Sun Microsystems has expanded its commitment to the open development of grid computing technologies with the contribution of its Grid Engine Portal portlet technology to the open source Grid Engine Project. The portlet, which integrates Sun ONE (Open Net Environment) Grid Engine software with Sun ONE Server Portal technology, helps enable commercial enterprises and research institutions to easily and securely access grid resources from virtually any location inside or outside the firewall.
"The open source Grid Engine offering, including the portlet, enables organisations to view, modify and further develop the source code that is made available to them," explains Dumisani Mtoba, senior systems engineer at Sun Microsystems SA.
He says the portlet can be particularly powerful in collaborative environments, providing remote team members, partners and suppliers with secure access to computing resources in a central grid.
Sun was the first systems vendor to place key grid computing technology into open source. The open source Grid Engine Project is the home for the growing Grid Engine user and developer community. Grid Engine software is a leading distributed resource management tool for cluster, enterprise and global grids. Managing and submitting jobs to available computing resources in an individual grid, Grid Engine technology maximises access to compute resources, increases the utilisation of those resources, and improves productivity and return on investment.
"With more than 6 500 grids deployed since July 2000 based on Sun ONE Grid Engine software, Sun has been instrumental in bringing grid computing into the mainstream," comments Mtoba.
He notes that with this contribution of integration code to the Grid Engine Project, Sun has provided Java-based capabilities that can enable customers to securely access Internet-based applications and resources in grid environments.
"With the Grid Engine Portal portlet and the Sun ONE Portal Server, users can securely execute applications via a transparent interface to Grid Engine software, monitor job status, upload input files to the Grid Engine Portal with a single click, and download output files to a local system," explains Mtoba.
He says open source development is a cornerstone of Sun's grid computing vision. "Bringing the Grid Engine Portal portlet to open source widens the technology's reach and will help further the adoption of grid computing as a whole," says Mtoba.
"Once again, Sun is demonstrating its commitment to open source by taking a product that is of high value and quality, and that has taken a lot of man hours to develop, and handing it over to the open source community," he concludes.
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Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer]" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc (Nasdaq:SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.
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