EAI Blog

So our internet went out last night, so I have been relegated to write this over my lunch break at work. Good times, huh.

So yeah, Group II (of the Grad Groups) met again over the weekend and have our next deliverable already completed. I have agreed to start the leg work for the .net side of our online store. Although I am relatively unfamiliar with this (never having done anything like this before Lab1) I feel confident I will be able to figure it out and get everything linked to the appropriate web services. In general, I enjoy working with this group and think we will accomplish some great things.

For today, we also had to turn in our questions and comments on the BPM paper. I thought it was an interesting topic in its relation to the newer regulatory compliance mandates set out by Sarbanes-Oxley and the like.

So, yeah, that is about it for now.  Back to work, then studying.

Once again, I met up with my group to go over our project for class. We turned in a deliverable already and are hoping to get some good feedback before the due date.

Beyond that, I have finished my term paper on grid computing. I will link it here when I get it on the web. Because I can, I will display the intro to it below.

2.       Introduction

In the early 90’s the term ‘Computational Grid’, a type of distributed computing, was popularized by Ian Foster and Carl Kesselmans in their paper "The Grid: Blueprint for a new computing infrastructure".  The term was used as a metaphor comparing distributed computing to the electric power grid of the early 1900’s ¹. Distributed Computing, and in some cases grid computing, utilizes a computer network to interface a group or cluster of computers allowing them to work together to accomplish a set of computationally intensive instructions. A cluster of computers working in a grid are able to accomplish a similar workload to that of a super computer, but without the expense. This technology was popularized in the late 90’s by distributed.net and again in 1999 by SETI@home to harness the power of networked PCs worldwide.  Since its popularization, distributed computing has become so powerful its systems can be so powerful they rival the fastest supercomputers and access to these systems can be obtained for a comparatively small investment. Currently a few of the areas utilizing virtual supercomputers for data analysis are molecular modeling, brain activity analysis, and high energy physics. 

So yeah, I am done for the weekend. Have a good one everyone.

I met with Kandy and Bretton this past Saturday to discuss the online group project. We went over the various parts that were going to be needed for next week's deliverable and made great headway on the first part of our project. We have a few questions that could use some clarifying, but for the most part I think it will be smooth sailing. I look forward to working with my teammates on the completion of this project.

I threw out my back a couple of days ago and it still hurts to sit, let alone stand. As such, I have been putting off doing part b of lab 3. I have been having some issues with it at home, so I plan to try it at school tomorrow in one of the campus labs. Other than that chapter 16 was a good read on webservices and the various security methods used to protect the information. I guess for now, I am heading to bed.

I am taking the week off as it is spring break. I will be back by Sunday with a new entry though.

So I just finished the exam, and I am reasonably confident in my work. I have to say though I was a more lax with my time usage than I should have been. When taking open book exams, I always feel like more information needs to be added (especially for open ended questions) as all the information is available. In essence, I feel like I rely less on my knowledge and more on my ability to verify the information I am putting down. For me this leads me to spend more time on each question to make sure I have all the required information. I guess that I will just have to adjust my strategy for taking the next exam.

Oh, well, at least I am past this hurdle.

I submitted my paper proposal and I plan to write my term paper on the ‘grid’. Computer hardware has always been of high interest to me. For my own personal use, building the fastest computer at the lowest cost has always been a fun and interesting process. I have fooled around with over-clocking, over-volting, and water-cooling trying to eek out as much power as I can per set price point. Grid computing so far in concept seems to be an extension of my desire to learn more about how to utilize components to the best of their ability.

The IBM definition of grid computing is, "the ability, using a set of open standards and protocols, to gain access to applications and data, processing power, storage capacity and a vast array of other computing resources over the Internet. A grid is a type of parallel and distributed system that enables the sharing, selection, and aggregation of resources distributed across 'multiple' administrative domains based on their (resources) availability, capacity, performance, cost and users' quality-of-service requirements".

My paper will include (,but is not limited to), definitions, current technology/implementations, standardizations, security, and current projects.

I have to say, I was apprehensive about this project before I started looking into the various topics, but once I chose my topic, I was excited to learn more. I think this paper will be a great learning experience into a great topic.