GRID COMPUTING

Abstract We abstract this best practice in terms of architectural principles multi-tier servicebased model, role of meta-data, workflow, tools and core functionalities forming a GCE Shell and aggregation portals. We e pect man! of these will be further refined in separate documents. "his document summari#es the current status of Grid Computing Environments. "he Grid is rapidl! evolving in both concept and implementation and there is a corresponding e citement and confusion as to the $right% wa! to think about Grid s!stems. Grid Computing Environments roughl! describe the $user side% of a computing s!stem which is a fu##! division between GCE&s and what is called $Core% Grid in the figure. "he latter would include access to the resources, management of and interaction between them, securit! and other such capabilities. "he new 'pen Grid Services (rchitecture describes these $Core% capabilities and the Globus pro)ect is the best known $Core% software pro)ect. We can define a Grid Computing Environment as a set of tools and technologies that allow users $eas!% access to Grid resources and applications. 'ften it appears to the user as a Web portal that provides the user interface to a multi-tier Grid application development stack, but it ma! also be as simple as a Grid Shell that allows a user access to and control over Grid resources in the same wa! a conventional shell allows the user access to the file s!stem and process space of a regular operating s!stem. Grid Computing Environments can be classified in several different wa!s. 'ne straightforward classification is in terms of technologies used. "he different pro)ects differ in terms of languages used, nature of treatment of ob)ects, use of particular technolog! like *ava servlets, the Globus toolkit, or Grid+",, and other implementation issues. Some of these issues are important for performance or architecture but often can look to the user as not so important. +or instance, there is a trend to use more heavil! *ava, -./ and Web Services but this will onl! be interesting if the resultant s!stems have important properties such as better customi#abilit!, sustainabilit! and ease of use without sacrificing too much in areas like performance.

N.ESWARA RAO