Grid computing is a method of solving complex mathematical equations using several computers at the same time. Here's how it works.

Special software is installed on a server and the complex mathematical equation is loaded into the application. Then client software is installed on several computers connected to the server via LAN, WAN, Dial-Up, or Broadband. Once the software is installed, the client informs the server that it is ready to start working and the server sends a piece of the equation to be computed. Once the client finishes the computation, it returns the result to the server and asks for another job.

The client can be setup so it only works when the computer is idle. In fact most utilize a screen saver that shows the progress of the current task. This allows the computer to provide full resources when being used for office work, internet browsing, designing, etc... As a result, all of the computers in your entire office could be working on complex mathematical chemistry problems all night while nobody is there.

Most people that partisipate in grid computing are donating their spare computer resources to the effort. I have donated both of my computers' spare cycles to United Devices.

It is possible to sell your computer's time to some grids. Usually, you will need a minimum number of computers on a network to be considered by a paid grid company. Many large offices that are only open during daytime hours have sold their computer's spare resources to drug companies, research laboratories, the U.S. government, and the military. This is possible because each computer is working on a very small piece of a very large puzzle, so security isn't a problem.

Here are the two most popular grids which you can donate your coputers resouces to:

• SETI@Home - Help search for life outside of Earth. Your computer filters through hours of radio transmission looking for atificial patterns.
• United Devices - Help medical research. Your computer searches for possible cures for cancer, small pox, antrax, etc.

There are many other grids available if you look hard enough.

HOW TO install and use the client software:

First, go to the web site of the grid you want to participate in and look for the download button. You'll need to register in order to participate because each computer will need to be accounted for in order to make sense of the results that are returned to the server. Following the supplied installation instructions, install the client software on your computers. I don't recommend attempting to install the software in any way other that the suplliers recommended installation configuration.
Now, as far as setup goes, you will want to carefully consider what the cosequences of each setting is. If you tell the software to run all of the time, you may find that you will lose computer performance because many of the grid tasks place a very heavy load on your system. Especially the SETI software, the individual tasks are huge and require a lot of resources. I would set the software to run only while the computer is idle and/or only during certain hours of the day. If the coputer is used frequently, You can set the software to run only as a screen saver.

United Devices allows the user to setup several configurations and usage times. SETI@Home is a little less user friendly.

Currently, United Devices is working on a search for a cure to cancer. See my signature below.

Happy Grid Computing,

vujsa

Very nice tutorial....I didn't know you would need so much resources that you would need more then one computer just to solve math problems...Can't w8 till university...ehehe

Consider how long it would take to calculate PI to a trillion digits even on a super-computer.

Now the calculation of PI can't really be broken into smaller calculations but that should give you an idea of what the time involed would be if only one computer was used.

For example, if computation took 10 days on a single computer then it would only take 5 days on two computers or 1 day on 10 computers. But perhapes the same computation could be done in an hour on an expensive super-computer. So, if you had 240 computers, you could calculate as quickly as a super-computer. United devices has over 3 million computers on its grid. So, United Devices could compute the example above in 0.288 seconds! That's fast.



Currently, the project I participate in anylizes proteins to determine if they will bond with cancer cells in such a way that the cancer will die, stop growing, etc... This requires mathmatically trying to fit the test protein and the cancer proteins together like a puzzle to get the desired effect. (simplized explaination)

Hope this clarifies the process and use.

vujsa

I'd read about grid computing the time I was doing some personal research into 'hive' networks.. the concept is the same only differing with the kind of S/W used in each client machine, the learning abilities of the computers and the dynamic shifting of the 'server/s' from one to many as may be required to solve problems.

There is millions of unused hours of computer time, bandwidth and CPU power that can be harnesssed by commercial, scientific and research establishments; should enough awareness be spread about the 'need' and the waste from shutting down a computer when it could be used for a common goal/ good.

The idea of having a focal point for registering computers that will communicate with a server to subcontract computing work as and when needed and when free is fantastic. It is also the wave of the future, since increasingly complex methods and massive computing resources will be required in the years to come - especially by university students delving into developing learning networks, and even understanding the manufacture and dynamics of quantum computing.

I believe - everyone who has a computer should devote wasted time and resources towards helping out in developing common goals that will be beneficial to the world as a whole.

Rashid Ahmed

usage of computer
How To Use Grid Computing For The Benifit Of All

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