The internet has evolved by linking together a hodgepodge of cables and routing equipment, much of which was originally designed for telephone calls and therefore lacks the capacity for high-speed data transmission.

The grid, on the other hand has been built with dedicated fibre optic cables and modern routing centres, meaning there are no old fashioned components to slow the tremendous volume of data. Their are 55,000 servers installed today and that number is expected to rise to 200,000 within the next two years.

By routing all data through the new technology it is estimated that the speed would be up to 10,000 faster.

What that would mean is:

• Cloud computing – No more data stored on desktops. All data would be stored at an offsite location and retrieved realtime via instant data transfer
• Full length movies will be downloadable in 5 minutes instead of several hours.
• Holographic video conferencing will become reality.
• Online gaming could include thousands of players.

The power of the grid will become apparent this summer after what scientists at Cern have termed their “red button” day – the switching-on of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the new particle accelerator built to probe the origin of the universe. The grid will be activated at the same time to capture the data it generates.

For more information:

Cern – The European Organization for Nuclear Research

“David Britton, professor of physics at Glasgow University and a leading figure in the grid project, believes grid technologies could “revolutionise” society. “With this kind of computing power, future generations will have the ability to collaborate and communicate in ways older people like me cannot even imagine,” he said.”

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