Grid Computing Overview
: Grid computing is applying resources from many PCs in a network-at the same time-to a single problem. The development of the Earth Wide Web revolutionized the way that we think about and access info. We actually do not think twice any more about logging on to the web and pulling up info on virtually any subject possible. What the Web did for info, Grid computing hopes to do for computation. Grid computing is actually the following logical evolution of the web.
The Net started with TCP / IP and networking ; then came communication with email, followed by info sharing with the internet. Next will be the arrival of grid computing, the sharing of tangible PC resources ,eg memory, storage, and processing power.
It is just about mind astounding to envision the kinds of applications that could be developed if access to distributed supercomputers, mass storage and massive memory were as easy as access to the web. So there are many methods of taking a look at Grid Computing : as a method to connect the computational power of all the massive PCs together and give access to corporations and academia alike ; as a method to connect ALL the PCs both gigantic and little and derive computational efficiencies ( think p-2-p networks ) ; as the next logical step in providing a computational platform for Web Services ; as a business on demand or computing as an application model which IBM and others are touting.
All the above are in effect true. Through a selection of different means and technologies, computers will learn how to share each others processors, storage and memory, much as they share communications and info today, and applications will take virtue of these resources. While we are a long way from realizing the full effects that Grid computing will bring, it is on us and there are both short term and long term implications for the concern. The particular brains of the PCs will be connected, not only the arteries.
This implies that users will start to experience the Net as a continual computational universe. Computer programmes, database sessions, and video and audio streams will be reborn as services that live in cyberspace. Once connected into the grid, a desktop machine will draw computational power from all the other machines in the grid. The web itself will turn into a computing platform. Grid computing is the next logical step for the Net to take.
