Grid Computing Techniques and Applications

Designed for senior undergraduate and first-year graduate students, Grid Computing: Techniques and Applications shows professors how to teach this subject in a practical way. Extensively classroom-tested, it covers job submission and scheduling, Grid security, Grid computing services and software tools, graphical user interfaces, workflow editors, and Grid-enabling applications. The book begins with an introduction that discusses the use of a Grid computing Web-based portal. It then examines the underlying action of job submission using a command-line interface and the use of a job scheduler. After describing both general Internet security techniques and specific security mechanisms developed for Grid computing, the author focuses on Web services technologies and how they are adopted for Grid computing. He also discusses the advantages of using a graphical user interface over a command-line interface and presents a graphical workflow editor that enables users to compose sequences of computational tasks visually using a simple drag-and-drop interface. The final chapter explains how to deploy applications on a Grid. The Grid computing platform offers much more than simply running an application at a remote site. It also enables multiple, geographically distributed computers to collectively obtain increased speed and fault tolerance. Illustrating this kind of resource discovery, this practical text encompasses the varied and interconnected aspects of Grid computing, including how to design a system infrastructure and Grid portal. Supplemental Web ResourcesThe author’s Web site offers various instructional resources, including slides and links to software for programming assignments. Many of these assignments do not require access to a Grid platform. Instead, the author provides step-by-step instructions for installing open-source software to deploy and test Web and Grid services, a Grid computing workflow editor to design and test workflows, and a Grid computing portal to deploy portlets.

Introduction to Grid Computing Grid Computing Concept History of Distributed Computing Computational Grid Applications Grid Computing Infrastructure Development Grid Computing Courses Grid Computing Software Interface Job Submission Introduction Globus Job Submission Transferring Files Schedulers Scheduler Features Scheduler Examples Grid Computing Meta-Schedulers Distributed Resource Management Application (DRMAA) Security Concepts Introduction Symmetric Key Cryptography Asymmetric Key Cryptography (Public Key Cryptography) Public Key Infrastructure Systems/Protocols Using Security Mechanisms Grid Security Introduction Grid Security Infrastructure (GSI) Delegation Higher-Level Authorization Tools System Infrastructure I: Web Services Service-Oriented Architecture Web Services Web Service Implementation System Infrastructure II: Grid Computing Services Grid Computing and Standardization Bodies Interacting Grid Computing Components Open Grid Services Architecture (OGSA) User-Friendly Interfaces Introduction Grid Computing Workflow Editors Grid Portals Grid-Enabling Applications Introduction Parameter Sweep Using an Existing Program on Multiple Grid Computers Writing an Application Specifically for a Grid Using Multiple Grid Computers to Solve a Single Problem Appendix A: Internet and Networking Basics Appendix B: Linux and Windows Command-Line Interfaces Appendix C: XML Markup Language Appendix D: Globus Installation Tutorial Glossary Answers to Self-Assessment Questions Index A Summary, Further Reading, Bibliography, Self-Assessment Questions, and Programming Assignments appear at the end of each chapter.

Barry Wilkinson is a professor of computer science and the director of the computer science master’s program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.