An evolution of the state of affairs of grid computing : current and future projections

Grid computing has a potential market opportunity of $12 billion by 2007 [6] and recent business strategy alignment to support Grid Computing by the major vendors like IBM, SUN, Oracle and others has resulted in high interests in numerous 'Grid Computing' products and solutions offered. The different frameworks and standards have also led to confusion in the industry as to the 'right' way of implementing Grid Computing. There is a tremendous need today for massive computing cycles to evaluate various business and engineering decisions and businesses are under continuous pressure of high infrastructure costs and lack of flexibility and reliability [4]. There are already various solutions that have evolved over decades to meet these needs but there is no overwhelming adoption of such technologies by corporations unlike in academia. The thesis is derived from this need to attempt to clarify the current and future state of Grid Computing by evaluating the various standards and implementations available. A hierarchy of Types of Grid is also presented. Several case studies are also used to illustrate the effect of current technology implementations and their benefits. Future predictions of the market and technology drivers are also presented based on interviews and available research data.