By Jo Best, 6 September 2004 12:50
NEWS UK scientists have demonstrated the world's largest grid computing project.
The grid is made up of over 6,000 machines, with over 1,000 in the UK alone, stretching across 78 countries. The project is part of the Large Hadron Collider Computing Grid (LCG) - the world's largest and first permanent grid, destined to carry out research into particle physics.
The scientists expect the grid to process 15 petabytes of data annually - that's 15 million, billion bytes. The boffins' dreams don't end there - they're hoping to push the grid bigger still.
By 2007, the scientists will have the grid made up of 10,000 computers running 5,000 jobs, with the possibility of expanding further still. Scientists chose the grid computing option for particle research because, compared to using supercomputers, it's cheaper and easier to enlarge.
As well as witnessing a grid with the computing power of 100,000 fast PCs, it could also be the year that grid takes on the mainstream. Analyst house IDC predicts that by 2007, the grid market will be worth $12bn.
The LCG was demonstrated at the All Hands e-Science meeting in Nottingham, with those involved in the project talking through the issues that affected the project.
Comments
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1. Dr John Dimmock
Hang on - what about the many grid systems already established, SETI, Folding at Home etc?
SETI is by far the largest of these which makes it the most powerful grid system in the world with millions of PCs hooked in to the network
This grid is capable of doing more "work" than any government or corporate grid system currently in use anywhere in the world
2. anonymous
And the percentage of UK technology and hardware involved in this? Zilch. It makes one so proud to be British.....
3. Lynda
There's well over two million computers working together at www.grid.org searching for the cures for cancer and smallpox. This effort has been featured in the past here on Silicon.com
4. Adam Edwards
I believe that the LHC Cern Grid project talked about here is already avaiable using BOINC (the new software powering Seti@Home and other distributed computing projects)
See http://lhcathome.cern.ch/