Simplified grid computing through spreadsheets and NetSolve

摘要

Grid computing has great potential but to enter the mainstream it must be simplified. Tools and libraries must make it easier to solve problems by being simpler and at the same time more sophisticated. We describe how grid computing can be achieved through spreadsheets. No parallel programming or complex tools need to be used. So long as dependencies allow it, formulae in a spreadsheet can be evaluated concurrently on the grid. Thus, grid computing becomes accessible to all those who can use a spreadsheet. The story is completed with a sophisticated backend system, NetSolve, which can solve complex linear algebra systems with minimal intervention from the user. We present the architecture of the system for performing such simple yet sophisticated grid computing and a case study which performs a large singular value decomposition.