 |
|
DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / JUNE 30, 2003: VOL. 2 NO. 26
|
Applications:
GRID COMPUTING HAS A NEW ROLE
WITH GENETIC RESEARCH
Genetics researchers are using grid computing to speed up investigations
into
new ways of tackling disease.
Oxford GlycoSciences (OGS), a UK biopharmaceutical company, has implemented
the technology to improve the utilisation of its server infrastructure and
shorten the time it takes to process work.
OGS analyses protein samples using complex algorithms, compares them
against
various public and proprietary databases, and then constructs bespoke
databases that are sold to its customers, mostly pharmaceutical companies, for
use in drugs development.
Almost all of the work is heavily computing-intensive, putting strain on
its
100 processor Sun Microsystems server infrastructure to process jobs as fast
as possible.
Director of proteomics discovery and chief information officer Andrew Lyall
says many jobs takes weeks to process.
"Over time we realised that our servers were being badly utilised: we'd
find
one box running at 102 per cent, while the next box would be running at two
per cent," he said.
To maximise processor utilisation, OGS implemented Sun One Grid Engine,
grid
computing software that dynamically matches applications with the most
appropriate servers.
The company immediately noticed a reduction in turnaround time: one job
scheduled to take three months was done in a week, while others typically
processed in week were done in a day or less.
Lyall says OGS has also saved money by dramatically reducing the number of
new
processors required.
"Previously we needed to scale up our server environment almost
continuously
to cope with increasing demand. Since we started using a grid solution, we've
not yet needed to buy any more servers," he said.
In the future, OGS may not even have to worry about a server infrastructure
at
all: using grid engine portal technology, the company could connect to grid
computing resources anywhere in the world.
"If I can get my CPU cycles without having to maintain an infrastructure,
and
I can get the same levels of service, why not do it?" said OGS Unix systems
manager Alan Hart.
|