Background |
Historical backgroundTo facilitate adoption of the distributed Grid Computing model, Sun Microsystems acquired Gridware, a private developer of Distributed Resource Management (DRM) software, in July 2000. With this acquisition Sun was able to facilitate the deployment of compute farms, the basic building blocks of grid computing, by releasing Sun Grid Engine as a free downloadable binary for Solaris and for Linux. In the first nine months following the product's introduction Sun had over 9,000 free downloads of Sun Grid Engine software, and interest in the technology grew.Grid Engine project objectivesThe Grid Engine open source project further extends Sun's commitment to enable the Grid Computing model. The project has the following objectives:
Grid Computing is about making large amounts of compute power available for applications and users. Collaborative development of Grid Engine technology provides the proper development framework to ensure that Grid Engine technology meets the requirements of the largest number of users. And as Bill Joy of Sun said, "Innovation happens elsewhere". Open source invites participation and ideas, and the collaborative nature of open source development is a proven approach to building high quality code which addresses user needs. In the absence of standards, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) have been understandably reluctant to directly interface their applications to DRM software. The Grid Engine project will foster the creation of new open standards for DRM, focusing initially on a community effort to develop a standard API for application integration. ISVs would only have to 'write once' to be able to use any compatible DRM system, and integration tasks would be eased for the end user. A strong base of channel participants for service and support can ensure that everyone will benefit from the Grid Computing model. Today, many organizations use internal staff to deploy and maintain compute farms. As the technology is gaining acceptance, the need for service providers in the market is increasing. Open source provides a franchise to all market participants unlike any other business agreement or license mechanism. All open source licensees have full and equal participation in the project and in the community, and will have all the resources necessary to fully utilize Grid Engine in implementing integrated solutions. |
