Section –A

Client-server computing and its Terminologies

In client server computing, the client requests a resource and the server provides that
resource. A server may serve multiple clients at the same time while a client is in contact
with only one server. Both the client and server usually communicate via a computer
network but sometimes they may reside in the same system.
An illustration of the client server system is given as follows −

Characteristics of Client Server Computing

The salient points for client server computing are as follows:

 The client server computing works with a system of request and response. The client
sends a request to the server and the server responds with the desired information.
 The client and server should follow a common communication protocol so they can
easily interact with each other. All the communication protocols are available at the
application layer.
 A server can only accommodate a limited number of client requests at a time. So it
uses a system based to priority to respond to the requests.
 Denial of Service attacks hindera servers ability to respond to authentic client requests
by inundating it with false requests.
 An example of a client server computing system is a web server. It returns the web
pages to the clients that requested them.

Difference between Client Server Computing and Peer to Peer Computing

The major differences between client server computing and peer to peer computing are as
follows:
  In client server computing, a server is a central node that services many client nodes.
On the other hand, in a peer to peer system, the nodes collectively use their resources
and communicate with each other.
 In client server computing the server is the one that communicates with the other
nodes. In peer to peer to computing, all the nodes are equal and share data with each
other directly.
 Client Server computing is believed to be a subcategory of the peer to peer
computing.

Advantages of Client Server Computing

The different advantages of client server computing are −

 All the required data is concentrated in a single place i.e. the server. So it is easy to
protect the data and provide authorisation and authentication.
 The server need not be located physically close to the clients. Yet the data can be
accessed efficiently.
 It is easy to replace, upgrade or relocate the nodes in the client server model because
all the nodes are independent and request data only from the server.
 All the nodes i.e clients and server may not be build on similar platforms yet they can
easily facilitate the transfer of data.

Disadvantages of Client Server Computing

The different disadvantages of client server computing are −

 If all the clients simultaneously request data from the server, it may get overloaded.
This may lead to congestion in the network.
 If the server fails for any reason, then none of the requests of the clients can be
fulfilled. This leads of failure of the client server network.
 The cost of setting and maintaining a client server model are quite high.

Grid Computing
Grid Computing can be defined as a network of computers working together to perform a
task that would rather be difficult for a single machine. All machines on that network work
under the same protocol to act as a virtual supercomputer. The task that they work on may
include analyzing huge datasets or simulating situations that require high computing power.
Computers on the network contribute resources like processing power and storage capacity
to the network.

Grid Computing is a subset of distributed computing, where a virtual supercomputer

comprises machines on a network connected by some bus, mostly Ethernet or sometimes
the Internet. It can also be seen as a form of Parallel Computing where instead of many
CPU cores on a single machine, it contains multiple cores spread across various locations.
The concept of grid computing isn’t new, but it is not yet perfected as there are no standard
rules and protocols established and accepted by people.

Working:
A Grid computing network mainly consists of these three types of machines
1. Control Node:
A computer, usually a server or a group of servers which administrates the whole
network and keeps the account of the resources in the network pool.
2. Provider:
The computer contributes its resources to the network resource pool.
3. User:
The computer that uses the resources on the network.
When a computer makes a request for resources to the control node, the control node gives
the user access to the resources available on the network. When it is not in use it should
ideally contribute its resources to the network. Hence a normal computer on the node can
swing in between being a user or a provider based on its needs. The nodes may consist of
machines with similar platforms using the same OS called homogeneous networks, else
machines with different platforms running on various different OSs called heterogeneous
networks. This is the distinguishing part of grid computing from other distributed
computing architectures.
For controlling the network and its resources a software/networking protocol is used
generally known as Middleware. This is responsible for administrating the network and the
control nodes are merely its executors. As a grid computing system should use only unused
resources of a computer, it is the job of the control node that any provider is not overloaded
with tasks.
Another job of the middleware is to authorize any process that is being executed on the
network. In a grid computing system, a provider gives permission to the user to run
anything on its computer, hence it is a huge security threat for the network. Hence a
middleware should ensure that there is no unwanted task being executed on the network.
The meaning of the term Grid Computing has changed over the years, according to “The
Grid: Blueprint for a new computing infrastructure” by Ian Foster and Carl Kesselman
published in 1999, the idea was to consume computing power like electricity is consumed
from a power grid. This idea is similar to the current concept of cloud computing, whereas
now grid computing is viewed as a distributed collaborative network. Currently, grid
computing is being used in various institutions to solve a lot of mathematical, analytical,
and physics problems.
Advantages of Grid Computing:
1. It is not centralized, as there are no servers required, except the control node which is
just used for controlling and not for processing.
2. Multiple heterogeneous machines i.e. machines with different Operating Systems can
use a single grid computing network.
3. Tasks can be performed parallelly across various physical locations and the users don’t
have to pay for them (with money).

