The Grid-next stage in cyber evolution

Every day we log on to the internet…. Check emails, chat with our friends and shop.rnWhat If the internet becomes obsolete someday? What if you came to know one fine day that the internet doesn’t exist anymore? Will you be able to live without it? Well don’t fret folks, sooner or later a day will come when the internet will eventually have to die and give way to the next stage in cyber evolution. Welcome to Grid Computing also known as the “The grid”, the technology that will eventually replace the internet, changing the way we interact with people and download information from the World Wide Web. Does the word “CERN” sound familiar to you? I am sure you have been hearing about it a lot in the news lately, mainly due to the particle experiments taking place over there.rnCERN was the birthplace of the internet where Sir Tim Berners Lee invented it. Now they have come with a technology so powerful, that it can replace the internet altogether. Imagine being able to download a full movie in less than 2 seconds, streaming simultaneous high definition movies at the same time. Sounds too good to be true? Well guess what, it will be here sooner than you can imagine. What is “The Grid”?rnWhen scientists at CERN started experimenting with the Large Hadron Collider in search of the God Particle, they realized that doing so would generate enough data that would create a stack of cds 40 miles high. That meant that the internet could not be used to capture that data as the equipment (wires and cables) used to run the internet was originally meant to route telephone calls and lacked the power of transmitting high speed data and could cause a global collapse. As a result “The Grid” was born by leveraging the use of modern equipment and fiber optics that could transmit data without slowing down the network. It would enable people to take cloud computing to another level, where all our information can be stored online and accessed from anywhere on the globe. Scientists and technologists are optimistic that the grid holds the future of information sharing as it will help us to become true information and communication enabled world. Scientists have already realized its potential and have used it, to help design new drugs against malaria. Researchers used the grid to analyze 140m compounds - a task that would have taken standard internet-linked PC 420 years. As the hunger to acquire information fast and with people becoming much greedier when it comes to uploading and downloading data, Grid Computing is definitely the need of the hour. But don’t throw away your routers just yet… Since there’s still time for this technology to go global, till then just sit back and enjoy the transition… From being connected to becoming one with the world.