Special Features:
WHAT INFLUENCE COULD GRIDS HAVE ON
NETWORKS?
During a time when companies are incorporating grid-based technology and
applications, executives in the networking world are wondering what influence
grid computing will have on the performance and design of their
infrastructures.
At first glance, the answer appears to be none. This is because most
companies
are being driven to grid computing by a desire to increase utilization of
their LANs and WANs. But long term, the trend toward distributed processing of
compute-intensive and data-intensive applications may lead to the need for
more redundant network designs, smarter middleware and high-availability
network services.
Most companies testing grid applications today are trying to increase use
of
their existing networks, particularly 100M bit/sec or 1G bit/sec Ethernet LANs
installed in the late 1990s. Many companies also have T-3 or higher WAN
connections that were built for peak loads but experience significant excess
capacity.
By distributing key applications across a LAN or WAN grid, network managers
can increase the speed at which processing is done or the size of the data set
that is processed without having to purchase additional hardware or
software.
Most corporate grids run across intranets, while Internet-based grids are
popular with the academic community. many companies are testing grids
initially on LANs in a particular location and spreading them out across their
WANs.
As companies gain more experience with grids, they are finding that they
might
need to redesign their networks or add new services. Mission-critical grid
applications require some traffic engineering to ensure prioritization. Grid
applications require higher availability and redundancy because they're
distributed across a network.
Grid computing also is likely to influence the future direction of the
Internet, experts say.
The academic organizations involved in the nation's largest grid project -
the
National Science Foundation's multiyear, multimillion dollar TeraGrid project
- already can see some effect on the backbone network, which operates at 40 Gb/s.
TeraGrid researchers need at least gigabit-speed LANs to take advantage of
the
high-performance WAN connections available on the project.
High-performance grids also require some tweaks to Internet protocols.
TeraGrid researchers need larger packet sizes to sustain high TCP loads. By
doubling the size of the packets that the TeraGrid network can handle,
researchers have found they can significantly reduce the packet number that
needs to be sent, thereby increasing network performance.
Experts say that if grid computing achieves its promise, it could have a
profound effect on the way that public and private networks are designed and
operated. However, these changes will take place over the next decade.
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