Grid computing enables the dynamic sharing, exchange, discovery, selection and aggregation of geographically distributed heterogeneous resources such as supercomputers, compute clusters, storage systems, data sources, visualization devices and scientific instruments to function as a single unified resource for solving large-scale compute and data intensive computing applications. Examples of global grids include the LHC Computing Grid, Worldwide LHC Computing Grid, World Community Grid and GPUGRID.net, which perform tasks such as molecular simulations and biomedical research using distributed computing resources. Personal experience with volunteer grids and plans for future aggregation of unused computing resources are also discussed.

1. Grid computing
Mireille Raad

2. Computational Grids
enable
Dynamic sharing – exchange – discovery – selection - aggregation
of geographically/Internet-wide distributed heterogeneous resources
• Supercomputers
• Compute clusters
single unified resource for solving
• Storage systems
large-scale compute and data intensive
• Data sources
computing applications
• Visualization devices
• Scientific Instruments
• People

3. LHC Volunteer Grid
LHC : our “scientific instrument”
UK physicists have successfully taken
part in a challenge to test an
international scientific computing Grid
under working conditions. During the
week-long challenge, the LHC
Computing Grid sustained transfer
rates of a gigabyte per second. - a
world first for a
permanent, international Grid using

4. Global Grids and Software Toolkits
Global Grids
• SETI@home Project
• GPUGRID.net (Perform full-atom molecular simulations of proteins on Nvidia GPUs for biomedical research)
• NFCR Centre for Computational Drug Discovery : Screensaver Lifesaver
• Worldwide LHC Computing Grid
• World community grid
• GridPP a collaboration of particle physicists and computer scientists from the UK and CERN.
• World-Wide Grid network
Middleware
Unicore – Globus – Gridbus – Legion
Grid-enabled languages and utilities
HPC++ or MPI

5. Personal Experience with Grids
And
My “realistic” Future plans
(geeky partners needed)
Experience:
Volunteering with World Community Grid
Grid Storage using TAHOE-LAFS
7 PCs Lab
Plans
Step1 : Work in somehow controlled environment like companies to aggregate un-used
storage on typical laptops/desktops – may not need full grid architecture.
Step2: Ability to combine CPU power of many computers for corporate or personal use

6. Why it is Exciting
• Dream about computing again
• Abundant computing powers gone un-used while needed at large scale
• IPv6
• Analogy to electricity grid – in the same way we need power – we may just need grid and
use it as instantly as we do with basic resources
• Infrastructure for more grainy interconnections on economy level : bitcoin – un-controlled
• Opt-in, free, secure