bitcoinD and Overall Network Hash Rate

[bitlane]

Can a local running bitcoinD instance be queried to find current overall Bitcoin Network Hash Rate ?

I apologize if this has been covered in the past, or if  it's a simple task....I would just like to know how to accomplish this..

Thanks
bitlane

[Costia]

total hash rate is estimated from the time it took to solve the last X blocks and the current difficulty
don know if you can get block time stamps from the client, but you should be ablr to check in the blockchain file itself

[Revalin]

Not directly.  It's computed as a conversion factor times difficulty divided by time between blocks.  There's no single hashrate measure since the window you use to estimate time between blocks is arbitrary.

[Azelphur]

BitcoinD on it's own can't do this, there are a couple of ways you can get this information though.

If you must solo mine:
A) Just look at your miner
B) Install a pool server locally.

If your ok with a pool:
A) Use a pool that shows you this information
B) If you want to use a pool that doesn't show this information, but are still using a pool (Doesn't work with solo mining) use Bitcoin Mining proxy

Your miner will always give you the most accurate hash rate readings. Estimates from pool servers (or bitcoin mining proxy) are based on the amount of shares you submit and are best guesses which shift based on how lucky you are.