ACM TechNews

Many Processors Make Light Work of Calculations

ICT Results (07/14/08)

The European Union-funded Interactive European Grid (Int.eu.grid) project is enabling researchers in a variety of fields to process their data through a network of computers at 10 sites in seven European countries. The Int.eu.grid connects computers locally and across Europe through the existing high-speed Geant research network. The project focused on providing a transparent way to simulate, process, and store large amounts of data. Int.eu.grid coordinator Jesus Marco says the grid exploits the fact that local users do not use all their power at the same time, allowing researchers access to more resources than they could normally obtain. Int.eu.grid provides researchers access to the aggregation of processing power from the networked centers to achieve a processing speed of up to 10,000 megabytes per second. Researchers can interactively guide their calculations and receive help at all stages of the process, from initial setup to the final discussion of the results. Marco says the ability to process data faster is already helping doctors detect breast cancer, while physicists have used the grid to visualize the trajectory of particles, and environmental scientists have used the grid to gain additional insight into the operations of watersheds in Spain.

http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm/section/news/tpl/article/
BrowsingType/Features/ID/89868

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