InterGrid: A Case for Internetworking of Islands of Grids

Over the last few years, several Grids have been set up to share resources such as computers, data, and instruments to enable collaborative research. These Grids follow models and heterogeneous policies restricted by the requirements of e-Science applications for which they have been created, which has resulted in islands of Grids. A structure that allows Grids to grow in a scalable manner by allowing peering between Grids is still not possible. There has been a profound interest in providing interoperability between different Grids. In this paper, we propose a model that (a) promotes interlinking of islands of Grids through peering arrangements to enable inter-Grid resource sharing; (b) provides a scalable structure for Grids that allow them to interconnect with one another and grow in a sustainable way; (c) creates a global cyberinfrastructure to support e-Science and eBusiness applications. This work identifies the need for a business ecosystem, called the InterGrid, which promotes the internetworking of islands of Grids and allows Grids to grow in a similar way as the Internet. We examine current global systems that grow by enabling networks of networks and propose an architecture for the InterGrid. The architecture is composed of InterGrid Gateways responsible for managing peering arrangements between Grids. We discuss the main components of the architecture and present a research agenda to enable the InterGrid vision.