Using computing and data grids for large-scale science and engineering

The term Grid is used to refer to a software system that provides uniform and location-independent access to geographically and organizationally dispersed, heterogeneous resources that are persistent and supported. These emerging data and computing Grids promise to provide a highly capable and scalable environment for addressing large-scale science problems. The author describes the requirements for science Grids, the resulting services and architecture of NASA's Information Power Grid and the Department of Energy's Science Grid, and some of the scaling issues that have come up in their implementation.