[nukkad] IBM to build computing 'utility' power grid

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IBM to build computing 'utility' power grid

IBM is betting that computing power will evolve into a simple utility -- 
like electricity -- with users buying what they need from a computing grid 
instead of owning large computers themselves.

To capitalise, IBM is investing $4 billion to build 50 computer server farms 
around the world, said Irving Wladawsky-Berger, a vice-president at IBM's 
Server Group.

IBM likened the system to computing power-generation plants.

"You'll get computing power and storage capacity - not from your own 
computer - but over the internet on demand," said Wladawsky-Berger, who also 
heads Big Blue's Linux operating system group. "You pay for what you use, 
pretty much the way you do with electric power."

Governments in Britain and The Netherlands have already hired IBM to help 
set up national computing grids for science research, Wladawsky-Berger said.

IBM's vision of grid computing is based on networks already in use by NASA 
and in universities and research labs that link hundreds or thousands of 
nodes, or machines, which may be scattered around the world. The grids focus 
the computers' combined power on a single task.

An example is the SETI(at)home, or Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence 
project, a network that uses donated PC power to analyze radio-telescope 
data for sounds of alien life.

With practically unlimited data storage and enormous computing power, grid 
computing could accelerate math-intensive research into a cancer cure, oil 
exploration, a fuel-efficient engine or climate prediction, said Jonathan 
Eunice, principal analyst for Illuminata, Inc., a technology researcher in 
Nashua, New Hampshire.

"This is making grid computing available on an internet scale," said Eunice. 
"A large network now is 5,000 nodes. With this, you can open the bidding at 
50,000 or hundreds of thousands of nodes. Even millions of nodes are open to 
you."

Grid computing uses an open-source protocol and software called Globus, 
developed by researchers in the U.S. Department of Energy and the University 
of Southern California. The project is funded by the federal departments of 
Defense, Energy, the National Science Foundation and NASA, and uses donated 
equipment from Cisco Systems.

Globus' software allows computers to share data, power and software. As an 
open-source protocol, it aims to mimic the success of the open-source Linux 
operating system, which reaps frequent improvements to its open source code, 
said Carl Kesselman, who heads USC's Globus development team.

The Globus Toolkit software is available for free download on the internet.

Armed with the software and a group of partners, Globus allows researchers 
to form "virtual organizations" with members combining pieces of the 
research puzzle over the network, said Kesselman.

A typical use might be to lump together design elements of a new aircraft, 
from modeling for jet engines to schemes for the fuselage and wing shapes, 
he said.

"Many of the big scientific advances in recent years came from mathematical 
modeling," said Eunice. "Once you understand what equations apply, you can 
start simulating."

With utility-based pricing, researchers will have quick access to for-profit 
computing grids like IBMs, which means they won't have to invest in servers, 
space to store them, and staff to operate them.

"I may be able to afford 2,000 servers, but not 50,000 servers," said 
Eunice. "This is much more power than I can buy myself. That's a pretty 
strong motivation to rent instead of buy."

Darker uses for virtual supercomputers also loom. Supercomputers are already 
used for nuclear weapons modeling in the US and other developed countries. 
Eunice suggested grids may be used for weapons research elsewhere, or to 
break network encryption codes.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=820291935



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