A generic campus grid computing framework for tertiary institutions : the case of the University of Stellenbosch

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Prior to the invention of Personal Computers the scope of research activities was limited bythe pre-existing capabilities of problem solving mechanisms. However, with the advent ofPCs and inter-networking thereof, the new tools (hardware and software) enabled thescientific community to tackle more complex research challenges and this led to a betterunderstanding of our environment. The development of the Internet also enabled researchcommunities to communicate and share information in real time.However, even the Internet has limitations of its own when it comes to the need of sharing notonly information but also massive storage, processing power, huge databases andapplications, expensive and delicate scientific instruments, knowledge and expertise. This ledto the need for a networking system that includes these above-mentioned services, using theInternet infrastructure, semantic web technologies and pervasive computing devices, which isso called Grid Computing. This research study deals with a Generic Campus Grid Computingframework, which mobilizes the available idle/extra computing resources residing in thefaculty-computing centres for use by the e-community on CPU-intensive or Data-intensivejobs. This unused computing capacity could be utilized for Grid computing services; hence,the already available resources could be more efficiently exploited. Besides, this could be ahuge saving when compared to the cost of acquiring supercomputers by these institutions.Therefore, this research study intends to establish a simple and functional Generic CampusGrid Computing Framework at this stage, with the consent that subsequent research studiescould deal with further assessment in a more detailed perspective and practicalimplementation thereof.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University