Cloud Computing versus Grid Computing

2011-12-06T10:07:00.000-08:00

Grid Computing
According to Wikipedia. "Grid computing is a term referring to the combination of computer resources from multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal. The grid can be thought of as a distributed system with non-interactive workloads that involve a large number of files. What distinguishes grid computing from conventional high performance computing systems such as cluster computing is that grids tend to be more loosely coupled, heterogeneous, and geographically dispersed."

Grid Computing will allow us to harness the power of distributed, heterogeneous and loosely coupled computing resources as if they belong to one large infrastructure. Utility Computing involves the concept of paying for what you use on the Grid. So you basically have to provision what you need in advance and that allows you to harness the power of those resources as if they are part of your infrastructure.

Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing at a conceptual level is similar to Grid Computing in terms of computing resources being consumed as electric power from a grid would.

So the way I see it, Grid Computing was a precursor to Cloud Computing.

Further details will be the subject of another blog post but not sure if I should write about Multi-Tenancy and SaaS first...

The opinions and statements in this communication are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of CA.

Cloudification

Cloud Computing versus Grid Computing