PRESENTED BY L.

KIRUBANANDAN [FINAL CSE]

INTRODUCTION TO GRID COMPUTING

The term, grid computing, has become one of the latest buzzwords in the ITindustry. Grid computing is an innovative approach that leverages existing IT infrastructure to optimize compute resources and manage data and computing workloads.

According to Gartner
"a grid is a collection of resources owned by multiple organizations that is coordinated to allow them to solve a common problem."

Three Commonly Recognized Forms Of Grid:

Computing grid - multiple computers to solve one application problem Data grid - multiple storage systems to host one very large data set Collaboration grid - multiple collaboration systems for collaborating on a common issue.

GRID COMPUTING:
Grid computing, most simply stated, is distributed computing taken to the next evolutionary level. The goal is to create the illusion of a simple yet large and powerful self managing virtual computer out of a large collection of connected heterogeneous systems sharing various combinations of resources.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:
Grid computing reflects a conceptual framework rather than a physical resource. The Grid approach is utilized to provision a computational task with administratively-distant resources. The focus of Grid technology is associated with the issues and requirements of flexible computational provisioning beyond the local administrative domain.

VIRTUAL ORGANIZATION:
A Grid environment is created to address resource needs. The use of that resource is usually characterized by its availability outside of the context of the local administrative domain.
(eg. CPU cycles, software programs, peripherals)

 . This 'external provisioning' approach entails creating a new administrative domain referred to as a Virtual organization with a distinct and separate set of administrative policies. The context for a Grid 'job execution' is distinguished by the requirements created when operating outside of the home administrative context.

RESOURCE UTILIZATION
One characteristic that currently distinguishes Grid computing from distributed computing is the abstraction of a 'distributed resource' into a Grid resource. One result of abstraction is that it allows resource substitution to be more easily accomplished. Some of the overhead ssociated with this flexibility is reflected in the middleware layer and the temporal latency associated with the access of a Grid (or any distributed) resource.

 Their results can be checked for any kind of inconsistency, such as computer failures, data corruption, or tampering. Such grid systems will utilize autonomic computing. This is a type of software that automatically heals problems in the grid, perhaps even before an operator.

GRID ARCHITECTURE:
The architecture of the Grid is often described in terms of layers,each providing a specific function. In general, the higher layers are focused on the user,where as the lower layers are focused on computers and networks.

APPLICATION OF GRID COMPUTING:

There are many factors to consider in grid-enabling an application. One must understand that not all applications be transformed to run in parallel on a grid and achieve scalability. Furthermore, there are no practical tools for transforming arbitrary applications to exploit the parallel capabilities of a grid.

APPLICATION OF GRID COMPUTING WITH GLOBUS

Practical tools that skilled application designers can use to write a parallel grid application.

CONCLUSION:
So far we have been describing and walking through overview discussion topics on the Grid Computing discipline that will be discussed further throughout this book, including the Grid Computing evolution, the applications, and the infrastructure requirements for any grid environment.

 The proceeding chapters in this book introduce the reader to this new, evolutionary era of Grid Computing, in a concise, hard-hitting, and easy-tounderstand manner.