New Approach to Dynamic and Seamless Management of Network and Computational Resources in a Heterogeneous Grid Environment

Abstract

Progress in the field of distributed computing and development of advanced Grid services has a significant influence on the concrete results of cooperation between distributed computing centers in various parts of the world. Advanced applications using remote access to distributed computing resources, data repositories and laboratories impose strong requirements on data networks. Very often these requirements can be met only by technologically advanced optical networks. Guaranteed availability of bandwidth for data transfer between computing nodes, low and stable over time and the minimum packet loss are just some of the parameters that are important for the new generation networks. Moreover, the problem of scalability, particularly in the context of an increase of the size of Grid systems with high requirements to the network, significantly affects the complexity of infrastructure management systems, mainly due to the heterogeneity of the environment and the potential administrative divisions. In order to increase processing efficiency of distributed computing, it is necessary to automate processes related to the management of infrastructure components. This is particularly important in the context of Grid environments connected via optical networks. Depending on the type of computing application, it is a network layer which is responsible for allocating inter-connections between computing sites with particular requirements on duration and the requested bandwidth. The possibility of a dynamic allocation of connections between computing sites is an essential element which allows for the efficient and effective use of optical networks in complex computational processes.