Why should I let Plura utilize my computer's spare CPU cycles?
For some people, the concept of having Plura use their computer for distributed applications can sound a bit suspicious or scary. We realize this and understand the concern. However, you should know that there are several features in Plura that make it safe and beneficial to use.
Plura is safe, secure and lightweight
From day 1, we have designed Plura to be as secure as possible. Our technology has very tight restrictions on what it can and cannot do when running on your computer. We can't access your hard drive; Plura runs entirely in memory.
If you'd like to see Plura first-hand, just click here. We think you'll be impressed by its benefits and safeguards.
Plura affiliates benefit their users by using Plura
Plura pays its affiliates money for embedding our technology. The revenue our affiliates generate is often converted into direct benefit to the affiliate's end-users. Charities allow donors to convert unused CPU cycles into donations. Game developers convert CPU cycles into in-game rewards. By adding a new revenue stream, affiliates can better serve the needs of their own users.
We always encourage our affiliates to pass on the value Plura brings to their visitors. In this way, everyone benefits. On top of this, we typically advise affiliates to implement some sort of "opt-in" functionality for Plura, so that individuals can decide if they would like to run the tecehnology on their computer.
Plura is used for many purposes that indirectly benefit individuals
High-performance computing applications have always provided enormous benefit to people. Examples of such applications include Stanford's Folding@home project, which helps in understanding complex diseases, and the Malaria Control Project, which helps in tracking the spread of malaria. Similar applications can be run on Plura, and we hope that our democratized computing power will one day make these projects incredibly effective and more immediately beneficial to the world. By allowing Plura to run on your computer, you can help us achieve this goal.
The infrastructure of Plura itself provides an indirect benefit to people everywhere as well. Most computers today waste power while they are active or idle. By connecting to computers over the Internet, Plura utilizes that excess power, thereby turning waste into something useful. This reuse of energy is starkly different than the energy footprint produced by traditional data centers. As more applications make the switch from these data centers to Plura, that footprint is reduced.
Finally, because Plura is an enabling technology, it allows other people to create new sites and web applications that previously could not be financially supported. Plura does this in two ways. First, it offers a completely new revenue stream to new and existing sites. Secondly, it allows the creation of computationally-intensive applications that are very cheap to run and operate. Already, companies are taking advantage of these two benefits of Plura to create new technologies that benefit us all.