The consortium of research laboratories and academic institutions has been home to the Globus Toolkit for building computing grids since 1995, and enjoys the support of almost all commercial vendors developing grid software.
Originally founded by the US Argonne National Lab, the University of California’s Information Sciences Institute, and the University of Chicago, Globus has now added the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the Swedish Center for Parallel Computers as alliance members.
Globus said the new members would add expertise in database integration and security respectively and also aid in the expansion of the alliance internationally.
The University of Edinburgh’s Parallel Computing Center, along with staff from the National e-Science Centre at Edinburgh, also play a leading role in the Global Grid Forum’s Database Access and Integration Services working group, while the PDC co-founded the European Grid Support Centre and the Nordic Grid Consortium.
The University of Edinburgh and the PDC also get a seat each on the new Global Alliance governing board, joining representatives from the founder members. The alliance is also recognizing and giving a formal voice to other key research and academic institutions that have contributed to the development of Globus, with the formation of an Academic Affiliates program.
The program includes research and educational establishments from across the US, Europe and Asia-Pac, with CERN, the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center, Monash University in Australia, the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and the Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas among the first 12 affiliates.
Source: Computerwire
