Platform Grid Computing
What is Grid Computing?
Generally speaking, Grid Computing means distributed computing. Large numbers of computers each handle small parts of complex operations, which otherwise would require a long time on a single computer.
Benefits of Grid Computing
The primary advantage to BaseN of distributed computing is that each computer can be purchased as commodity hardware, which when combined can produce similar computing resources as a multiprocessor supercomputer, but at a much lower cost. It is much more cost-effective to use commodity hardware than to design and construct a small number of custom supercomputers.
The primary advantage to our customers is that our level of resilience is much higher, and our costs of providing state of the art solutions are lower - the best of both worlds. The true uniqueness comes from unparalleled resiliency. The resiliency inherent to the grid allows us to do away with large local support teams (needed to lower time to repair and spare parts handling) - and still offer the best in Service Levels (backed up by our Service Level Agreements). With the BaseN Platform, the more devices we add to our grid to cope with performance and scalability, the more our stability (resilience) increases.
Contrast this approach to Central/monolithic systems - systems that are more vulnerable the more parts they have. They can scale performance, but sooner or later reach the point where fatal faults bring them down.
The challenge lies in coordinating a host of resources, which may have different capabilities, loads, and response times. How do you get the computers to balance loads on their own? If you perform a task multiple times to ensure redundancy, what do you do when you get differing results?
Usage of Grid Computing in BaseN Platform
BaseN Platform uses grid computing in compiling, analyzing and storing the measurement data. The BaseN Platform is very flexible, as more computers can be added to compile, analyze and store the data when needed without disrupting the process.
The Platform is also very reliable. Since the computers can take over from each other, loss of one or several computers does not compromise the system or the data in any way. The BaseN Platform is designed with redundancy in mind. As soon as data enters into the system, it is duplicated once. The data is further duplicated during the process, so that it is always processed in at least two locations and finally stored in four separate locations.