Grid Computing News : IBM Grid Helps Improve Cancer Treatment

IBM is taking its World Community Grid cancer research project to the next level with a new effort to develop diagnostic tools. Big Blue, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) and Rutgers University have launched a collaborative effort to develop diagnostic tools to better predict patients' response to treatment. By using advanced computer and imaging technologies to compare cancerous tissues, cell and radiology studies, researchers and physicians are hoping for more accurate prognoses, more personalized therapy, and, eventually, the discovery and development of new cancer drugs. IBM called the new project "a natural extension" of the Help Defeat Cancer (HDC) project, which used IBM's World Community Grid ( worldcommunitygrid.org ) to characterize different types and stages of disease based on the underlying staining patterns exhibited by digitally imaged cancer tissues. Thanks to the experimental results gathered in the HDC project, the team has received a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, which will be used to build a "deployable, grid-enabled decision support system" to help researchers, physicians and scientists automatically analyze and classify imaged cancer specimens with better accuracy.... read more

Grid Computing News : Tapping PC Resources for Storage Needs

Take a good look at any desktop fleet and consider how many, if any, PCs are using or even require all the available capacity. Then imagine corralling all that unused space and tying it together like a grid to create a needed storage pool. That's exactly the road many small to midsize businesses (SMBs) are traveling in building out data storage. "This emerging approach is a dispersed strategy dependent on the LAN," said Andrew Reichman, an analyst with Forrester Research. All the office manager was concerned with was getting a more reliable data backup system that could scale as needed once electronic health records started flowing into the network.... read more

Grid Computing News : DataSynapse Puts Applications At Your Service

DataSynapse has released the latest version of its enterprise application virtualization platform, which the company bills as "the only commercially available software that configures, activates and scales applications based on business demands and policies." DataSynapse said FabricServer 2.5 lets customers "create real-time infrastructure environments that dynamically allocate computing resources to enterprise applications" as needed, lowering operational costs and increasing resource utilization. The fast-growing grid computing and virtualization vendor grew revenues by more than 50 percent last year and is moving toward an IPO this year (see DataSynapse Goes Virtual ). Version 2.5 contains DataSynapse Studio software, a developer tool that automates and standardizes testing, deployment and packaging of enterprise applications. The new release has been integrated with DataSynapse's VersaVision software, the company's business reporting and analytics platform, for greater visibility into infrastructure and applications. The new version also includes support for the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0, Internet Information Server and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, on top of existing support for Java, J2EE, Legacy and COTS/ISV applications.... read more

Grid Computing News : IBM Annexes XIV

IBM started the new year on the acquisition trail, picking up Israel-based storage startup XIV Ltd. XIV makes Nextra, a storage system based on a grid of commodity hardware that includes features such as thin provisioning , snapshots and remote mirroring. The company, founded by former EMC chief engineer Moshe Yanai, has shipped about 4 petabytes of high-performance storage in the last couple of years. But rather than adding another general storage line, IBM plans to target the company's technology at next-generation digital content. "IBM’s goal is to provide the leading technologies and solutions at every layer of the data center — storage, servers, software and services — to address these new realities IT customers face." IBM said it was impressed by Nextra's ability to scale dynamically, heal itself and self-tune while eliminating the management burdens associated with rapid growth environments.... read more

Grid Computing News : Platform Takes Aim at Grid Apps

Platform Computing is adopting a standard that makes it easier to use applications in grid computing environments. The company announced an agreement with FedStage Systems to distribute FedStage's Distributed Resource Management Application API (DRMAA) with Platform LSF. The FedStage DRMAA library for LSF is an open source implementation of the Open Grid Forum's DRMAA 1.0 specification, a standard interface that makes it easier to adopt and write applications for grid environments. "FedStage Systems is a significant player in bringing standards to the high-performance computing industry and providing our ISV partners and customers the core capabilities necessary for greater interoperability." For more information and a download link, visit http://www.fedstage.com/wiki/FedStage_DRMAA_for_LSF . And 3Tera has announced the alpha release of what it claims is a new concept in data center operations, Dynamic Appliances , "where elements become so simple to manage that they can be configured to manage themselves." Dynamic Appliances are packaged data center operations like backup, migration or SLAs that users can add to their applications to provide functionality.... read more