Who uses grid computing?

Who uses grid computing?

Scientists use grid computing for their research. But what about you? And who else might be interested? Who wants to invest time and money in "resource sharing"?

* Governments and International Organisations?

Problems like disaster response, urban planning and economic modeling are traditionally assigned to national governments or coordinated by International Organisations like the United Nations or the World Bank. Imagine if these groups could apply the collective power of the nation's fastest computers and share their data archives more simply and effectively...

* The military?

It's a pretty safe bet that the military in many countries is already developing grid technology. The United States have traditionally used their most powerful computers for military applications. But this Virtual Organisation is unlikely to let other users access its grid!

* Teachers and educators?

Education involves students, teachers, mentors, parents and administrators and so is a very natural application of grid technologies. E-libraries and e-learning centers are already benefiting from grid-based tools for accessing distributed data and creating virtual classrooms with distributed students, resources and tutors.

* Businesses?

Global enterprises and large corporations have sites, data, people and resources distributed all over the world. Grids will allow such organisations to carry out large-scale modeling or computing by simultaneously using the resources at their many sites.

WHAT ABOUT ORDINARY PEOPLE LIKE ME?

One of the most obvious applications is in medicine. Imagine if your doctor had access to a grid that could handle administrative databases, medical image archives and specialized instruments such as MRI machines, CAT scanners and cardioangiography devices... This could enhance diagnosis procedures, speed analysis of complex medical images, and enable life-critical applications such as telerobotic surgery and remote cardiac monitoring.