Dynamic coordination and control of network connected devices within a
distributed processing platform is disclosed for large-scale network site
testing, or for other distributed projects. For network site testing, the
distributed processing system utilizes a plurality of client devices
which are running a client agent program associated with the distributed
computing platform and which are running potentially distinct project
modules for the testing of network sites or other projects. The
participating client devices can be selected based upon their attributes
and can receive test workloads from the distributed processing server
systems. In addition, the client devices can send and receive poll
communications that may be used during processing of the project to
control, manage and coordinate the project activities of the distributed
devices. If desired, a separate poll server system can be dedicated to
handling the poll communication and coordination and control operations
with the participating distributed devices during test operations,
thereby allowing other server tasks to be handled by other distributed
processing server systems. Once the tests are complete, the results can
be communicated from the client devices to the server systems and can be
reported, as desired. Additionally, the distributed processing system can
identify the attributes, including device capabilities, of distributed
devices connected together through a wide variety of communication
systems and networks and utilize those attributes to organize, manage and
distribute project workloads to the distributed devices.