Grid Computing

We are moving towards a situation where the location of a computer resource does not really matter, there are many computer installation that are connected via the network,  Now, fast emerging "grid protocols" might allow us to link almost anything else: databases, simulation application and visualization tools, even the power of the computers themselves. Many computers worldwide could be roped in to function as a supercomputer to solve weather, genetic and many more various type of problems that require hug amount of computing resources. According to MIT technology review

‘Imagine, says Kesselman, that you're the head of an emergency response team that's trying to deal with a major chemical spill. "You'll probably want to know things like, What chemicals are involved? What's the weather forecast, and how will that affect the pattern of dispersal? What's the current traffic situation, and how will that affect the evacuation routes?" If you tried to find answers on today's Internet, says Kesselman, you'd get bogged down in arcane log-in procedures and incompatible software. But with grid computing it would be easy: the grid protocols provide standard mechanisms for discovering, accessing, and invoking just about any online resource, simultaneously building in all the requisite safeguards for security and authentication.’(10 Emerging Technologies That Will Change the World).

 

This technology has been constrained in the past because it is highly dependent on the Internet and network speed, but this is changing rapidly and the power of computer resources has increased significantly so it is likely that the use of  this technology will  become more widespread, it is certainly part of IBM’s strategy "IBM plans to make all of its key software products as well as its hardware compatible with grid computing," (IBM's Future Strategy: Grid Computing Everywhere)

10 Emerging Technologies That Will Change the World retrieved Mar17th from: http://www2.technologyreview.com/featured-story/401775/10-emerging-technologies-that-will-change-the/5/

IBM's Future Strategy: Grid Computing Everywhere retrieved Mar17th from: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/31269.html