A Single-Computer Grid Gateway Using Virtual Machines

Grid middleware is enabling resource sharing between computing centres across the world and sites with existing clusters are eager to connect to the Grid. However, the hardware requirements for access to the Grid remain high: a standard Grid gateway requires four separate servers. We propose the use of Virtual Machine (VM) technology to run multiple OS instances, allowing a full Grid gateway to be hosted on a single computer. This would significantly reduce the hardware, installation and management commitments required of a site that wants to connect to the Grid. In this paper, we outline the architecture of a singlecomputer Grid gateway that we have developed for nationwide deployment. We evaluate implementations of this architecture on two popular open-source VM solutions: Xen and User-Mode Linux (UML). Our results show that Xen outperforms UML for installation tasks and standard gateway operations. Performance is close to that of standard Linux, and more than acceptable for everyd...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: AINA
• Authors: Stephen Childs, Brian A. Coghlan, David O'Callaghan, Geoff Quigley, John Walsh
• Keywords: AINA 2005, Computer Networks, Grid, Grid Gateways, Standard Grid Gateway