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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY /
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Special Features:
LEADING GRID COMPUTING EXPERT
WOLFGANG GENTZSCH JOINS MCNC
MCNC, an independent non-profit corporation established to advance
technology-led economic development in North Carolina, announced that
world-renowned Grid computing expert Wolfgang Gentzsch will lead its Grid
computing initiatives.
As managing director of MCNC's Grid Computing & Networking Services
company,
Gentzsch will direct MCNC's Grid strategy and technology development,
including the development of one of the nation's first statewide research and
education Grids. Previously, Gentzsch was senior director of Grid computing
for Sun Microsystems Inc.
MCNC, in partnership with the University of North Carolina Office of the
President and its 16-campus university system, launched the multi-year,
multi-million dollar North Carolina Grid Initiative last fall to add a Grid
computing infrastructure and resources to its existing North Carolina Research
and Education Network (NCREN). The statewide network, operated by MCNC,
provides advanced communications services, video services for distance
learning, high-speed Internet access, and access to national research networks
for public and private universities throughout North Carolina. NCREN is the
backbone infrastructure for the North Carolina Grid Initiative and will serve
as a reference implementation for commercial use of Grid computing for all of
NCREN's existing and future partners and customers.
Web services, utility computing, .NET, CPU harvesting and distributed
computing are just a few of the technologies that fall under the Grid
computing umbrella. Gt04 -- a premiere enterprise Grid computing conference
targeting industrial and commercial users -- will gather experts, and outline
strategies and road maps for Grid deployment. For more information, visit
www.gt04.com.
Grid computing is here!
Grid computing is an emerging technology that represents a new way to
conduct
business and research over the network, providing users with unprecedented
computing power, services and information no matter where the resources are
located. Multiple computing platforms and data sources on the Grid operate,
and appear to a user, as a single computing system. Networked resources on the
Grid are shared for collaboration, efficiency and cost savings.
"North Carolina's Grid Initiative will be a catalyst for economic expansion
and business growth," Gentzsch said. "North Carolina has always been a leader
in advancing new technologies and already has a wealth of existing resources
at MCNC and at the state's outstanding universities, making this the ideal
place to cultivate the many benefits of Grid computing."
Gentzsch said that working with MCNC provides him with the opportunity to
further develop and deploy emerging Grid technologies. "MCNC has an
established reputation for its innovative contributions to networking,
supercomputing, and Grid technologies. North Carolina's state government, the
universities and the local industry are already aware of the benefits of Grid
computing. It is exciting to lead an initiative that will not only impact the
future of computing but will play such an important role in North Carolina's
economic advancement."
As senior director of Grid computing for Sun Microsystems since July 2000,
Gentzsch was responsible for Sun's Grid computing vision, strategy and
technology development. Gentzsch joined Sun when it acquired Gridware, a
distributed computing software company that he co-founded in 1999. Gridware's
technology is the foundation for the Sun Grid Engine, the world's leading
distributed resource management software used in over 10,000 departmental and
enterprise Grids worldwide.
Gentzsch was also a professor of mathematics and computer science at the
University of Applied Sciences in Regensburg, Germany, and served as the head
of computational fluid dynamics and supercomputing at the German Agency for
Aerospace and Aeronautics. Throughout his career, industry leaders including
IBM, Cray Computers and Digital Equipment Corporation have sought his
consulting skills on distributed computing and supercomputing projects.
"Dr. Gentzsch is the visionary that North Carolina needs to accomplish its
most ambitious computing initiative in history," said Dave Rizzo, MCNC's chief
executive officer and president. "Grid technology will enhance innovation at
North Carolina universities and be a catalyst for entrepreneurial activity
throughout the state, and it will create a competitive advantage for North
Carolina's existing companies. Dr. Gentzsch's expertise and track record for
deploying emerging technologies positions North Carolina to be a leader in
Grid technology development for the benefit of the state's universities and
businesses, and to enhance the lives of North Carolina residents."
MCNC and North Carolina universities demonstrated national leadership in
deploying computing Grids when it launched the North Carolina BioGrid in 2001
-- one of the nation's first Grid test beds for life sciences research. In
2003, MCNC committed $6 million toward the deployment of a statewide Grid
infrastructure.
As early adopters, MCNC has identified the challenges in deploying,
operating,
and scaling a production Grid infrastructure including information security
and retrieval, joint collaboration, applications, middleware and network
infrastructure provisioning. MCNC's Grid initiatives will leverage North
Carolina's historical investments in skills, expertise and computing
infrastructure to develop and deploy Grid technology in the lab and in
production on the statewide network.
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