Cloud Computing

Comparative Analysis of Cloud, Cluster, and Grid Computing

Syed Aarij Ali Hasan

MSc Data science, University of Europe for applied science
AEBS_DC_MAVe_P2CC01: Cloud computing
Prof. Dr. Eman Abukhousa
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Introduction

In this paper we will be discussing cloud, grid and cluster computing. As time passes by there is a need of

new technology and room for new ideas and innovation, we always demand for a fast paced system or

high speed system, in older times it was really expensive to have high performance computing systems

but now with time we have so much growth in tech industry. We know how cloud computing has

become famous everywhere, so many businesses or computer professionals are growing forward due to

it. In order to start off we will first look at the cloud computing. Cloud computing is the on-demand

delivery of IT services via the aid of the internet. Users can use the services by their own needs, they can

increase and decrease the resources as per the demand and all this can be done without having a

physical infrastructure.

Not to forget that cluster computing is the oldest technology among the three, furthermore it is mainly

where there are several computers interconnected and they work together to perform a task much

more efficiently. Although cluster computing set up is done physically. Lastly grid computing is an

architecture of computer in which it connects a network of computers in order to form an on-demand

network.

All the three have different architecture, application and also advantages and disadvantages, which will

be further discussed below in detail.

Keywords:Cluster Computing, grid computing, cloud computing, architecture

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Cluster Computing

As discussed above, cluster computing involves two or more computers, called nodes that work

together as if they are one single system. When users interact with this setup, it feels like they are using

just one computer, even though there are multiple nodes involved. For cluster computing to work well

there are several features which are needed, just like we need to be dependent on the system and it

should be working without any sort of failures, the tasks should be evenly distributed among the nodes

and also the system should be fast and efficient. Overall, cluster computing creates a powerful and

seamless experience for users by combining multiple computers to act like one.

There are different types of clusters:

1. High-Performance (HP) Clusters

High-Performance clusters use multiple computers (nodes) working together to solve complex problems

that require a lot of calculations. They are designed to take advantage of the speed gained from having
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several nodes work at the same time. This means they can perform tasks much faster than a single

computer could, especially when the nodes need to communicate with each other while completing

their jobs.

2. Load-Balancing Clusters

Load-balancing clusters distribute incoming requests or tasks evenly among several nodes that run

similar programs or provide similar services. This helps prevent any one node from becoming

overwhelmed with too much work while others are underused. This type of cluster is commonly used in

web hosting, where multiple servers handle requests for a website to ensure smooth performance.

3. High Availability (HA) Clusters

High Availability clusters are designed to ensure that services remain available even if some parts fail.

They have backup nodes ready to take over if a main node fails, so there’s no interruption in service.

This setup is important for consistent operations in areas like business transactions, complex databases,

and customer services, ensuring that users have continuous access to data and services without

downtime.

Grid Computing

For grid computing there are several machines working together to perform a task. So why is grid

computing important so it’s because it is scalable like it can allow different organizations to like scale

their resources as per their needs like if they see increase in the workload, they can add different

machines to it and they can be added in a great way which will be insuring efficiency, it also consist of

three different types of machines. First one is control node in which a computer it like administrate the

whole networks and keep the resources in the network pool. The second one is the provider in which

the computer contributes the resources to the network resource pool and the third one is the user and

which the computer that uses the resources on the network.

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There are several types of credit computing which are discussed below.

Computational grid: it is like made up of different type performance processors which will like work

together to perform different complex calculations. It will also allow different scientist or searches to

like combine different powers or multiple machines do large scale computational or simians. This type of

grid is very useful for the field of scientific research.

Scavenging grid: it is like a network which basically utilizes different networks of regular computers and

in order to find and gather the available computing resources, as we all know the term scavenging
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means in order to look for something so this type of computing is good when you do not require a high-

performance computer and they can like run on a spare processing power machine.

Data grid: it is basically designed to connect different type of computers to basically make the scale

larger for data storage and access. It will help the user to manage vast amount of data stored on a single

system even though it’s like distributed across several locations. This is very useful for applications

which require high availability and access on different large data sets like big data.

Cloud Computing

Through the internet, cloud computing provides on-demand computing resources, enabling users to

access data, apps, and services without having to deal with hardware directly. Customers may access

resources as a service (IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS) on this scalable, virtualized platform.

There are several operations that can be performed with the aid of cloud computing we can

have storage back up recovery of data delivery of a software on demand and streaming videos just like

Netflix and obviously the biggest cloud computing example in the world is AWS. In easy words like we do

not need to have different several computers or hardware physically present it’s just done over the

Internet like the infrastructure in cloud computing. It depends on remote work and the network servers

hosted on the Internet for storing managing and processing the data there are several services that

cloud computing to offer like it is very beneficial when it comes to saving. It is really good when it comes

to scalability reliability accessibility. It also reduces capital teachers and improves efficiency.

There are several types of cloud computing too.

 Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

 Platform as a Service (PaaS)

 Software as a Service (SaaS)

 Function as as Service (FaaS)

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Key Similarities and Differences between Cloud, Cluster, and Grid Computing

Advantages and Disadvantages of all the three computing

Cloud computing Grid computing Cluster computing

Advantages  Scalability  Flexibility  Homogeneity

 cost effective  Scalability  High
 Pay as you go  Cost Efficiency Performance
 Reliability

Disadvantages  Dependency on  Complexity  Limited

internet  Performance Scalability: Cost
 Security Variability
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concerns
 Requires high
speed internet

Characteristic/Aspect Cloud Cluster Grid

Computing Computing Computing
Provisioning Resources Users provision IT staff manages Users negotiate
resources instantly resource requests. access across
online. organizations.
Accessibility Accessible from Accessible only Accessible from
anywhere on any within a local various locations,
device with network. but with
internet. restrictions.
Resource Management Resources are Resources shared Decentralized
pooled and among nodes management across
dynamically within the cluster. different
allocated. organizations.
Scalability Easily scales up or Limited capability; Can scale by
down in real-time. requires physical adding computers,
setup. but less seamless.
Tracking Resource Usage Automatic tracking Monitored Usage tracked, but
with detailed internally without inconsistent billing
billing based on billing. agreements.
use.

Use Cases

 Cloud Computing:
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o Web hosting and application deployment

o Data storage and backup solutions

o Software development and testing environments

o Big data analytics and machine learning

 Cluster Computing:

o High-performance computing (HPC) applications

o Scientific simulations and modeling

o Rendering tasks in graphics and animation

o Financial modeling and risk assessment

 Grid Computing:

o Large-scale scientific research (e.g., particle physics)

o Distributed data processing (e.g., SETI@home)

o Collaborative projects across organizations (e.g., climate modeling)

o Resource-intensive tasks that benefit from distributed computing power

References for Cloud, Cluster, and Grid Computing Analysis

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%20computing,operate%20as%20a%20cohesive%20unit

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