Is server having people self- CERT?

[phillipsjk]

Was checking how quickly my P-1 factoring assignments got snapped up and noticed for 104475233 Ben Delo did both the CERT and PRP work.

I think I recall fraud is not possible because the server does some mangling before forwarding the CERT assignment.

Is that expected behavior?

[kruoli]

Yes.

[Viliam Furik]

Yes, it's safe.

Self-certification is common for Ben, because of his huge throughput.

[Uncwilly]

It is not an issue. The proof file is submitted to the server. The server works some magic on it. Then it sends it out as a cert assignment. The little bit that the server does prevents people from reporting fake self-certs.

[kriesel]

For background on why, read and follow links of https://mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=25638 or just go to https://mersenneforum.org/showpost.p...5&postcount=46

[snme2pm1]

Originally Posted by kruoli

Yes.

I'm a tiny bit out of touch, but what is nomenclature for the particular work for CERT in the assignment view?
Some of you might know that I've been busy in the 118M range.

[phillipsjk]

Originally Posted by snme2pm1

I'm a tiny bit out of touch, but what is nomenclature for the particular work for CERT in the assignment view?
Some of you might know that I've been busy in the 118M range.

I am not sure it is a separate work option. CERT tasks are only sent to "reliable" computers.


CERT work is done with a very high, priority, which is controlled by the SequentialWorkToDo=n variable documented deep in undoc.txt.

The program sometimes performs work from worktodo.txt out-of-order.
(1) Certification work is done quickly as these assignments have a very short
expiration period.
(2) Any necessary trial factoring and P-1 testing on exponents reserved for a
prime test can be done early.  This option exists for for users without an
always-on Internet connection.  If early factoring finds a factor, the server
can be contacted and another exponent reserved avoiding the possible scenario
where a prime test for the first worktodo.txt line completes, a factor is quickly
found for the second line in worktodo.txt and the computer now sits idle until
the server can be contacted.  This behavior can be confusing, especially
to newcomers.
The option to control what work can be done early is in prime.txt:
	SequentialWorkToDo=n		(default is -1)
If n is 1, work will never be done out of order,  You will not get certification
assignments.  If n is -1, only certification work will be done out of order.
If n is 0, certification and early factoring will be done out of order.

Wish I knew about this option when running my dual CPU system, with the memory less saturated for the third worker (I was leaving slack capacity to avoid impacting my work on the computer -- Each CPU has it own memory bank (NUMA))). Maybe the option was added because I complained.

There are also some options for controlling certification work.  In local.txt, add
	CertWorker=n
	CertMinExponent=x
	CertMaxExponent=y
This let's you do certifications only on the specified worker number n.  You can
also control the range of exponents you are willing to do certifications for.

[LOBES]

Originally Posted by phillipsjk

	CertMinExponent=x
	CertMaxExponent=y
You can also control the range of exponents you are willing to do certifications for.

This is wonderful! Thanks for pointing it out.

[kriesel]

Originally Posted by snme2pm1

I'm a tiny bit out of touch, but what is nomenclature for the particular work for CERT in the assignment view?

"CERT" appears in the work type column in https://www.mersenne.org/workload/. They are usually given high priority and usually have short run time, so don't appear there for long. The smaller the exponent and higher the proof power, the faster Certs complete.

Worktodo entry will look something like
Cert=some32hexcharaidvalue,1,2,exponent,-1,squarings

If running certain work you do not want interrupted, such as 100Mdigit LLDC, for which the Jacobi checks can be slow and triggered by interruptions, in prime95, Test, Worker Windows, there's a check box at the lower left to get occasional Cert work; clear it to avoid getting future Cert work assignments.