To help customers use their resources better, Sun is offering a building block approach to grids with the new Grid Everywhere initiative. The building blocks come in four categories: Access, data, computation and visualization. The SunSM Customer Ready Systems (CRS) program integrates these building blocks and complementary third-party hardware and software products into "ready-to-deploy" solutions that are built in Sun factories, based on a customer's specifications.

The Four Categories of Building Blocks

• Access software: Enables efficient usage of resources regardless of location and is provided through a new Grid Portal solution that relies on the SunTM Grid Engine, Enterprise Edition (SGEEE) software and the industry standard Globus toolkit.

• Data grid solutions: Enable the collection, management and protection of data regardless of user or data location. These solutions are composed of Sun StorEdgeTM Open SAN Architecture, the Sun StorEdgeTM 3510 FC array, and Sun StorEdgeTM SAM-FS and QFS software.

• Computation: The Sun FireTM Compute Grid family couples Sun Fire systems with a choice of interconnect technologies. This approach provides excellent price-performance with clusters of small systems as well as excellent price/productivity with superclusters that utilize very large memory and simplified programming environments. Interconnect choices range from as Gigabit Ethernet switches, Myrinet, Infiniband, Quadrics or the Sun FireTM Link interconnect.

• Visualization: Enables applications to perform graphics operations using local or remote graphics systems. Sun's Visual Grid platform is based on the Sun FireTM V880z server, the SunTM XVR-4000 high-speed graphics subsystem, and specialized software based on the OpenGLR industry standard.

The Grid Everywhere initiative will leverage Sun's experience in HPTC to develop research & development into commercial products.

"Grid computing is about building local or global trade exchanges for compute capacity and data access," said Shahin Khan, Sun's vice president of HPTC. "It is at the tipping point of moving from grass-roots deployment to becoming a business imperative. As is often the case, the science and engineering marketplace is the early adopter of technology and a perfect proving ground for new technologies. Extensive HPTC collaborations provide Sun with the required expertise and a unique perspective on the readiness of such technologies for deployment in business computing." [...read more...]

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