Grid and Cloud Computing : A Business Perspective on Technology and Applications

In today’s dynamic business environment, IT departments are under permanent pressure to meet two divergent requirements: to reduce costs and to support business agility with higher flexibility and responsiveness of the IT infrastructure. Grid and Cloud Computing enable a new approach towards IT. They enable increased scalability and more efficient use of IT based on virtualization of heterogeneous and distributed IT resources. This book provides a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of Grids and Clouds and of how companies can benefit from them. A wide array of topics is covered, e.g. business models and legal aspects. The applicability of Grids and Clouds in companies is illustrated with four cases of real business experiments. The experiments illustrate the technical solutions and the organizational and IT governance challenges that arise with the introduction of Grids and Clouds. Practical guidelines on how to successfully introduce Grids and Clouds in companies are provided. Front Matter....Pages 1-9 Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Introduction: Business and Technological Drivers of Grid Computing....Pages 3-11 The BEinGRID Project....Pages 13-17 Front Matter....Pages 22-23 Grid Basics....Pages 23-45 Cloud Basics – An Introduction to Cloud Computing....Pages 47-61 Grid Business Models....Pages 63-82 Grid Value Chains – What is a Grid Solution?....Pages 83-96 Legal Issues in Grid and Cloud Computing....Pages 97-118 Front Matter....Pages 122-124 Common Capabilities for Service Oriented Infrastructures – Grid and Cloud Computing....Pages 123-145 Remote Computational Tools for Radiotherapy Cancer Treatment Planning....Pages 147-158 Business Experiment Ship Building....Pages 159-172 AgroGrid – Grid Technologies in Agro Food Business....Pages 173-190 Virtual Hosting Environments for Online Gaming....Pages 191-212 Organizational and Governance Challenges for Grid Computing in Companies – Summary of Findings from Business Experiments....Pages 213-222 Front Matter....Pages 224-224 Practical Guidelines for Evolving IT Infrastructure towards Grids and Clouds....Pages 225-243 Back Matter....Pages 1-30 This text provides a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of grids and clouds and of how companies can benefit from them. A wide array of topics is covered, e.g. business models and legal aspects