Networks meet the requirements of grid applications

A new service framework is proposed to overcome the limits of current telecom network infrastructures in meeting the requirements of grid applications. In the context of large-scale grid environments with enterprises, companies, or collaborative business organizations, the scheduling, reconfiguration, and virtualization (SRV) solution described here focuses on the integration of horizontal service elements in the scope of a wide range of managed grid resources and autonomous operations fostered by emerging information technology (IT) and telecom convergence evolutions. Operating in different administrative domains, competing grid resource manager entities attached to data centers, computer farms, or specific instruments such as picture walls and network resource managers can interact indirectly through their specific interfaces thanks to the grid service provider (GSP). Managed by the GSP, the service binding required for grid application workflows, including suitable connectivity services, allows global service cross-optimization as an essential element for industrial grid application runtime efficiencies over telecom transport networks. A scenario with on-demand intensive computing services demonstrates this approach and its effectiveness in a commercial environment.