The Grid

The hot research topic of Grid computing is attracting broad interest and investment from industry. It is therefore essential for IT policy makers and professionals to develop a sound understanding of the topic to ensure that they are not left behind. This book does exactly that for you...The Grid: An Infrastructure for e--Business and e--Science covers all aspects of grid technology from applications to motivation and proceeds from an application--oriented basis. It also includes an explanation and a coherent argument of the need for the Grid as a new form of infrastructure for distributed and collaborative systems -- supporting data, information, knowledge, simulations and distributed organisations. The book begins with a discussion of the types of distributed and collaborative applications that have the potential for enabling significant advances in fields such as science, engineering, healthcare, government and business. In se ction two the grid is discussed as a distributed operating system in relation to existing and emerging technologies (such as Web Services, CORBA, Globus, Jini, and JXTA).
The final section examines applications in key areas and summarises the case for the Grid made in the earlier sections. It also includes some comments on the likely future evolution of the Grid. Ideal for IT policy makers and professionals looking to understand this emerging technology, it will also serve researchers, physicists, statisticians, engineers and mathematicians and graduate students as a guide to the changes ahead.