Summary
The JavaPosse has published part I of an interview with Van Simmons on the ComputeCycles project, which uses Jini, JavaSpaces, Glassfish, and Groovy with the goal of creating a dynamically configurable, easy-to-administer secure compute grid.
One of the challenges in grid computing is dynamic configuration of the grid. Java is uniquely suited to meet this challenge because it offers the ability to combine mobile code and standard APIs with a powerful security model. These capabilities make it possible to build scalable grid computing systems which require minimal centralized configuration infrastructure and simplify "on-the-fly" deployment and removal of grid assets. We call such a minimally configured grid a Flashgrid.
The goal of the ComputeCycles project is to build a "flashgrid-capable" compute grid which:
Has zero single-points-of-failure
Is secure
Is easily administered
Is dynamically configured
Is based on the Master/Worker pattern (eventually moving to a full workflow model)
Can be run securely through firewalls
Assumes Java and specifically Jini everywhere
What kind of problems do you have for which you think a compute grid, such as the one envisioned by the ComputeCycles project, would be an appropriate tool?
>Java is uniquely suited to meet this challenge because it offers the ability to >combine mobile code and standard APIs with a powerful security model.
I don't see where Java is any better at utility computing than any other platform. Mobile code is a red herring. Code seldom moves unless you are rolling a new deployment. The security model is also bogus. The Java security model is designed to protect against the possibility of hostile foreign code as in applets. It does nothing for server hosted code and is often an annoyance.
Lets be real. Security starts at the OS and network configuration.
In fact, there is a grid project that is real, available, and doesn't care if you run Java or not. Amazon's EC2 will let you bring up computers configured with whatever disk image you like. Java could be there, but doesn't have to be. Amazon itself uses this system to add capacity to their website and precious little of that is written in Java.
The point is, Java doesn't help and isn't uniquely suited for this sort of thing at all. You saying so just propagates propaganda.
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