Grid Computing

Beacon’s technology objective is to continually develop our skills and evaluate new solutions in order to extend and enhance the depth and breadth of our technical expertise. Grid Computing is an example of one of the leading-edge technologies that we have evaluated and in which we have delivered a variety of solutions.

For example, we have been working with the Research and Development department of a global broadcasting organisation to see how Grid Computing can assist them with their forecasted needs of distributing and sharing very large amounts of video and audio data over the Internet.

Using Debian GNU/Linux, we built a Grid of nodes running the Globus Toolkit and tested various options for securing access to the Grid using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). We have written software in Java to integrate with the Globus Toolkit that allows the upload and download of media to and from the Beacon Grid, along with meaningful metadata to describe and index the content.

To test the viability of using Grid Technology for on-demand video delivery, we have built a prototype Set-Top Box. The Set-Top Box software, which is platform independent, has been written to find, play and share video data via a basic remote control driven user interface.

What is Grid Technology?
“Grid Computing” is a term that covers several aspects of distributed computing; for sharing computationally intensive operations; sharing and managing data; or even sharing access to a physical resource such as a telescope. A Grid is made up of resources called Nodes which make processing power and disk storage available via the software running on the host computer which may take the shape of a laptop computer on somebody’s desk or a powerful computer in a server room.

Advantages of Grid Computing

• Can solve larger, more complex problems in a shorter time
• Easier to collaborate with other organisations
• Makes better use of existing hardware