BeSTGRID Applications

From BeSTGRID

A summary page holding information pertaining to the applications available to BesTGRID users.

[edit] The basics

Two of the frequently asked questions, amongst those exposed to "grid computing" for the first time, are:

Do the grid run application X?

How can I get application X installed?

Meaningful answers to either question have their roots in the same understanding (or lack of it) as to what comprises "the grid".

In the main, BeSTGRID is a combination of the resources that its organisational units are prepared to share.

As such, the availability of applications is determined by those individual organisational units and can therefore be subject to change as their /need to provide/ability to share/ local resources changes.

Similarly, whilst application X may have been made available through "the grid", it may not be publically available, rendering some positive answers to the first question not as useful as might be first thought.

Furthermore, the logical answer to the second question is: get your local institution to deploy application X at your site and make it available through the grid.

[edit] Catalogue of applications

In order for the grid to operate, each site will publish a catalogue of applications and facilities back to a "central clearing house" known as the Monitoring and Discovery Service (MDS), however not in a form that is immediately useful to a casual enquiry.