Super-fast 'grid' Could Make Internet Obsolete

[peter991]

Super-fast 'grid' could make internet obsolete

Monday Apr 7 14:00 AEST

Scientists have designed a super-fast information network capable of downloading data at 10,000 times the speed of a typical broadband connection.

Particle physics research centre CERN has designed the network, dubbed "the grid", to cope with the staggering amount of data its new particle accelerator will produce, The Times reports.

CERN's particle accelerator, called the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), has been built to shed light on the origins of the universe and will produce enough data each year to fill 56 million CDs.

The scope of the task meant scientists at CERN needed to create a network capable of handling and analysing enormous amounts of data.

The grid is a kind of parallel internet, consisting of 55,000 servers connected to each other using fibre optic cables and modern routers. The internet, in comparison, relies on technology originally designed for telephony, which slows the transfer of data.

Fibre optic cables run from CERN to 11 other research institutes around the world. Each of these centres connects to existing high-speed academic networks.

Computers on the grid are able to send entire movies to personal computers in seconds, rather than minutes or hours, and could enable holographic video calls and online gaming involving hundreds of thousands of people.

The Times quoted David Britton, a physics professor at Glasgow University, as saying the grid technologies could "revolutionise society".

"With this kind of computing power, future generations will have the ability to collaborate and communicate in ways older people like me cannot imagine".

The grid will help the scientists at CERN analyse data from the LHC, which has been set up to locate the Higgs boson, an elusive particle which theoretically gives matter mass.

The 27km-long LHC will shoot beams of protons at each other in an attempt to recreate conditions similar to those that followed the big bang.

The LHC has been the focus of some controversy, with an American and a Spaniard launching a lawsuit claiming it could create a black hole which will destroy the earth.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee is credited with inventing the internet at CERN in 1989.

Peter

Note: It is now 2008. The Internet is still a 'teenager' that is growing fast.

[Boater]

OK, sounds fantastic!!!.... What with Thailand at the moment still having the worst internet speed and connections in the world!

I presume this will be introduced sometime within the next 10 years!!!

[Crushdepth]

Am I right in thinking this article is comparing fiber optic networks vs ADSL and not really news?

[nikster]

Am I right in thinking this article is comparing fiber optic networks vs ADSL and not really news?

Yes this article was written by retards, as exciting as the LHC is.

This article contains so many errors it's hard to know where to begin. ADSL runs over phone lines because it's a heck of a lot cheaper than running new fiber lines everywhere - but it's not "the internet". "The internet" uses fiber extensively already. They might be talking about the "internet 2" project which connected many research labs the world over with dedicated extremely fast fiber lines. Then again, it's hard to know.

Further grave errors:

Tim Berners Lee didn't invent "the internet", he invented the world wide web.. everyone knows Al Gore invented the internet

And the main topic of the article, the grid, has nothing to do with the internet at all. It's just a new grid computing platform.

Luckily, in the age of "the internet" we don't have to rely on moronic journalists for information but can get is straight from the source:

http://gridcafe.web.cern.ch/gridcafe/whatisgrid/whatis.html

Edited April 7, 2008 by nikster

[BigSnake]

BRING IT ON!! ADSL will be History soon or later anyway.

[percy2]

Am I right in thinking this article is comparing fiber optic networks vs ADSL and not really news?

Yes this article was written by retards, as exciting as the LHC is.

This article contains so many errors it's hard to know where to begin. ADSL runs over phone lines because it's a heck of a lot cheaper than running new fiber lines everywhere - but it's not "the internet". "The internet" uses fiber extensively already. They might be talking about the "internet 2" project which connected many research labs the world over with dedicated extremely fast fiber lines. Then again, it's hard to know.

Further grave errors:

Tim Berners Lee didn't invent "the internet", he invented the world wide web.. everyone knows Al Gore invented the internet

And the main topic of the article, the grid, has nothing to do with the internet at all. It's just a new grid computing platform.

Luckily, in the age of "the internet" we don't have to rely on moronic journalists for information but can get is straight from the source:

http://gridcafe.web.cern.ch/gridcafe/whatisgrid/whatis.html

This post gets the PERCY STAMP of APPROVAL

Cheers

[amigoro]

Am I right in thinking this article is comparing fiber optic networks vs ADSL and not really news?

Further grave errors:

Tim Berners Lee didn't invent "the internet", he invented the world wide web.. everyone knows Al Gore invented the internet

Aye.

The Internet as we know it was 'invented' by Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn, when they described the first TCP/IP protocol, in their seminal paper "A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication"

Sir Tim did invent the World Wide Web, though.

[THAILIBAN]

this sounds good...

can I apply for it at my nearestTRUE office tomorrow ? when does it start in Thailand ? in May or do I have to wait until June ? (2008, that is....)

cause here I have a GRID............LOCK

[Fantasteak]

There is a fantastic programme from the BBC its and Horizon special called ( The six billion Dollar experiment) It will show you the making of the LHC. it will blow your mind. You should be able to find it on Torrentz.com. At the start of the programme the scientist tells you that there is a slight chance that if it went wrong the world could implode. Nice to know.

[dave_boo]

Computers on the grid are able to send entire movies to personal computers in seconds, rather than minutes or hours, and could enable holographic video calls and online gaming involving hundreds of thousands of people.

What a load of crap. Let's even assume that they're talking about 10 seconds to send a 700MB XVID/DIVX movie. That means you're going to have to send it at a sustained 70MB/sec. Very few people have hard drives able to sustain that. Now let's assume they're talking about a 4.3 GB dvd movie. That's a sustained 430 MB/sec. Very few workstations even are able to do that.