Grid computing, previously known as distributed computing, is making waves these days. IBM, Sun or HP are promoting the concept. Now, even a business publication is biting at it, looking at what is beeing done at Monsanto.
The amount of data collected by Monsanto scientists on animal and plant genes fills CDs that would stack 500 feet high--enough to send even the most powerful supercomputer into cardiac arrest.
That used to be a drag for researchers because it meant they could analyze only 10 to 50 genes per year. "With our big computers, gene-analysis jobs were taking up to six weeks to finish," says Mark Trusheim, president of Cereon Genomics LLC, a Monsanto subsidiary specializing in genetic research.
Instead of spending tens of millions of dollars buying bigger computers, Monsanto taps hundreds of smaller--and less costly--Compaq Computer and Sun Microsystems machines already in use.
Now, a gene-analysis job takes less than a day, and Monsanto can examine thousands of genes a year--a fiftyfold increase over what was possible five years ago.
Of course, this kind of distributed computing was possible because all the computers involved belonged to the same company. It is hard to imagine Monsanto (or any large company for that matter) designing its future products on unknown computers found on Internet. However, BusinessWeek is optimistic. Here is the conclusion of this article.
Once security and other technical challenges are resolved, there may be no holding back grids. Some day, companies might be able to tap into vast networks of computers they don't even own--and pay a fee for what they use. Just plug into the grid and compute.
Source: Darnell Little and Ira Sager, BusinessWeek Magazine, June 3, 2002 Issue
6:21:17 PM Permalink
|
|
