Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
6.1.1 Commodity Grid (CoG)
The evolution of grid computing has led to the development of grid soft-
ware, which coordinates the requirements of the grid environment. Software
for the grid must address various issues, such as virtualization, security, re-
source, data and information management. Commodity-Grid Middleware pro-
vides end-users the ability to access and process information across the grid
environment. Commodity Grid is derived from the merger of commodity com-
puting and grid computing technologies. Distributed computing technologies,
such as JINI, CORBA, and DCOM, originated from commodity computing.
The integration of commodity and grid service technologies aims to enhance
the functionality, maintenance, and deployment of grid services. The Com-
modity Grid (CoG) Project [74] is an initiative to develop commodity-grid
services. CoG offers an end-to-end solution for grid workflow management. It
also provides the architecture for grid-enablement of different types of appli-
cations.
6.1.1.1
Java CoG Kit
The Java CoG Kit is a tool for developing a grid workflow management
system. It was derived from the CoG Project. The CoG Kit provides end-
users an abstraction of the services provided by a grid system. The end-users
are not required to know the underlying processes of the system. Their only
requirement is to input data into the grid and receive the outputs. The Java
CoG Kit provides process abstraction and workflow management using a lay-
ered approach. Figure 6.1 shows the layered approach of the Java CoG Kit
adopted from [75].
Note that there are a number of services underneath the layered architec-
ture that can be accessed by the end-users. In addition, the Java CoG Kit
allows the integration of several grid middleware products. The Java Cog
Kit provides abstractions for some processes, such job execution, file trans-
fer, workflow abstraction, and job queuing. The Java CoG Kit introduces the
concept of Gridfaces. Gridfaces offer abstractions with respect to the locality
of the services provided in the grid. For instance, a grid end-user may browse
a remote grid directory to locate a stand-alone application or grid portal.
6.1.2 Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is a new computing paradigm. In business perspective, it
allows users to tap into tremendous computing resources on pay-per-use basis
without any needs to invest in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or
licensing new software. In scientific computing perspective, cloud eventually
derived from grid computing paradigm in which a collaboration of computing
resources being made available for users, similar to the analogy of power grid
made available to each household.
