Network management Toolkit

HP hops on board SmartFrog

Published: 27 Jun 2003 13:37 BST

Hewlett-Packard reiterated its support for open standards in grid computing on Thursday and sealed its pledge by giving software to the alliance that sets standards for the technology.

The company contributed a set of applications known as the Smart Framework for Object Groups, or SmartFrog, which allows easier configuration of grids. Grid-computing technology promises a future where computers from different departments or organisations can be connected to work on critical tasks.

"We want to move this from a scientific community vehicle to a truly robust commercial enterprise architecture," said Shane Robison, chief technology and strategy officer for HP. Robison made the announcement at the eighth Global Grid Forum (GGF) on Thursday.

The GGF is a consortium creating the standards used to wire computers together into grids. Issues include how grids automatically discover and add new devices, how computing jobs are scheduled, and how users are given authorisation to use shared resources on the grid.

While the hype around grid computing has outpaced the reality, the technology is a step toward a utility model for computing. Grid-computing technology allows companies to dedicate unused resources to the most critical problems at any given time. Unfortunately for HP and other companies that hope to open up new markets for adopters of the technology, grids have mainly been put in place as research tools.

Robison said he hoped HP's software would help tame one major problem with grids: managing them. SmartFROG enables administrators to push configuration changes to the distributed computers that make up a grid. HP plans to allow the software to be integrated with its OpenView management software.

"We are doing everything from development tools, to participating in the standards, to porting all of our enterprise products," Robison said.

Networks and networking products have seen huge innovation and growth in the last few years. High bandwidth LANs and Storage Area Networks are now in common use. ZDNet UK's Networking Central keeps you up to date with the latest news and views.

Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Did you find this article useful?
15 out of 43 people found this useful

More In Network management

Company/Topic Alerts

Create a new alert from the list below:

Featured Talkback

Could it be that ISP’s are making this out to be a bigger problem than it actually is? We’re a small country with an internet penetration of less than 60%, for every Youtuber there’s someone who only uses the internet to check their emails, more people surf on their mobile handsets than a few years ago. Surely things should even themselves up.