IT leaders wrestle for control of grid protocol standard
A sole governing body seems unlikely as vendors squabble about who rules what
Enterprise software behemoth Oracle aims to form a new information technology (IT) standards group to lead a worldwide initiative that it calls Enterprise Grid Computing.
The move, mentioned by Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison and several company executives last week, would challenge the existing standards bodies that have shaped the so-called distributed computing concept in recent years.
Grid computing is not new, but it has only been recently that software firms started deploying grids in a business setting.
In the past, distributed networks such as the SETI@home alien-spotting project used spare computing resources to create massive distributed networks, but the modern grid can spread entire computer applications and databases across a wider range of computer platforms.
Backers such as IBM see grid computing as a public utility, much like a national power grid. Grid standards to date have been formed by generally non-profit groups, including the World Wide Web Consortium, Global Grid Forum, Globus and the Web Service-Interoperability Organisation.