Breaking News - Operating Systems
& Software:
GridIron Software Releases XLR8
Version 1.0
GridIron Software announced the release of GridIron XLR8 version 1.0, an
application development tool and runtime infrastructure that makes it
Profoundly Simple to develop, use and manage software with the added speed of
parallel distributed computing. GridIron XLR8 enables computationally
intensive applications to run faster on multiple computers.
Distributed computing is a simple concept - divide and distribute the work
ordinarily performed on a single computer amongst several computers joined
together in a network. Until now, however, the complexity associated with
implementing distributed computing has deterred its use beyond the esoteric
and exotic.
"GridIron's mission is to get distributed computing out of the lab and into
mainstream use," said GridIron co-founder, President and CTO Steve Forde.
"GridIron XLR8 puts the speed and power of a supercomputer into the hands of
ordinary people who don't have computer science degrees, such as the
professional animator making the next blockbuster feature film or a home
computer user editing a wedding video."
To make distributed computing more broadly accessible, GridIron XLR8 has
three
key product features that emphasize profound simplicity: First, GridIron XLR8
is the first commercial solution for distributed computing designed to be
embedded directly into an application. Users can take advantage of the speed
of distributed processing without having to change the way they use their
applications.
Secondly, GridIron XLR8 uses a patent pending peer-to-peer architecture
with
AutoGrid. GridIron XLR8 peers are software installed on computers contributing
additional processing resources. The intelligent XLR8 peers discover each
other and automatically set up a processing network, distribute work, and
recover from failure. This autonomic capability eliminates the requirement for
an administratively intensive middleware layer, making the solution profoundly
simple to manage.
Finally, the XLR8 API set makes it profoundly simple for software
developers
to embed distributed computing within an application. All of the job control
logic can be defined and controlled through the use of just six XLR8 job
control functions and four job execution methods provided by application plug-
ins. Additional XLR8 functions are available for data marshalling and OAM.
This high-level of abstraction combined with the intelligent runtime peers
significantly reduces the development effort currently associated with
distributed computing.
GridIron has also chosen to follow an innovative business model, offering
GridIron under an open license patterned closely after the open source
movement. A complete and fully functioning version of XLR8, including
documentation, APIs and the GridIron XLR8 runtime software is free for
development and testing purposes. Once a developer has integrated XLR8 and is
ready to release their software, they simply upgrade their license to use and
commercially distribute XLR8.
The XLR8 APIs are available for C/C++ and Java. The XLR8 runtime software
supports Mac OS X, Red Hat Linux and Windows XP and 2000 operating systems.
GridIron XLR8 is available immediately for download at
www.gridironsoftware.com.
ABOUT GRIDIRON
Established in February 2001, GridIron is a software development company
located in Ottawa, Canada. GridIron's mission is to foster mainstream adoption
of high performance computing by making it profoundly simple to develop and
use software applications with the added speed of distributed computing.
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