What is a grid?

We already can do that!     (think clusters)

But not for multiple "domains"

New requirements:

• Diverse locations -
  • WAN involved
    • secure communication required across network.
  • search methods needed
  • computation and (multiple) data resources likely to be at different sites
    • require (transparent) data transport
  • platform and file system heterogeneity must be assumed

• Multiple policy domains
  multiple authentication/authorization mechanisms must be handled
  • N vs N²
  • single signon
  • scheduling & dispatching jobs, retrieving results, ...

• a 2002 definition by Ian Foster
• Include instruments as an additional dimension.

• The NC BioGrid Bioinformatics
  The project was centered at NCSC/MCNC, and was started under the leadership of former MCNC VP Dr. Thom Dunning, this project built on the major modern emphasis on Genomics and Bioinformatics at all of the Triangle Universities - and the interest of the NC Biotechnology Center (NCBC) and local biotechnology companies, it was decided to focus on applying grid technology to this area.

  The lead architect for this project was Phil Emer, and Chuck Kesler led the systems work. The Working Group involved people from NC universities, corporations and non-profit organizations. It was emerging from the testbed phase described in a GridToday article and started into the production phase. As a result of organizational changes, the work has moved to the NC Bioportal Project

  • Initial (test bed) NCBG configuration (purchased by NCSC/MCNC)
    • Duke - Linux cluster (IBM)
    • NCSC - IBM p690 Linux cluster, IBM e1300 cluster, and Sunfire 3800
    • NCSU - Sunfire V 880 - with 8 cpu's
    • UNC-CH - Linux cluster (IBM)
  • Initial middlware - Globus or Avaki or both
  • Test bed operated
    with some Genomics/Bioinformatics applications -
    

Commonality with mainstream IT development efforts
  Grid computing is composed of many IT threads. Few, if any are new. What's new, is putting them together.

• compute power, data, instruments
• (possibly) different platforms
• (possibly) different sites / administrative domains
  • full site control of policies (authorization)
• secure transmission
• single authentication - O(N) rather than O(N²)
• "discovery" methods for compute power and data
• coordination of job submission and output
• "delivery of services" rather than "operation of computers"

Theresa-Marie's Visualization in Bioinformatics

Genomics and Bioinformatics Applications

• Genetics and Genomics Resources
• The Rice Genome at NCSU
• The Rice Genome in Science magazine
• The "Rice Blast" (Magnaporthe grisea) genome at NCSU

Genomics and Bioinformatics - related reading:

• I3C the Interoperable Informatics Infrastructure Consortium (which announced "Life Science Identifier (LSID), which defines a common, logical naming convention for biological data.")

Services on the Grid:

• Mladen's Future of "Grid Services"
• Open Grid Services Architecture Working Group (OGSA-WG)
• Open Grid Services Infrastructure Working Group (OGSI-WG)
• Reality talk on middleware challenges and state of the art, what is routine, what is possible now and within 1-2 years by Dennis Gannon ( Aug. 2002)
• OASIS Web Services Resource Framework (WSRF) "Defining an open framework for modeling and accessing stateful resources using Web services"

Other grid projects:

• Access Grid
• EGEE : Enabling Grids for E-science in Europe (successor to the European Data Grid)
• European Data Grid (completed project - see the new EGEE project)
• Grid Physics Network GriPhyN
• Int'l Virt DataGrid Lab IVDGL
• Info Power Grid (NASA)
• Network for Earthquake Engineering Simmulation NEESgrid   their old site
• TeraGrid
• UK National Grid
• White Rose Grid "e-Science"
• Unicore (Germany)
• BusinessWeek article on Monsanto's grid, etc.
• Large Hadron Collider Grid Project LCG

• Globus (not for profit) Open Source (also see links under Vendors below)
  IBM has a very good "Redbook" Introduction to Grid Computing with Globus discussing grid computing generally, in the context of Globus grid middleware.
• Avaki (corporation) which grew out of Legion
• Sun (corporation) (homogeneous - Solaris/Linux on SPARC) Particularly their Grid Engine Software Note: Sun uses a slightly different terminology than I use above. They use the term grid to include a "cluster grid", in which the grid consists of one cluster. When referring to a grid of the more general type as described above, they use the term "global grid".
• UNICORE Forum "is an open, non-profit association which promotes the development and distribution of the UNICORE GRID system."
• A screensaver "grid" open source

• Platform Computing
  • a non-technical discussion of the future of grid computing
  • one view on what is grid computing
  • list of Platform Whitepapers
• IBM to provide support for Globus Toolkit 2.0     Another news article     Yet another
• United Devices PC Desktop Aggregation
  • Grid.org applying United Devices solutions
• Entropia PC Grid computing (sit not available 2/27/05)
• DataSynapse
• Parabon Computation PC Desktop Aggregation
• Univa Providing commercial versions of the Globus software - founded by 3 of the original people in the Globus Project (later Globus Alliance)

• TurboWorx scalable computing, including "compute farms"
• Xgrid Apple Uses Rendezvous to automatically "network" computers and other devices into a cluster-like arrangement

• Global Grid Forum
• Grid Computing Planet news
• EnterTheGrid European reporting on Grid Computing
• Grid Computing: Electrifying Web Services by Dick Hamstra
• The Anatomy of the Grid Enabling Scalable Virtual Organizations by Ian Foster, Carl Kesselman and Steven Tuecke. (see the Globus web site for additional information)
• Grid Computing "Making the Global Infrastructure a Reality" Edited by Fran Berman, Geoffrey C. Fox and Anthony J.G. Hey (1000+ pages)   Contents & Abstracts - Resource Site
• The Grid Grows Up by Fred Douglis and Ian Foster. Includes a sidebar on suggested reading.
• Ian Foster Home Page with many of his articles linked
• Authentication & Authorization
  • Kerberos: Secure Authentication
  • LDAP
  • Shibboleth
  • 7 Things You Should Know About Grid Computing

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