The Grid computing reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Grid computing

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Grid computing offers a model for solving massive computational problems using large numbers of computers arranged as clusters embedded in a distributed telecommunications infrastructure. Grid computing's focus on the ability to support computation across administrative domains sets it apart from traditional Distributed computing.

Grid computing has the design goal of solving problems too big for any single supercomputer, whilst retaining the flexibility to work on multiple smaller problems. Thus grid computing provides a multi-user environment.

This implies the use of secure authorization techniques to allow remote users to control computing resources.

Grid computing involves sharing heterogenous resources (based on different platformss, hardware/software [[computer architecture | architectures]], computer languages), located in different places belonging to different administrative domains over a network using open standards. In short, it involves virtualizing computing resources. Functionally, one can classify grids as:

The Global Grid Forum (GGF) is the primary organization whose purpose is to define specifications about Grid Computing. The Globus Toolkit is an implementation of these standards, and has become the de facto standard for grid middleware. As a middleware component, it provides a standard platform for services to be based upon, but is only one component needed in Grid Computing. Many other tools are used in a successful Grid environment. This is similar to TCP/IP. The usefulness of the Internet emerged both from the succesfulness of TCP/IP and the establishment of things such as newsgroups and webpages.

Globus has implementations of GGF defined protocols to provide

  1. Resource management: Grid Resource Allocation & Management Protocol (GRAM)
  2. Information Services: Monitoring and Discovery Service (MDS)
  3. Security Services: Grid Security Infrastructure (GSI)
  4. Data Movement and Management: Global Access to Secondary Storage (GASS) and GridFTP

A number of tools are used with Globus to make Grid Computing a more robust platform that is useful to high performance computing communities. This includes:

Most of the grids spanning research and academic communities in North America and Europe utilise the Globus Toolkit as their core middleware.

XML-based web services offer a way for accessing diverse services/applications in a distributed environment. As of 2003 the world of Grid computing and Web Services have started to converge to offer Grid as a web service (Grid Service). The Open Grid Services Architecture (OGSA) has defined this environment, which will offer several functionalities adhering to the semantics of the Grid Service.

Grid offers a way to solve Grand Challenge problems like protein folding, drug discovery, financial modelling, earthquake simulation, climate/weather modelling etc. Grids offer a way of using the information technology resources optimally in an organisation. They also offer a means to offer information technology as a utility bureau for commercial clients, with those clients paying only for what they use, as with electricity or water.

Table of contents
1 See also
2 References
3 External links

See also

References

External links