Grid computing provides a mechanism for integrating, coordinating, and sharing heterogeneous computer resources. This continually evolving field now aims to completely disaggregate current computer platforms and distribute them across a network as resources that can be called into action by any eligible user or machine at any time.This accessible and broad-ranging text/reference presents valuable research and results from many of the major projects involved in the emerging global grid infrastructure. With a particular focus on the practical advantages and applications of grid computing - including real case studies - the book provides an in-depth study of grid technology for a wide range of different needs.Topics and features: presents contributions from an international selection of experts in the field; provides summarizing abstracts and conclusions for each chapter; examines a remote instrumentation infrastructure, and a methodology to support e-science applications on e-infrastructures; describes the GEMS storage system, and pipeline workflows for optimizing end-to-end performance in wide-area networks; investigates semantic grid system architecture, social grid agents, and monitoring platforms designed for large-scale distributed systems; explores job control using service-level agreements; introduces the Composable Services Architecture for dynamic service provisioning, and the semantically driven communication middleware platform, Phoenix; discusses the PhyloGrid application, and a numerical simulation performed using grid computing.The deep insights that can be gleaned from the text make it a highly useful tool for researchers and professionals alike. Graduate students will also benefit from the extensive analysis on currently available grid systems.
