A public grid computing framework based on a hierarchical combination of middleware

Abstract

Grids, as one implementation of public computing, can be deployed by some middleware to integrate all kinds of resources across institutional boundaries, to tackle complex problems in scientific and engineering computation, data storage, scientific visualization, etc. In this paper, we propose a public computing grid framework built upon the hierarchical combination of two popular middleware products, Globus Toolkit (GT) and Sun Grid Engine (SGE). The communication between them can be conducted by Transfer-queue Over Globus (TOG). We discuss issues related to the deployment and the usage of this kind of hybrid grids. We examine it using serial programs and parallel program codes, and compare it with the grids deployed by only GT or SGE, respectively. The case studies imply that this hybrid grid is suitable for loosely coupled applications with high computational complexity. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.