtrusively. Users can specify limits on disk usage and network bandwidth. Work is dispatched only to hosts able to handle it.

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