IBM Introduces Grid Computing in Newest WebSphere

07/21/2003

Print this article Email this article Talk Back! Write to Editor

07/21/03--IBM announced new software that it claims address a major source of inefficiency in computer networks and could drive more mainstream, commercial implementations of Grid computing -- the ability to take untapped resources across an enterprise and make them available where and when they're needed, resulting in a single, virtual system.

In today's data centers, the company explains, the clusters of servers that run business applications often do a poor job of juggling unpredictable workload. One server may sit idle, while another is constrained. This leads to a Catch-22 where companies -- needing to avoid network bottlenecks and safeguard connectivity with customers, business partners and employees -- often plan for the highest imaginable spikes in demand, then watch as all those servers operate well under capacity most of the time. Organizations are looking for better ways to use the hardware and software they have already purchased, IBM says.

IBM has developed a "traffic cop-like" software product that it says automatically and intelligently monitors application workload and routes traffic to one server or another according to its workload at a given time. It allows a cluster consisting of many servers -- from dozens to hundreds -- to operate as a single environment that automatically adapts to sudden changes, much as the electrical grid works. This can improve network performance -- for example, eliminating some of the missed server connections that can be a mystery to Web users -- and allow companies to get more value out of their existing server resources.

In Grid computing, all of the disparate computers and systems in an organization or among organizations become one large, integrated computing system, according to IBM's explanation. That single system can then be turned loose on problems and processes too large and intensive for any single computer to easily handle in an efficient manner. Under non-grid circumstances: mainframes might lie idle 40 percent of the time; Unix servers are sometimes "serving" less than 10% of the time; many business PCs may be under utilized as musch as 95% of a typical day. Capabilities such as those promised in the new WebSphere software help a Grid gather untapped power and functionality and make it available to users across the grid as needed.

Other new features in WebSphere that IBM says will help customers improve network performance include WebSphere Performance Advisor and Automatic Backup Clusters. WebSphere V5.0.2 also expands its support for open standards-based Web services. In addition to all newly released Web services standards (AXIS V1.0 and JSR 109 support, plus the latest specifications for SOAP, UDDI, WSIF and Web Services Gateway), WebSphere V5.0.2 is the first production-level application server to support WS-I 1.0, which gives developers an advantage in building Web services applications across heterogeneous environments. WebSphere also provides additional support for JDK 1.4 specification, which moves WebSphere closer to J2EE 1.4 compliance.

The technology was developed by IBM Research and the company's software development teams over the past two years. WebSphere Application Server v5.0.2 -- Enterprise -- is available July 25 for $30,000 per processor.

Goals