What Is Grid Computing

[tinoymalayil 0]

Please tell what is Grid Computing and how it is differ from Cloud Computing.What is the role of Grid Computing in the field of Distributed Computing?

[zakaluka 0]

For a question such as this, you should really take a look at Wikipedia first, since it contains a good description of each technology and even a brief comparison of the 2 (though then you wouldn't get credit on this site ).

Both these terms refer to an evolution of how massively complex computations can take place on a large number of systems. The evolution goes as follows:

Single-machine supercomputers --> Beowulf clusters --> Grid computing --> Cloud computing --> ...

Grid computing basically means taking a group of computers and having them behave as one. However, the software that runs on the "grid" is required to manage the division of the problem among the available resources and integrate the results back into a final solution. The most basic form of this would be a beowulf cluster. The way they differ is that grid computing uses a more heterogeneous computing environment and the machines are more loosely coupled. Thus, the server that's dividing jobs and putting the results together needs to handle errors, computers falling off the grid, faked results, and so on. Before the term "cloud computing" was coined, programs like SETI@Home were considered to be running on grids. Often grid computing is taking place on systems all over the world, not gathered in one place.

Cloud computing is the next step to distributed super computing. Cloud computing refers to offering users a scalable environment in which to run their programs, where the user has no idea how the grid is organized, how resources and computation is distributed, and so on. The Google App Engine is a great example of a cloud computing platform. Users write an application without regards to exactly how the work will be distributed on systems, and the platform itself takes care of all that division in the background. It removes a lot of the error-prone work division code from the hands of the user and places the burden of the system itself. The whole purpose of cloud computing is to allow companies to scale their resources to consumer demand without having to invest upfront in a lot of expensive hardware / software. Cloud computing is popular for 2 reasons: The cloud supplier can dynamically support more users on the cloud than normal based on when demand for certain applications spike. In contrast, users just have to pay for the resources actually used as opposed to having to rent additional resources that may or may not be needed.

Cloud computing and grid computing are not mutually exclusive. A system like SETI@Home can be considered a cloud infrastructure that depends on grid computing. Cloud computing simply furthers the goal of having a distributed system that can adapt even more easily to changes in components, software demands and so on.

Hope this helps,

z.