What is grid ? - BELNET Grid



BEgrid Home Grid Computing BEgrid Participants Applications Infrastructure Services Events Press Newsletter BEgrid international Join us as an organisation Join us as a user Sponsoring Related links Contact	What is grid ? What is grid computing? The general principle of grid computing consists in the availability of a network that connects geographically spread computing and storage resources while giving many user groups access to this network. Each user can gain access to the totality of the resources (computing capacity, memory, software, storage, etc.) that have been added to the network by other members of the network. Grid computing means in fact a globalisation and virtualisation of computer infrastructures. The term "grid" comes from the concept of "electricity grid" that is available in the industrialised world and where all power plants are connected to each other in a grid structure. A power shortage in a power plant is immediately and transparently replaced by power of another power plant in the grid. Another image of grid computing is the idea that the required computing- and storage resources can be got immediately by connecting to a network. In theory all types of computers and storage equipment can be added to a grid infrastructure. Grid Middleware It is almost evident that the connection of computers and storage to a network, e.g. internet, is not sufficient to realise a computing/data grid. There needs to be software that has the task to make sure that all systems that are part of the grid infrastructure can be announced to the grid users at any moment and with all their properties. There need to be a "distribution system" that attributes free resources to users that request those resources. Rules that control the access to the grid or part of the grid or that can give priority to certain user groups have to be defined. The necessary security measures have to be taken when giving users access to the grid. That type of software is called grid middleware. Current status of grid computing Grid Computing is not yet a standard product on the ICT market but is gaining in popularity. Many projects in the research world are showing the power of computing/data grid infrastructures. Worldwide production grid infrastructures (like EGEE, Enabling Grids for EsciencE) do exist and are looking for cooperation. Computer manufacturers and software companies have started cooperation with those large projects. Standardisation Research and development in grid middleware resulted in several grid infrastructures that are mutually incompatible. The "Open Grid Forum" (OGF) is an organisation that promotes standards for computing/data grids and defined the "Open Grid Services Architecture" (OGSA) and the "Open Grid Services Infrastructure" in order to offer a framework for creating interoperable grids.

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