Editing Distributed.net (section)

{{Short description|Distributed computing organization}}
{{lowercase title|distributed.net}}
{{Infobox website
| name             = distributed.net
| logo             = [[Image:DistributedNetLogoW.jpg|200px|The distributed.net logo]]
| screenshot       = 
| caption          = 
| url              = [http://www.distributed.net/ distributed.net]
| alexa            = 
| type             = [[Volunteer computing]]
| language         = 
| registration     = 
| owner            = Distributed Computing Technologies, Inc.
| author           = 
| launch_date      = February 1997
| current_status   = Active
| revenue          = 
}}
'''Distributed.net''' is a [[volunteer computing]] effort that is attempting to solve large scale problems using otherwise [[Idle (CPU)|idle CPU]] or [[Graphics processing unit|GPU]] time. It is governed by '''Distributed Computing Technologies, Incorporated''' ('''DCTI'''),  a [[non-profit organization]] under U.S. tax code [[501(c)(3)]].

Distributed.net is working on [[RC5]]-72 (breaking RC5 with a 72-bit key).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.distributed.net/RC5/|title=RC5-72 project page|publisher=distributed.net}}</ref> The RC5-72 project is on pace to exhaust the keyspace in just under 37 years as of January 2025,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://stats.distributed.net/projects.php?project_id=8 |title=RC5-72 / Overall Project Stats |publisher=rsa.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230917103047/https://stats.distributed.net/projects.php?project_id=8 |archive-date=2023-09-17 |url-status=live}}</ref> 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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2100|title=RSA Laboratories Secret-Key Challenge|publisher=rsa.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070706195654/http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2100|archive-date=2007-07-06}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.distributed.net/2008/09/08/02/09/bovine/|title=RC5-72 Continuation Announcement|publisher=distributed.net}}</ref>

In 2001, distributed.net was estimated to have a [[throughput]] of over 30 [[FLOPS|TFLOPS]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lists.distributed.net/pipermail/rc5/2001-June/037127.html|title=distributed.net mailing list archive}}</ref> {{as of|2019|8}}, the throughput was estimated to be the same as a [[Cray XC40]], as used in the Lonestar 5 supercomputer,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.distributed.net/2019/08/23/02/44/mikereed|title=Distributed.net: Staff blogs – 2019 – August – 23}}</ref> or around 1.25 petaFLOPs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/taccs-lonestar-5-supercomputer-now-full-production|title=TACC's Lonestar 5 Supercomputer Now in Full Production}}</ref>