9grid faq

If this is ok maybe we should forward to 9fans. 

Thanks to Andrey for this.

ron

9Grid FAQ

This document answers frequently asked questions about the distributed 
computing project called 9Grid, which features prominently the Plan 9 from 
Bell Labs operating system. 
Introduction:
What is 9Grid? 
What is a "Grid"? 
Who is 9Grid? 
Why do we need 9Grid? 
What are 9Grid's goals? 
Contact:
Where can I get more information about 9Grid? 
Who do I contact if I want to get involved? 
Hardware and Software:
What system requirements does 9Grid have? 
What about heterogeneity? 
What applications exist for 9Grid? 
How is resource allocation accomplished in 9Grid? 
What schedulers and meta-schedulers are available for 9Grid? 
Introduction:

Subject: What is 9Grid?

9Grid is a collaboration between a geographically diverse group of Plan 9 
enthusiasts. We want to build and maintain a tightly-coupled environment 
of disparate, but shareable resources. We want to be able to run 
applications potentially requiring large resources by accumulating 
different parts of the environment and utilizing it as a whole. 
Subject: What is a "Grid"?

A "grid" is a single user's view of a computational environment in which 
resources are shared across management and/or administrative domains. For 
example a user could build a "grid" in which she utilizes cpu resources 
located in a cluster at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, while using 
the massive storage at the University of Calgary, software compiled on her 
own machine, and at the same time authenticating using the Auth server at 
Bell Laboratories. 
Subject: Who is 9Grid?

The main players involved with 9grid are: 
Cluster Research Group at LANL: http://public.lanl.gov/cluster/index.html 
Lucent Bell Laboratories: http://plan9.bell-labs.com/plan9dist 
University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada: http://www.cpsc.ucalgary.ca 
Monash University, Melbourne, Australia: http://www.csse.monash.edu.au 
There are numerous other individuals that have expressed desire to 
dedicate a cpu server or two to the 9grid project. 
Subject: Why do we need 9Grid?

9grid exist as a proof of the concept 'Simple is Better'. We try to show 
that for creating complex environments spanning management and 
administrative domains we don't need enormous toolkits built on top of 
operating systems designed as standalone timesharing environments some 30 
years ago. Instead, we only need to look a bit to the side, to find that a 
solution to this particular problem exists (and has existed for the past 
14 years). We want to build simple distributed computational environments. 
Subject: What are 9Grid's goals?

The goal of 9grid is to utilize the distributed features of the "Plan 9 
from Bell-Labs" operating system to create a tightly-coupled Grid 
environment in which running applications can cross the boundaries of the 
local cluster or institution and utilize resources around the globe or 
even further away. 
Contact:
Subject: Where can I get more information about 9Grid?

http://www.9grid.net is the site for the 9grid project. 
http://plan9.bell-labs.com/plan9dist is the official site of the Plan 9 
operating system. 
Subject: Who do I contact if I want to get involved?

For questions and general information about 9grid, subscribe to the 9grid 
mailing list, at:


http://www.clustermatic.org/mailman/listinfo/9grid 
Hardware and Software:
Subject: What system requirements does 9Grid have?

At the beginning you need to run Plan 9, and you need to have the desire 
to share your resources. 
Subject: How about heterogeneity?

We currently do not have plans for involving or creating a grid which is 
heterogeneous at the Operating System level. Fortunately, there is a 
single basic requirement for a machine to be connected to 9grid -- it 
needs to speak the 9p protocol as defined in its implementation in Plan 9. 
This significantly lowers the barrier for entering our environment. From 
digital cameras to superclusters -- they only need 9p to be 
"grid-enabled". 
Subject: What applications exist for 9Grid?

we have a chat server :) 

Subject: How is resource allocation accomplished in 9Grid?

We're working on it. 

Subject: What schedulers and meta-schedulers are available for 9Grid?

A reasonable meta-scheduler for 9grid wouldn't be such a bad idea. There 
may even be a publi