Introduction to Grid-Computing

Service learning is an important part of our Rockhurst education. This semester in our Evolution class, we are fulfilling this component by participating in a grid-computing project. Grid-computing works by connecting the personal computers of volunteers and running algorithms in the background. The network of computers is able to accomplish more research results than multiple supercomputers. The advantage that makes this technology so worthwhile is that it’s incredibly efficient. Grid-computing uses computer space that otherwise would be being wasted. Furthermore, research is broken down in to smaller pieces. Because of this, money and time spent on research drops significantly. The processing power generated by grid-computing allows projects that may have taken years to have results with in months.

We selected our grid-computing project from World Community Grid. Our specific project is called Help Conquer Cancer. This project works to improve the results obtained from protein X-ray crystallography. X-ray crystallography is important to cancer research because it allows scientists to understand the structure of proteins involved in the detection, initiation, and progression of cancer. More information on our project can be found at the Help Conquer Cancer website.