Preface

Grid research, rooted in distributed and high performance computing, started in midto-late 1990s when scientists around the world acknowledged the need to establish an infrastructure to support their collaborative research on compute and data intensive experiments. Soon afterwards, national and international research and development authorities realized the importance of the Grid and gave it a primary position on their research and development agenda. The importance of the Grid was translated into large funding from various national and international sources, channeled to various Grid projects around the world aiming at building the so-called global infrastructure for e-Science. Selected key projects, such as EGEE (Enabling Grids For E-sciencE) in Europe and Globus in the United States, played a key role in developing this infrastructure.

The first generation Grid, referred to as Grid 1.0, was intended to coordinate resource sharing and problem solving in dynamic, multi-institutional virtual organizations. The sharing is not primarily file exchange but rather direct access to computers, software, data, and other resources, as is required by a range of collaborative problem-solving and resource-brokering strategies emerging in industry, science, and engineering. Following Grid 1.0, Web 2.0 emerged as a more user-friendly successor of Grid1.0. Grid 3.0 attempts to establish a merge between the web and Grid technologies to leverage the potential of the web in addressing the challenges faced by Grid 1.0 to deliver a user friendly infrastructure for high performance computing and collaboration. The EU vision of the next generation Grid is a service oriented knowledge utility infrastructure serving the needs of various application domains.

Grid research supported by national, regional, European, and international funding within the framework of various projects explored various themes including: Grid interoperability, Grid workflows, Grid security management, Grid universal accessibility, high end visualization using the Grid and for the Grid, social and economic modelling for Grid interoperability and Grid universal accessibility, the virtualisation of Grid resources, data management solutions for the Grid, Grid portability, Grid interactivity, and Grid usability in various application domains.

The Grid evolved from tackling data and compute-intensive problems, to addressing global-scale scientific projects, connecting businesses across the supply chain, and is

#### XII Preface

aiming towards becoming a World Wide Grid that is integrated in our daily routine activities. The future vision of the next generation Grid is a Service Oriented Knowledge Utility capable of delivering knowledge to users and enabling resource sharing, collaboration and business transactions across individuals and organizations.

Preface XI

**Dr. Soha Maad** 

Glasnevin, Dublin,

Ireland

their chapters. We are very grateful to the technical editors who contributed valuable efforts and dedicated time to improving the quality of the book. Furthermore, we would like to thank Dejan Grgur, Mia Macek, Natalia Reinic, and all members of the Editorial Collegiums at InTech for giving us the opportunity to start this book in the

Manager, IGROW Integrated Technologies and Services for Sustainable Growth European Economic Interest, Grouping (EEIG) Invent DCU, Dublin City University,

first place and their support in bringing the book to publication.

This book tells a story of a great potential, a continued strength, and widespread international penetration of Grid computing. It overviews the latest advances in the field and traces the evolution of selected Grid applications. The book highlights the international widespread coverage and unveils the future potential of the Grid.

This book is divided into six sections:

The first three sections overview latest advances in Grid computing including: Grid workflow (chapters 1 and 2), resources management (chapters 3, 4, and 5), and parallel execution (chapters 6, 7 and 8).

Section four considers selected key Grid applications including high-energy physics, constructing ternary covering arrays, computational electromagnetic, and medical applications including Hepatic Lesions.

Section five highlights the international widespread penetration and coverage of the Grid and presents success Grid stories from Europe and India.

Section six unveils the potential and horizon of the Grid in future applications including embedded systems and the design of inverter power supply.

The book is targeted at researchers and practitioners in the field of Grid computing and its application in various domains. Researchers will find some of the latest thinking in the Grid field and many examples of the state-of-the-art technologies and use across domain verticals. Both researchers who are just beginning in the field and researchers with experience in the domain should find topics of interest. Furthermore, practitioners will find the theory, new techniques, and standards that can increase the uptake of Grid technologies and boost related industry supply and demand. Many chapters consider applications and case studies that provide useful information about challenges, pitfalls, and successful approaches in the practical use of Grid technology. The chapters were written in such a way that they are interesting and understandable for both groups. They assume some background knowledge of the domain, but no specialist knowledge is required. It is possible to read each chapter on its own.

The book can be also used as a reference to understand the various related technology challenges, identified by regional research and development authorities, within the various research framework programs. The latter are intended to create lead markets in Information and Communication Technologies and to enact regional development plans.

Many people contributed to the realization of this book in different ways. First of all, we would like to thank the authors. They have put in considerable effort in writing their chapters. We are very grateful to the technical editors who contributed valuable efforts and dedicated time to improving the quality of the book. Furthermore, we would like to thank Dejan Grgur, Mia Macek, Natalia Reinic, and all members of the Editorial Collegiums at InTech for giving us the opportunity to start this book in the first place and their support in bringing the book to publication.

X Preface

aiming towards becoming a World Wide Grid that is integrated in our daily routine activities. The future vision of the next generation Grid is a Service Oriented Knowledge Utility capable of delivering knowledge to users and enabling resource sharing, collaboration and business transactions across individuals and organizations.

This book tells a story of a great potential, a continued strength, and widespread international penetration of Grid computing. It overviews the latest advances in the field and traces the evolution of selected Grid applications. The book highlights the

The first three sections overview latest advances in Grid computing including: Grid workflow (chapters 1 and 2), resources management (chapters 3, 4, and 5), and parallel

Section four considers selected key Grid applications including high-energy physics, constructing ternary covering arrays, computational electromagnetic, and medical

Section five highlights the international widespread penetration and coverage of the

Section six unveils the potential and horizon of the Grid in future applications

The book is targeted at researchers and practitioners in the field of Grid computing and its application in various domains. Researchers will find some of the latest thinking in the Grid field and many examples of the state-of-the-art technologies and use across domain verticals. Both researchers who are just beginning in the field and researchers with experience in the domain should find topics of interest. Furthermore, practitioners will find the theory, new techniques, and standards that can increase the uptake of Grid technologies and boost related industry supply and demand. Many chapters consider applications and case studies that provide useful information about challenges, pitfalls, and successful approaches in the practical use of Grid technology. The chapters were written in such a way that they are interesting and understandable for both groups. They assume some background knowledge of the domain, but no

specialist knowledge is required. It is possible to read each chapter on its own.

The book can be also used as a reference to understand the various related technology challenges, identified by regional research and development authorities, within the various research framework programs. The latter are intended to create lead markets in Information and Communication Technologies and to enact regional development plans.

Many people contributed to the realization of this book in different ways. First of all, we would like to thank the authors. They have put in considerable effort in writing

Grid and presents success Grid stories from Europe and India.

including embedded systems and the design of inverter power supply.

international widespread coverage and unveils the future potential of the Grid.

This book is divided into six sections:

applications including Hepatic Lesions.

execution (chapters 6, 7 and 8).

#### **Dr. Soha Maad**

Manager, IGROW Integrated Technologies and Services for Sustainable Growth European Economic Interest, Grouping (EEIG) Invent DCU, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland

**Section 1** 

**Workflow** 

**Advances in Grid Computing -** 
