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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY /
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Special Features:
HARVARD USES IBM TECHNOLOGY TO
CREATE 'CRIMSON GRID'
Harvard University announced that it is working with IBM to establish a
university-wide computing Grid. The "Crimson Grid" will be used by students
and faculty for research, data sharing and collaboration in such areas as life
sciences, engineering and applied sciences.
Harvard and IBM also will work together to develop and pre-test Grid tools
and
protocols, based on open standards, designed to help other academic
institutions take advantage of Grid computing, which taps data and computing
resources from different computing systems and makes them available when and
where they are needed.
"A Grid could potentially provide the tools to solve any type problem, from
a
complex literature search to mining the genome," said Dr. Jayanta Sircar, CIO
and IT director of Harvard's Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences
(DEAS). "Harvard's goal is to help create an 'out-of-the-box' implementation
of Grid computing that will enable students throughout the region to leverage
commonly shared resources for collaborative research and knowledge
sharing."
Through an IBM Shared University Research award, Harvard will receive
powerful
IBM eServer systems to power the Crimson Grid. In addition, the DEAS IT group,
with help from IBM computer scientists, will implement and build the core
development environment for the Grid -- the Grid Reference System
Implementation. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Harvard University
Information Systems will supply a final key component, the network backbone
service, to bring the Grid to life.
"Harvard and IBM share a vision of using Grid technology to significantly
broaden the boundaries of academic research, especially in the area of life
sciences," said Bruce Harreld, IBM senior vice president of Strategy. "This
Grid project can open doors to new research and help both organizations to
draw on complementary strengths, including IBM's expertise in Grid computing,
computational biology and advanced IT solutions."
Commenting on the SUR award, Venkatesh Narayanmurti, Harvard's Dean of
Engineering and Applied Sciences and Dean of Physical Sciences, said, "We are
pleased and honored to be working with IBM on developing the Crimson Test Bed.
This award will provide an excellent opportunity for industry and academia to
collaborate. Such an effort blends well with the interdisciplinary and team
environment of the Division itself."
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