Grid Computing – The Next Big Thing
History, almost always, repeats itself. Down the years, the next big thing has always been something that made the last big thing much easier to use. Windows made personal computers easier, Google made searching the internet easier, IPOD legalized the use of MP3’s, and Blackberries made emails more flexible.
Similarly, grid computing promises to use the power of many unused and underutilized CPUs to crunch data for applications which need it the most. The applications can be on the same machine, somewhere in the networking neighborhood or half way across the world.
Imagine this – what would you do if you could use the spare processing power from your grandma’s PC in the basement or your kids computer to divert to an application that you are working on? It could be a CAD design, an animation sequence, a complex physics experiment, or simulation of a nuclear reaction! That too, all without the use of any expensive super computers or clusters. Sky is the limit to the type and quality of applications that can be used by the Grid to make us more productive.
Grid computing is not a new concept. Many like IBM, SUN, etc. have provided the such services, by the CPU-hour, since years. SETI@home was one of the first projects that made use of the unused processing power of millions of PCs all over the world to find extra-terrestrial life. However, they were not tailored to the needs of individual applications or users.
Moore’s law seems to have peaked in terms of advancements in faster processing technology. At the same time, applications are becoming more complex. More and more processing power is needed to create and run applications especially in the area of research and development. New microprocessor technologies like HyperThreading, Dual Core, etc. are good but not good enough top serve the processing needs of the current day applications.
This is the space that Gridalogy fills in. Gridalogy provides software that can connect many computers on a network to channel collective processing power to applications that need it. The software is easy to use and configure. The system is also smart enough to manage the resources so that the transfer of processing power is seamless and only done when the client machines are not making optimum use of their own resources.
The technology would benefit all - small business and telecommuters who do not have the resources like big businesses do can now have access to expandable and cheap processing power. Big businesses can use their vast infrastructure and reduce their operating and ownership costs by using their unused processing power. Technology focused organizations can also substantially save money on their processing power needs – which currently is fulfilled through big organizations that sell it by the CPU-hour.
Gridalogy also recently released their technology preview – a teaser of what the software is capable of. Details can be found their website.
The era of grid computing has just begun and the best is yet to come!