 |
|
DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY /
|
Special Features:
GRID COMPUTING EXPECTED TO MAKE
HISTORY
Grids, due to their sharing of resources across various networks, allow
companies' computer systems to run in the wake of disaster or terrorist
attacks.
Grid computing, the latest craze in the high tech world, is hoped to bring
supercomputer-like power to average PC users all over the world, connecting
them via multiple networks of computers.
Huge vendors are heavily investing in Grid's possibilities. IBM, HP, Dell,
Oracle, Microsoft and Sun have all begun to take notice and embrace its
attributes.
By connecting a vast network of computers to pool power and storage, Grids
are
able to perform complex tasks in the background. Users should simply receive
computing power when it is needed, much like a light switch. PC power is
shared across the Grid; safeguards ensure data security. So if one or more
computers fail, the others continue to run unaffected.
Companies are interested in the money saving and resourceful aspects of
Grid
computing. IBM, for instance, is hoping to organize and manage the Grid
networks.
The technological boom and subsequent overflow of scientific, engineering
and
commercial data has begun to bog down computer systems worldwide, creating a
need for Grid's shared computing capacity.
Grid's concept originated in the scientific and research fields when
scientists harnessed the collective power of dozens of PCs to create a virtual
supercomputer. Complex software is needed to allow a PC to draw computational
resources from far away PCs.
It is thought that industries like medical research, financial services,
mechanical design, oil exploration, and entertainment will benefit the most at
first from Grid computing.
Commercial users may soon see applications already being created in
research
labs. To help find a cure for smallpox, for instance, IBM and a group of
partners harnessed the processing power of 2 million idle PCs. They then
screened 35 million drug compounds and smallpox proteins to find the most
optimum cure. The Defense Department, which funded the project, will further
study their findings.
In addition to IBM's research, NASA uses an Information Power Grid. Purdue
University researchers study a digital city created by Grid applications to
look at the effects of terrorist attacks. Grid use is not just being developed
in the United States, however. Europe and Japan are also building large Grids
to improve their supercomputing applications.
Grids may also benefit the economy. North Carolina, for instance, has begun
a
Grid-computing strategy that projects a $10 billion boost for the state
economy by 2010. he Grids help businesses to lower costs and, in turn,
release products to market in a quicker fashion.
It is hoped that Grids' benefits could reach consumers eventually. There is
a
possibility of home users seeing faster and cheaper services from public and
private organizations, like university research centers, which use Grid more
often.
Although Grid computing has been hyped up, industry insiders caution
against
expecting too much, too soon. General consumers may not see Grid computing
benefits for three to five years, at least.
In the late 1960s, the federal government linked PCs worldwide to create
the
Internet.
The massive exchange of words, images and sounds among millions of machines
came about with the World Wide Web in the 90s.
But now, the addition of large amounts of power with individual PCs adds
more
technical difficulty and requires some major changes to existing networks.
Security is also an issue. Companies, already in a struggle to prevent
hackers
and viruses from infiltrating their PCs, worry about a single worm affecting
an entire Grid.
And if computers are being used so efficiently on Grids, why would computer
makers need to make new ones? Researchers say that the need for more
applications creates a need for more PCs. Businesses hope that the expansion
of PC possibilities will, in the end, help to sell more PCs.
|