What are Distributed
Computing and Grid Computing?
Distributed computing is a means by which computer resources at
more than one physical location can be tied together to perform a task.
The Worldwide Web is perhaps the best example of distributed computing.
Distributed computing systems range in size from global computing to local
intranets.
Grid computing is a method by which the computing power of
individual PCs or other computer resources throughout the world can be
harnessed to perform large-scale projects. Grid computing joins these
resources together through special software to simulate a single large
computer or virtual computer. Previously, such massive computing
power was available only through use of supercomputers. You can
participate in these projects; become a partner with us! The
projects are largely non-profit; you donate your idle computing
time to help forward progress in scientific research that might
otherwise not be possible.
Web
Crawlers
Web crawling is a popular terminology used to describe the
procedure by which a search engine locates and interrogates websites
in order to add (index) and update information about these sites
in the search engine’s database. The programs utilized to perform
this activity are referred to as web crawlers, web
spiders or bots.
The
Grub Distributed Web Crawling Project
The Grub distributed computing project, which is no longer
operational, was conducted by LookSmart, Ltd. Grub’s goal was to
track down every website in the world to provide a real-time map of the
Worldwide Web. Leveraging the power of distributed computing,
Grub allowed anyone with an internet connection to
participate in this bold endeavor. By downloading the unique screensaver,
you could donate your computer’s unused bandwidth to discover diverse
websites throughout the world in a manner similar to what is routinely done
by the internet’s major search engines.
The
Boitho Distributed Crawler
Boitho is a Norwegian search engine that actively employs the
distributed web crawler concept. The goal of Boitho is to create a
thumbnail image of each web page it crawls. At the time of this writing,
Boitho had indexed 171,169,451 web pages.
If you wish to participate in an active scientific grid computing project, see
Grid Computing & Protein
Folding.
WARNING: Never install
or run any distributed computing client at your place of employment
without first receiving written permission from your employer to do
so, and do not install it on any computer or workstation other than
those for which you have been authorized. Because they transfer data
to and from an outside server, some employers consider distributed
computing clients to be invasive software and could levy punitive
actions for unauthorized use which could include termination of
employment.
Authored by Kenneth L. Anderson.
Original article published 5 January 2004, updated 17 January
2006.
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