ITIS 1210 Introduction to Web-Based Information Systems Chapter 26 How Grid Computing Works

Introduction Computers used to be described by their size: Mainframes Midi-computers Mini-computers Personal computers Ultra category was the supercomputer

Introduction Largest computer today isn’t a single machine It’s a collection of tens of thousands of normally-sized computers Their power is in their combination and cooperation This is grid computing

Introduction Theory is simple Combines computational power of individual computers Across a network – the Internet or some other network A main server (or servers) breaks up the computational tasks into subtasks and assigns them to individual computers

Introduction When those computers have idle time, they devote their resources to working on those computational subtasks Results are reported back to the main server The main server collates all the results and solves the problem

Introduction Many implementations so far Largest is SETI (SETI@home) Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Overseen by U. California, Berkeley 4,000,000 people in 226 countries downloaded a screen saver When their computer was idle it analyzed radio signals

Introduction Also used for mapping genomes and analyzing proteins Similar grids could be used by corporations Idle time on any corporate computer could be used by the corporation IBM and Sun already use this concept

Introduction No standard architecture yet But moving towards one Basic use is in solving a large, complex computational problem That can be subdivided into individual subtasks

How Grid Computing Works Starts by user sending request to main cluster server Main server determines which resources are available Subtasks are created and distributed to local cluster servers

How Grid Computing Works Local cluster servers identify computers in their network that are available Subtasks are sent to those computers on this local network Each computer processes its data and sends results back to the local cluster server

How Grid Computing Works Local cluster servers collects and collates individual results Those results sent back to main cluster server Main cluster server compiles all individual results Sends answer to problem back to user

How Grid Computing Works Visual Grid Grid.org SETI@home