How does Grid Computing work?
The key to grid computing is the ability to break up work into small, independent chunks that can be worked on by different computers – this actually is a difficult task, and most scientific or business processes cannot be broken up into independent parts. But some tasks – like analyzing radiotelescope data, or protein folding, are perfectly suited to be broken up into independent units. Thus SETI scientists became pioneers of the grid computing field. SETI screen saver was the first widely used grid computing application. Volunteers downloaded a screen saver, their machines started processing a chunk of work. When the computations were completed, their computer connected to the main server, uploaded results of the computations, and downloaded another chunk of work to be done – all in the background, without bothering the human owner of the machine.
