What are the key things to bear in mind when embarking on a grid computing project?
DJ: Two things: keep it simple and do not take ownership away. First, keeping it simple applies to both end-user and admin transparency. The correct solution will not impose re-factoring of the workload nor will it require researchers to learn new approaches to workload management. As far as possible, the ideal grid should allow continued use of familiar job submission, monitoring, and management tools. Grids can be set up in this manner today with the right tool selection. Second: ownership. Quite often, grid projects are approached strictly from the point of view of theoretical performance gains but fail to take into account the importance of key human factors at both the end-user and department manager level. While increasing utilization is important, it is critical to allow all participants to maintain some level of control or ownership over their ability to deliver. This ownership allows them to customize their environment, optimize their policies, and dedicate or re-assign resour
