Each work unit is benchmarked on a dedicated Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHz. For most work units (although there may be exceptions, described in the next paragraph), we apply this equation:
timeout = 20 * (daysPerWU) + 2
deadline = max(30* (daysPerWU) + 2,10)
where daysPerWU is the number of days it took to complete the unit. The “+2″ days is there to give an additional buffer for fast WUs (to allow for servers down, etc). If 30*daysPerWU is less than 10 days, we set the deadline to 10 days, as a minimum time for all projects. The timeout is the time at which the WU is resent to another client and the deadline is the last time that we will give stats credit for the WU.
Occasionally, deadlines may be set shorter or longer than the above calculation indicates, but the reason for having deadlines at all is that the sooner we get back work units, the sooner we can put the results to good use. Also, different projects have different requirements server-side and may require shorter or allow longer deadlines (e.g. “pfold” calculations can often be run without any deadlines, whereas MREMD calculations work best with very tight deadlines). The assignment server does take machine performance into account in making assignments, thereby allowing slower machines to receive more appropriate work units.