Grid Computing

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Grid Computing

• Che Johnson
• Paul Flagge
• William Walling
• Jason Poindexter

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What is Grid Computing?

• Distributed system of computers.
• Enables the sharing, selection, and aggregation
  of resources such as computing power.
• Similar to an electrical power grid.

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Grid Computing - Defined

• Grid Computing can be defined as applying
  resources from many computers in a networkat the
  same timeto a single problem usually a problem
  that requires a large number of processing cycles
  or access to large amounts of data.

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Types of Grids

• Intra-grid
• Extra-grid
• Inter-grid

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How does Grid Computing work?
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How It Works contd

• Grid Computing enables devicesregardless of
  their operating characteristicsto be virtually
  shared, managed and accessed across an
  enterprise, industry or workgroup.

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What can Grid Computing do for me?

• Consumer benefits
• Increase performance of Massively Multiplayer
  Gaming.
• Access multiple resources using only one entry
  point.
• Information Technology benefits
• Integrate heterogeneous systems and devices.
• Improve cost-effectiveness of operating
  environments.
• Business Benefits
• Improve time to market for products and services.
• Increase productivity.

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More Info.

• By the linking of these systems computing
  capacity is never wasted
• Grid computing is generally inexpensive, simple
  to deploy, and doesn't require replacement of
  existing systems
• In grid computing, PCs, servers, and workstations
  are linked together

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Examples of Grid Computing

• A well-known grid computing project is the SETI
  (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) _at_Home
  project, in which PC users worldwide donate
  unused processor cycles to help the search for
  signs of extraterrestrial life by analyzing
  signals coming from outer space.
• While the computer sits idle, the SETI program
  uses the computers processor to help with
  calculations.

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What do users want ?

• Grid Consumers
• Execute jobs for solving varying problem size and
  complexity
• Benefit by selecting and aggregating resources
  wisely
• Tradeoff timeframe and cost
• Strategy minimise expenses
• Grid Providers
• Contribute (idle) resource for executing
  consumer jobs
• Benefit by maximizing resource utilisation
• Tradeoff local requirements market opportunity
• Strategy maximise return on investment

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Major Players

• IBM
• Sun Microsystems
• Platform Computing
• Other smaller start-up companies

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The Future

• Eventually, international grid-computing
  standards will open the way to a GGG (great
  global grid) which will form one huge virtual
  computer
• The first layer of GGG standards are due out by
  the end of the year

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References

• http//www-1.ibm.com/grid/
• http//www.gridcomputingplanet.com/
• http//www.cfo.com