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What is Grid Computing

Grid computing is all about linking together on-line facilities, like our High Performance Computing resources, for example. We achieve this by installing middleware, such as Condor, gLite, the Globus Toolkit, the Storage Resource Broker (SRB), UNICORE, etc.

Is Grid Computing right for my research?

Grid computing makes it possible for you make use of compute resources, data facilities and other on-line services which may not form part of the infrastructure immediately available to you. The aim of Grid Computing is to provide an infrastructure to allow research to take place on bigger, better, faster, more reliable resources; to provide wider access; to have more control over release and utilisation of said resources.

Key features of Grid Computing

• Secure Access to on-line resources
  • Single sign-on

  • Management of Virtual Organisations¹

  • Secure data storage and transport.

• Assess to services on the grid

• Scaling up of research activities

What grid enabled facilities are available?

At Manchester we host one of the four core data nodes for the National Grid Service (NGS). Together with The North West eScience Centre we also host part of the North West Grid resources.

Example use cases

Direct access

If you're lucky enough to have access to a grid User Interface machine you will find a whole toolbox of functionality allowing you to search for resources, move data to from and between them, run compute tasks, retrieve output, etc. This is not always for the faint hearted, but RCS will provide support not only to use resources such as these but to install such resources if required.

Portal Access

Portals allow users to access resources from the comfort of their favourite browser. Portals come in all shapes and sizes and can be advanced/generic portals such as the NGS portal or Westminster's P-grade Portal or minimal portals providing specific types access to resources (such as the NW-GRID's Bio-Portal).

GSISSH Terminal Access

Some grid resources allow terminal access via a special kind of Secure Shell access (ssh): GSISSH². The National Grid service provide a web browser based version of this software and this can be found here: NGS GSISSH Term.

How do I apply?

Access to grid resources will usually involve the individual obtaining a UK eScience Digital Certificate instructions on how to do this can be found here The University of Manchester Registration authority.

Other related facilities

• The National Grid Service

• The North West Grid

• ITS supported High Performance Computing facilities

• ...

Footnotes