Introduction

Welcome to iSGTW's 'Learn' section, where you will find everything you will need to get started on understanding high-end computing such as grids. In the near future we will be updating this section with information about cloud computing, supercomputing, volunteer computing and other forms of distributed computating.

We have listened to what you have told us in our Readership Surveys, and made these resource materials easy to use — and useful to both those who are familiar with high-end computing and to newcomers.

This page acts as a hub, telling you where to find what you need.

The 'Learn' section starts with simple, quick explanations — such as our 'Glossary' — and goes into more detail as you move down into our 'Technology Primer', and then our 'Get Started, Step-by-Step' sections.

After that, if you want to know where to find out more about existing grids, clouds and supercomputinng centres, and the kinds of things they focus on, see our 'Directory.'

And see our 'Fun with the grid' section, which has items such as the 'Be your own gridmaster' children’s game.

For more details about each section, see below:

GLOSSARY – Come across a commonly used term or acronym in an article, and you want to quickly refresh your memory as to what it means? Go here, and type in the word(s) at the top.

TECHNOLOGY PRIMER – Need more than a single-sentence definition? Want a crash course in grid computing? Want to read a full-page explanation on what is a grid or a cloud or a supercomputer? You’ve come to the right place.

GET STARTED, STEP-BY-STEP – You desire to really get into the nuts-and-bolts of setting up your own grid, and want to know the mechanics of registering, setting up a virtual organization or acquiring a certificate? We can’t do it all for you, but we can give you a good outline of the basics of choosing and using your grid, together with useful, relevant links from Open Science Grid, Enabling Grids for E-sciencE, GridPP and GridTalk.

VIDEO TUTORIALS – The Direct User Support Group from EGEE, in collaboration with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, produced some educational screencasts that answer common questions about the grid and gLite. They are available for viewing here.

DIRECTORY – Do you remember our old “Grids in the Spotlight” section and our old “Links” section? We’ve combined, streamlined and updated them, making it easier for you to locate the name, location and subject matter of that grid you have on the tip of your tongue.

FUN WITH THE GRID – For those of you who just can’t get enough . . .