Wirt writes: > As to my estimation that each work unit is sent out to eight people, > I derive that estimate from the statistical data they're currently posting. The FAQ tells more of the story: 1.14. What happens to work units that never get returned by us? Are they lost forever? We keep track of every work unit that goes out - if it is taking too long getting the results back, we'll send it out to somebody else. Only after we get results back and confirm them we will remove the work unit from disk. Since they have a method of "confirming the results," it appears that redundant processing is not needed. The quote also shows why the same work unit could be sent to eight people. This quote is in the full FAQ, at: < http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/faq.html#q1.14 > Actually, a later FAQ gives another possibility: 3.11. Is it likely that so many people sign up that you won't always have enough Arecibo data to feed all the clients? If so, how will this be handled? It's possible. Up to a point, we will handle it by sending the same data to more than one user. [snip] --Glenn ....................................................................... Item Subject: cc:Mail Text