The computing grid has been likened to the electrical power grid, in which large institutions share resources according to demand. Image courtesy of sxc.hu

Our Link of the Week this time is the latest of our GridBriefings, where we attempt to answer a question as old as the grid: Just what is the grid?

In "Grid computing in five minutes," you see case studies of the grid in action, running the gamut from nuclear fusion to earth science to agriculture. And you can hear what different people have to say about what it is, how it works, why it matters, and the challenges for its future.

For example, Faïrouz Malek, LHC ATLAS experiment physicist and scientific
project leader for the LHC Computing Grid in France, says: “As a particle physicist in the 90s, I witnessed the birth of the World Wide
Web: I still remember the trouble I caused
in my experiment when I suggested we
create a web page to facilitate interaction
between international members. I have
since witnessed the birth of grid computing,
and am deeply involved in the Large Hadron Collider
Computing Grid. I can’t imagine how LHC physicists
could produce science without it. Grid technology enables
the science to be worldwide and collaborative.”

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