IBM goes grid

[Greg Lindahl]

On Fri, Aug 03, 2001 at 09:46:51AM -0500, Jared Hodge wrote:

> 	Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the grid starting as a
> supercomputing center initiative?  Not a spare CPU cycle harvester like
> SETI at home, but a way of processing batch jobs on combined supercomputing
> platforms.

Globus started that way, but quickly became more capable. Condor
started as a spare CPU cycle harvester, long before SETI at home, and now
is much more capable. Legion was always all things to all people.

> I'm sure beowulfs at larger centers will be included,
> but I imagine it will be a long, long time before general desktop
> machines on the internet get added (if ever).

Several years ago, actually. Condor has always run that way, Legion's
development network has always had desktops in it. 2 years ago Globus
wasn't run that way, but I don't know what direction they've headed
since.

greg