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Sending You the Data SETI@home connects only when transferring data. This occurs only when the screen saver has finished analyzing the work-unit and wants to send back the results (and get another work-unit.) We'll only do this with your permission and allow you to control when your computer connects to us or, we'll give you the option to set the screen saver to transfer data automatically as soon as it's done with the current work-unit. The data transmission lasts for less than 5 minutes with most common modems and we'll disconnect immediately after all data is transferred. We keep track of the work-units here in Berkeley with a large database. When the work-units are returned to us, they are merged back into the database and marked "done." Our computers look for a new work-unit for you to process and send it out, marking it "in progress" in the database. We send out each work unit multiple times in order to make sure that the data is processed correctly. Even properly operating computers can make mistakes from time to time. If you are unable to complete a work unit, or your computer crashes and you lose your result, don't worry. The data isn't lost.
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