Grid computing: a new vision for the corporate world

It is to computation and data management what the Internet is to accessing information. SANDEEP DUTTA reviews grid computing

THE GRID has triumphantly emerged, and is today recognised as one of the most important developments in the field of computational science infrastructure. Grid computing creates an environment in which individual users can access computers, databases and experimental facilities simply and transparently without having to consider where those facilities are located. It is a distributed computing environment which operates as a uniform service that looks after resource management and security independent of individual technology choices. It is a means of network computing that harnesses the unused processing cycles of numerous computers to solve problems that are too complicated and difficult for a single computer to handle.

Electronic platform for a global society

Over the years lifestyles have evolved with technology, and there has been a consequent increase in the demand for global interaction and networking in business, science, research, government and entertainment. The Grid is the computing and data management infrastructure which provides an electronic platform for a global society. It integrates networking, communication, computation and information to create a virtual platform for computation and data management similar to the Internet which provides a virtual platform for accessing information. Simply put, this means that requests for computation and information will be serviced anytime and anywhere. Large scale grids are intrinsically distributed, heterogeneous and dynamic. They make possible infinite cycles and storage, access to instruments, visualisation devices and much more, regardless of the geographical location. Grid computing has undoubtedly entered the mainstream with the aim of helping customers reduce various complexities and lower costs for all IT environments.

Leveraging existing resources

Grid computing makes good business sense and could well turn out to be just what corporate productivity needed after the Internet and the World Wide Web. It improves business processes, is inexpensive, is technologically simple, and does not require replacement of existing systems. Grid computing leverages existing resources and delays the need to purchase new infrastructure. With the ever-increasing demand for computer power in segments such as life sciences and financial services, Grid’s ability to deliver greater power at less cost gives the technology tremendous potential. Grid is cheaper than a server farm, and it takes collective advantage of the vast improvements in microprocessor speeds, optical communications, raw storage capacity, the World Wide Web and the Internet. Grid computing has travelled far from the day when it held the interest of the scientific community; it now touches the day-to-day concerns of the corporate CIO with its enabling technologies, distributed databases, clusters, communication and networked storage. Companies that are watching and absorbing this evolving technology will reap huge profits in the future. Leading technology companies have formed the Enterprise Grid Alliance which intends to develop enterprise grid solutions and accelerate the deployment of grid computing in enterprises. Reference models, provisioning, security and accounting will benefit from grid computing deployment.

A single utility

The Grid represents a new radical view of storage and data management. Storage is a key element in grid architecture, which is based on a single NFS exported file system made up of multiple VFSs (virtual file systems) and can scale to 6,000 TB built by linking VFSs at mount points. In simple terms, it’s a switched NAS architecture with single NFS exported file system. Large IT vendors such as Oracle, IBM, HP and Microsoft have been heralding the benefits of grid computing with new software and hardware products. Storage grid is about accessing data, and grid computing demands fast, reliable, secure access to data over the networks and new approaches to managing information. Enterprise grid computing links an organisation’s systems so that users can shift workloads across resources easily. The entire computing infrastructure becomes a single utility providing servicing and information wherever and whenever necessary. Linux is fast becoming a mainstream in this enterprise.

Some of the challenges faced by IT organisations deploying Linux cluster farms include performance scaling, capacity scaling and associated administration, non-disruptive data set migration, and fitting into the existing infrastructure. A storage grid will find rapid deployment in high performance computing (HPC) solutions in oil & gas, entertainment, software engineering, biotech, life sciences, national laboratories, universities and other verticals. It is a powerful tool for the HPC community as it has proved itself invaluable in critical business functions.

In a nutshell

All the components in a grid are modular, and can grow as demand rises. You could add more blades for computing power, more network ports for bandwidth, and more storage online. When you add more 3U-size storage on the grid, you not only add more storage but also add CPU power to service that storage better. All this then binds into what we call Open Systems Mainframe which is scalable, cost-effective, manageable and scales on a need-to basis.

Connecting resource pools

The Grid is about resource allocation, high availability and information sharing. Grid computing connects pools of computers, storage and networks, enabling enterprises to allocate resources based on changing business needs. It exploits rapid advances in technology, and makes it possible for both private and public sector organisations to adapt their IT resources to their business needs. The many benefits of grid computing—fast response to changing business needs, better utilisation and service level performance, and lower IT operating costs—promise to make global infrastructure a reality.

Sandeep Dutta is director, strategic partnerships and marketing, Network Appliance