Cooperative information processing by networked computers.
Published in Chapter:
Grid Computing for Social Science
Kenneth J. Turner (University of Stirling, UK), Paul Lambert (University of Stirling, UK), K. L. Tan (University of Stirling, UK), Vernon Gayle (University of Stirling, UK), Richard O. Sinnott (University of Glasgow, UK), Ken Prandy (University of Cardiff, UK), Erik Bihagen (Swedish Institute for Social Research, Sweden), and Marco H.D. van Leeuwen (International Institute for Social History, The Netherlands)
Copyright: © 2008
|Pages: 9
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-885-7.ch085
Abstract
Grid computing is named by analogy with the electrical power grid. Power stations are linked into a universal supply that delivers electricity on demand to consumers. Similarly, computational resources can be linked into a grid that delivers computing or data on demand to the user’s desktop. The origins of grid computing lie in networked computing, distributed computing, and parallel computing. Grid computing coordinates distributed resources that are not subject to central control, using standard protocols and interfaces to meet the required levels of service (Foster, 2002).