Grid Computing X Cloud Computing X Volunteer Computing

Title in portuguese “Computação em Grade X Computação em Nuvem X Computação Voluntária”

During the event “LHC Grid Fest” we discussed the difference between Grid Computing, Cloud Computing and Volunteer computing. I will explain the biggest difference between those technologies based on the discussion taken in place at CERN, Geneva during the event. (Also this information is stored in the LHC Grid Fest Media Guide.)

Internet: It is the first layer
Internet is the technology that provides the ability to interconnect millions of computers around the world. It provides the basic (first layer) infrastructure required for many IT services, such as WEB, E-mail and also Grid Computing.
Web:
As I mentioned in previous posts the WEB was invented by CERN and it provides a service to share information. It provides a “simple language” to share documents in a quick way.
Grid Computing:
Grid Computing is a service to share computing power. Grid is a set of distributed computers ,owned by various entities, connected in the way that a remote user can have a shared user of this computing power. Like the Web, Grid computing relies on Internet network to operate properly.
Cloud Computing:
A cloud computing is a group of computers owned by one entity that provides a service for an user. It means that every time you search for a flight online, or use your e-mail account provided by Gmail, you are using a cloud computing. My sister-in-law sent me one great article that Richard Stallman (GNU Founder) criticizes the use of cloud computing based on proprietary software threats . (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/29/cloud.computing.richard.stallman). Thanks Daniela!
Volunteer Computing:
Volunteer Computing is technically a Grid Computing however it is based on user collaboration approach. CERN has two different structures on the WLHC (World LHC Grid Computing):
- One is the main infrastructure which is based on dedicated servers hosted in more that 140 institutions around 33 countries. This is called Grid Computing infrastructure by CERN.
- Also, CERN provided a service that any user connected in the Internet can help the LHC project sharing his idle time machine to increase the Grid Computing power. It is called Volunteer Grid inside the WLCG. It is a famous technique and I can tell some examples, like World Community Grid, a project which relies on the users collaboration to provide computing power for many researches.