Difference Between Cloud Computing and Grid Computing
Cloud computing and grid computing, both client-server frameworks, diverge significantly. Cloud computing centrally manages resources, offering pay-per-use accessibility. In contrast, grid computing forms a collaborative network for diverse tasks, often internally used within organizations. This article provides an essential comparison, elucidating the distinctions between these computing paradigms to guide their application based on specific computing needs.
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is a highly in-demand technology for organizations as well as individuals. It has revolutionized the IT sector with the introduction of the cloud. Cloud computing can be defined as the technology which enables users to remotely access services such as computation, storage, network, database, applications, etc. over the internet across the globe.
In cloud computing, the physical resources and systems are present at different locations in the data centers. A data center is a building or space which houses the physical components required to deliver computation, network, and storage services such as servers, databases, physical storage, and other utilities like cooling, network security access, and uninterruptable power supplies(UPS). These data centers are managed by cloud service providers.
A developer, instead of buying a high-cost physical machine, can access services such as computational power and storage on a demand basis from various cloud service providers such as AWS(Amazon Web Services), Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, etc.
The type of services provided by cloud service providers are categorized into three primary service delivery models which are:
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Infrastructure as a Service - IaaS delivers the primary resources such as computing, storage, and network to the users on a pay-as-you-go basis.
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Platform as a Service - PaaS delivers additional software resources like application development platforms and tools apart from basic infrastructure resources.
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Software as a Service - SaaS is a software distribution model in which a cloud service provider hosts applications for users to access over the internet. Some popular examples of SaaS are Gmail, Google Docs, Zoom, etc.
What is Grid Computing?
Grid Computing can be defined as a network of multiple computers working together to perform a large task. These tasks are generally tough to be managed by a single device such as analyzing huge datasets or scientific research which require high computation. Grid computing is a subset of distributed computing, where a large task is accomplished by dividing it into multiple small and easily accomplishable tasks and assigned to different machines for the computation.
All the grid computing network computers follow the same protocols and act as a single virtual supercomputer to finish complex tasks. This allows users and applications seamless access to IT infrastructure.
A Grid Computing network consists of 3 types of machine
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Control Node/Server - A control node is a server or a group of servers that administer the complete network and maintain the resources in the network pool.
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Grid Node/Provider - A grid node is a computer that provides its resources to the network resource pool for efficient utilization.
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User - A user is a computer that uses the resource pool of the network to complete a complex task.
Unlike cloud computing, computers in grid computing are generally connected by the ethernet to form a network in grid computing. Middleware software is installed in each system which manages the assignment of subtasks to all the systems in the network for better resource utilization. The middleware allows computers to communicate and share information about the subtasks. As a result, the computers work in a collaborative pattern to consolidate and deliver a combined output for the main task.
Key Difference Between Cloud Computing and Grid Computing
The main difference between Cloud Computing and Grid Computing lies in their architecture and purpose. Cloud Computing is centralized, offering on-demand resources over the internet for various tasks. In contrast, Grid Computing is decentralized and excels in high-performance, resource-intensive applications. Cloud Computing is versatile and scalable, while Grid Computing is specialized for distributed processing.
Difference Between Cloud Computing and Grid Computing
Let us understand the primary differences between cloud computing vs grid computing to get an overall idea of both technologies.
| Parameters | Cloud Computing | Grid Computing |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Cloud Computing follows client-server architecture. | Grid Computing follows a distributed architecture. |
| Ownership | Cloud servers are owned by cloud infrastructure providers. | Grids are owned and managed by the organization. |
| Operation | Follows centralized management system. | Follows a decentralized management system. |
| Resource Management | Resources are managed centrally. | Resources are managed collaboratively. |
| Scalability | Highly Scalable | Less scalable than cloud computing. |
| Accessibility | Cloud computing is highly accessible since they use standard web protocols. | Can only be accessed using the middleware and hence less accessible. |
| Consumption | User needs to pay the cost of the resources used. | Once a grid network is established, there is no need to pay for anything. |
| Services | IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS are the three cloud computing services. | Grid Computing uses Distributed Computing, Distributed Information, and Distributed Pervasive service. |
| Workload Management | Cloud computing is ideal for variable workloads. | Grid computing is suited for batch processing and long-running jobs with high resource demands. |
| Fault Tolerance | Cloud environments provide high fault tolerance due to redundancy and backup systems. | Grid computing relies heavily on individual nodes, making it more susceptible to failures. |
Conclusion
- Cloud computing follows client-server architecture and provides access to the services such as computing and storage on a pay-as-you-go basis, over the internet.
- The hardware components of the cloud computing resources are stored at different locations in data centers across the globe.
- Iaas, PaaS, and SaaS are the three main cloud service delivery models.
- Cloud computing is a highly scalable and accessible and centrally managed technology.
- Grid Computing is a network of many computers that are connected to work in a collaborative environment and accomplish a complex task, which otherwise is difficult to manage for a single computer.
- Grid computing follows distributed computing architecture which divides the large task into small subtasks and then provides results by combining subtasks results.
- No payment is required in grid computing, once the network is established. It is less scalable and can only be accessed using middleware.