What is a Grid?

The name of Grid comes from the metaphor of "Electrical Grids" and the idea to get access to a resource by using a plug. Grid technologies emerged from specific needs in particle physics for high-computing intensive applications and from the availability of high-speed and high-bandwidth networks. The term of Grid has been evolving towards an ubiquitous and transparent computing concept and has been including the vision of intensive computing as well as knowledge Grid like a sort of all-knowing magic mirror.

In general, Grid computing aims at the provision of a global ICT infrastructure that will enable a coordinated, flexible, and secure sharing of diverse resources, including computers, applications, data, storage, networks, and scientific instruments across dynamic and geographically dispersed organisations and communities (Virtual Organisations or VO).The architecture structuring the grid is made of fundamental components and describes how these components should interact with one another.

Initially, Grids appeared in 1965 from the picture of "computing as an utility" but this idea began really to be developed in the late nineties. In 2002, the concept of grids for health (healthgrid) was created following an impulsion given by the European Commission.

• Four big ideas are composing the concept of "Grid":
• the share of resources;
• the security with trust between resources providers and users;
• the resources load balance for a more efficient use of computers;
• the distance that no longer matters between communication networks;

Within healthcare framework, the Grid is used for medical purposes such as providing resources to the medical personnel, which could be whether computational resources, storage equipment or human resources.

• The GRID technology could also be one of the answers to questions below:
• How to address the needs of the multiple laboratories collecting genomics and post-genomics data around Europe and willing to analyse them in an up-to-date and competitive environment ?
• How to solve the need for large computation power needed in medical informatics ?
• How to address the need for easy accessible data and computing power for both scientist and medical staff ?
• And finally : How to make information at all levels from molecular to population accessible and to the large variety of people, which could benefit from such a knowledge?

sources : white paper Healthgrid and Gridcafe