Grids get down to business

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buy it, because these are all tools," Eunice said. "It's commercially viable, but you still have to put a lot of things together."

The exact definition of computing grids is hazy, though people typically use the term to describe a network where many individual computers coordinate their work, like a well-organized ant colony.

Today, most people associate grid computing with futuristic scenarios, such as the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project, which is tapping unused desktop PC processing to search for extraterrestrial life.

But some organizations are pushing to make the grid appropriate for much more mundane matters, such as crunching corporate data.

The Globus Toolkit 4, for example, is designed to make it easier to build an application that taps into computing resources--such as servers, storage and databases--that are spread out across a network. The open-source Globus software uses a number of existing specifications, notably Web services.

Using the software, corporate customers will be able to make better use of their existing computing resources, according to Globus Alliance executives. Often, servers or databases are substantially underused because these resources are usually purchased to serve one specific application, rather than be shared by many.

The EGA, meanwhile, has a broader mission. The group's multiyear plan is to accelerate usage of grid computing, help define where it is effective, and promote standards.

"There aren't many people taking the big picture on grid," said Peter Ffoulkes, director of marketing of high-performance and technical computing at Sun Microsystems, which is a member of the EGA. "This isn't some academic group that's trying to boil the ocean."

"Shared resources"
Early examples show that grids are a compelling way to save money on hardware, though they're still for the technologically adventurous.

Financial services company Wachovia, for instance, used grid software

[Thomas, David]

What about XGrid???

I think this is the third or fourth article I have read from CNET
about Grid computing. I have one burning question as a result.
Why haven't these articles mentioned XGrid.

Apple is shipping Grid computing capabilities in Tiger. Topping
that off, as before, you receive a complete development
environment with documentation. I am amazed that you could
put so much attention on the future of a promising technology
but fail to mention a new arrival in that arena. An arrival, not
full of promises to be, but an arrival that puts the tools directly
into the hands of developers and users today.