Grid computing
The goal of grid computing, which gets its name from its gridlike architecture, is to link surplus computing power and other spare IT resources with clients who have periodic needs beyond the capacity of their machines. It's a form of peer-to-peer computing.
Grid computing software divides a task into subtasks, finds spare processors and other critical resources on the network, distributes the subtasks, monitors their progress and restarts any subtasks that fail. Finally, grid computing engines aggregate the results of the subtasks so the job or task can be completed.
One type of grid computing arrangement is a local cluster, which typically uses one main grid server on a single very-high-speed network. The grid machine handles one major task, and a small set of users are allowed to manage that task. A broader group of users are allowed to inspect and review intermediate and final results.
The next step up is the grid campus. Typically it involves many grid servers and many tasks. However, all the processing is done behind a firewall and network speeds are still fairly fast and within a known range.
Yet another approach is a global grid, which opens usage to machines anywhere on the Web and/or other private networks. It requires considerable effort to discover available resources and schedule tasks on these machines because they can differ so much in response times because of Web and network latencies.
From Grid computing uses spare CPU power, Network World, 07/15/02.
Additional resources
Global Grid Forum Web site
Grid Computing Info Centre
Research: Grid computing
Links to additional info.
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