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Utility computing is a business model whereby a service provider makes available computer resources to their clients and charges them for the usage rather than the hardware. Like you pay the gas company or the electric company for its service based on usage, computing resources are metered and the user charged on that basis. A related term is On Demand Computing.
History
Utility computing does not yet have a long history. Sun first offered the service to consumers in 2000. HP introduced the Utility Data Center in 2001. Since 2000 many important computing companies have entered the market, but there have also been smaller organizations that have used utility computing. Some of these organizations use utility computing to help offset the cost of their own hardware, others use it to share the cost of resources within organizations. In December 2005, Alexa launched Alexa Web Search Platform, a Web search building tool for which the underlying power is utility computing. Alexa charges users for storage, utilization, etc. There is space in the market for other niche applications powered by utility computing.
Enabling Utility Computing
HPC organizations have multiple options for enabling utility computing at their own organizations. Software solutions include:
Cluster Resources, Inc.'s Moab Utility/Hosting Suite Various Varitas solutions Platform’s Enterprise Grid Orchestrator Egenera’s BladeFrame Cassatt Collage
Related Links
- Tech Target - Utility Computing - eWeek.com
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