INDUSTRY
EDGeS bridge between major European Grids
At the first EDGeS User and Industry Forum at the IN2P3/INRIA institutes in Orsay, near Paris, the EDGeS project presented its plans to build a bridge between Desktop Grids based on BOINC and XtremWeb middleware, and Service Grids such as the gLite based EGEE. In Orsay, academic and industrial organisations presented their applications, ranging from interpreting surveillance and medical imaging to simulation of materials. These will be ported to the combined Desktop Grid/Service Grid infrastructure that EDGeS will create using the EDGeS Application Development Methodology (EADM), a method to easily port applications to the Grid. 
The EDGeS User and Industry Forum aims to be the focal point of Desktop Computing integrated with Service Grid Computing in Europe. The User Forum concentrates on academic uses of Grid computing, while the Industry Forum rather focuses on use of Grid in companies and on organisations that want to set up their own Grid. One problem that potential Grid users face is the difficulty of porting an application to the Grid. The EDGeS project tackles this problem, by providing to the members of the Forum a Grid Application Development Methodology. In addition, there is a discussion forum on Desktop Grids available and a Wiki that will grow into a technical reference manual. Setting up an own Desktop Grid is difficult too. The EDGeS project tackles this by offering support for two main types of Desktop Grid middleware: BOINC and XtremWeb. For BOINC, EDGeS partner MTA SZTAKI offers an easy to install distribution. For XtremWeb, EDGeS partners IN2P3 and INRIA are the main developers. As part of the EDGeS project, Westminster University in London installed a BOINC based Desktop Grid at the campus. Currently the Grid already has over 600 computer CPU's active. The Grid was installed using the SZTAKI BOINC installers and will be used as part of the EDGeS Grid testing infrastructure. Another barrier users face is that currently they either have to use a Service Grid such as the gLite based EGEE, or a Desktop Grid. There is no way to seamlessly integrate these on a European scale. The EDGeS projects aims to solve this by providing a bridge that will allow the connection of these Grids. In this way, programs that are best suited for a Desktop Grid can be run on a BOINC or XtremWeb based Grid, progams that are better suited for Service Grids such as EGEE can be run there. In this way, EDGeS contributes to the establishment of a sustainable Grid infrastructure in Europe by integrating existing national and international Service Grids and Desktop Grids. EDGeS thus is focusing on bridges and integration of different types of Grids. At the Industry and User Forum Meeting, Charles Loomis (CNRS/LAL) encouraged close collaboration between EDGeS, EGEE and DEISA. These projects have a different focus, but all have the aim to offer European scientists access to computing power: EDGeS looks at Desktop Grids, EGEE at cluster Grids built from institutional resources, and DEISA at Grids with supercomputers as building blocks. Yuri Gordienko from the G.V.Kurdyumov Institute for Metal Physics (IMP), National Academy of Sciences, Kiev, Ukraine said he had learned a lot on Desktop Grid computing during the panel discussion at the User and Industry Forum Meeting: "Especially during the coffee breaks, where you hear the real experiences that people have." Elies Prunes Soler from Atos Origin emphasized that users in general do not care much about the technology itself. To be successful it must have a friendly interface that hides the complexity and makes operating with it easy. At the same panel discussion, Erel Rosenberg from Correlation Systems Ltd. set a clear goal for Desktop Grid computing in industry: "In the end it has to be either cheaper, either more reliable or safer than alternatives like cloud computing or buying your own cluster". More information on the EDGeS User and Industry Forum and a survey of the slides presented at the Orsay meeting can be found on: edges-grid.eu .
The EDGeS User and Industry Forum aims to be the focal point of Desktop Computing integrated with Service Grid Computing in Europe. The User Forum concentrates on academic uses of Grid computing, while the Industry Forum rather focuses on use of Grid in companies and on organisations that want to set up their own Grid. One problem that potential Grid users face is the difficulty of porting an application to the Grid. The EDGeS project tackles this problem, by providing to the members of the Forum a Grid Application Development Methodology. In addition, there is a discussion forum on Desktop Grids available and a Wiki that will grow into a technical reference manual. Setting up an own Desktop Grid is difficult too. The EDGeS project tackles this by offering support for two main types of Desktop Grid middleware: BOINC and XtremWeb. For BOINC, EDGeS partner MTA SZTAKI offers an easy to install distribution. For XtremWeb, EDGeS partners IN2P3 and INRIA are the main developers. As part of the EDGeS project, Westminster University in London installed a BOINC based Desktop Grid at the campus. Currently the Grid already has over 600 computer CPU's active. The Grid was installed using the SZTAKI BOINC installers and will be used as part of the EDGeS Grid testing infrastructure. Another barrier users face is that currently they either have to use a Service Grid such as the gLite based EGEE, or a Desktop Grid. There is no way to seamlessly integrate these on a European scale. The EDGeS projects aims to solve this by providing a bridge that will allow the connection of these Grids. In this way, programs that are best suited for a Desktop Grid can be run on a BOINC or XtremWeb based Grid, progams that are better suited for Service Grids such as EGEE can be run there. In this way, EDGeS contributes to the establishment of a sustainable Grid infrastructure in Europe by integrating existing national and international Service Grids and Desktop Grids. EDGeS thus is focusing on bridges and integration of different types of Grids. At the Industry and User Forum Meeting, Charles Loomis (CNRS/LAL) encouraged close collaboration between EDGeS, EGEE and DEISA. These projects have a different focus, but all have the aim to offer European scientists access to computing power: EDGeS looks at Desktop Grids, EGEE at cluster Grids built from institutional resources, and DEISA at Grids with supercomputers as building blocks. Yuri Gordienko from the G.V.Kurdyumov Institute for Metal Physics (IMP), National Academy of Sciences, Kiev, Ukraine said he had learned a lot on Desktop Grid computing during the panel discussion at the User and Industry Forum Meeting: "Especially during the coffee breaks, where you hear the real experiences that people have." Elies Prunes Soler from Atos Origin emphasized that users in general do not care much about the technology itself. To be successful it must have a friendly interface that hides the complexity and makes operating with it easy. At the same panel discussion, Erel Rosenberg from Correlation Systems Ltd. set a clear goal for Desktop Grid computing in industry: "In the end it has to be either cheaper, either more reliable or safer than alternatives like cloud computing or buying your own cluster". More information on the EDGeS User and Industry Forum and a survey of the slides presented at the Orsay meeting can be found on: edges-grid.eu .