Disadvantages of Grid Computing :

1. The software of the grid is still in the involution stage.
2. A super fast interconnect between computer resources is the need of hour.
3. Licensing across many servers may make it prohibitive for some applications.
4. Many groups are reluctant with sharing resources

Utility computing

Utility computing is a subset of cloud computing, allowing users to scale up and down based
on their needs. Clients, users, or businesses acquire amenities such as data storage space,
computing capabilities, applications services, virtual servers, or even hardware rentals such as
CPUs, monitors, and input devices.

The concept of utility computing is transformational. Service providers match demand with
delivery almost immediately. It enables businesses to transform their organization from a
traditional environment to a more dynamic, adaptive, and service-oriented one. When
demand exceeds capacity, utility computing becomes the perfect solution to top up resources
as and when needed.

However, a major question that remains unanswered is where and how to get started with
utility computing? Let’s understand the implementation process of utility computing with the
help of examples.

Step 1: Determine the need

The initial steps involved are assessing internal organizational needs and the combination of
services and resources required. Utility computing-hosting centers exist for a reason. They
provide valuable, tightly integrated, fully customized utility computing solutions and
resources as per clients’ needs. However, all of this will not matter if your organization is
clueless about its actual objectives and needs.

Step 2: Evaluate the service provider’s claims

Once your objectives are determined, evaluate if the utility computing solution will align with
your goals and missions. Understanding which tasks will be supported and what level of
resources or services will be provided is important. Further, ask important questions:

 Will the service provider customize solutions according to your needs?

 Will they leverage automation?

  Will their collection of computing resources, software, and configuration
provide maximum benefits to the users?

Evaluating the service provider’s offer is essential to determine whether their service will
empower users to be more effective in accomplishing their goals on time.

Step 3: Assess the health of a computing resource

To assess the health of a computing resource, it is critical to deploy resource monitoring

tools that look after its security and dynamic resource configuration requirements. Monitoring
a utility computing resource involves identifying failures in the network, storage, and
application resources. One of the best ways to make monitoring simple is using a collection
of industry-standard and site-specific tools and local configuration files to be completely in
sync with the overall utility computing environment.

Step 4: Identify the resource provisioning requirements

The next step involves analyzing the service provider’s capability to customize and configure
resources to meet customer needs and establishing a load balance without overprovisioning or
under provisioning resources. The provisioning interface must use resource command-line
interfaces, APIs, and except scripts to detect potential failures and monitor changes.

Step 5: Map out a timeframe

Once the need, objectives, and type of resources are determined, the final step for architecting
a utility computing solution involves mapping out the schedule, identifying when a specific
resource might be needed, and for how much time. This allows the service provider to release
unused resources early and improve the overall resource utilization strategy.

The utility computing model has become one of the most popular IT provisioning models. It
offers many advantages to businesses, such as no more internal IT management headaches
and no requirement of software licenses. The arrival of public cloud utility solutions has
become a deal-breaker in such a situation. The utility model aims to maximize the productive
use of resources and minimize the costs that come along with them.

1. Travel reservation services

The travel and hotel industry is highly dependent on seasonal demand and peak festival
times. COVID-19 travel restrictions have also played a huge part in setting new trends in the
hospitality industry. As countries are opening their borders to international travel, we are
seeing a surge in demand for tickets to exotic destinations.

Let’s assume you wish to travel to the Maldives and are looking to make a flight and hotel
booking through your travel app. Due to the rise in demand, travel reservation applications
will deploy additional infrastructural support and virtual servers to manage the offset of
travelers wanting to make their reservations. This way, travel applications get extra resources
onboard when they require and pay only based on their consumption.
Difference between Grid Computing and Utility Computing
1. Grid Computing :
Grid Computing, as name suggests, is a type of computing that combine resources from
various administrative domains to achieve common goal. Its main goal to virtualized
resources to simply solve problems or issues and apply resources of several computers in
network to single problem at same time to solve technical or scientific problem.

2. Utility Computing :
Utility Computing, as name suggests, is a type of computing that provide services and
computing resources to customers. It is basically a facility that is being provided to users on
their demand and charge them for specific usage. It is similar to cloud computing and
therefore requires cloud-like infrastructure.

Difference between Grid Computing and Utility Computing

It is a process architecture that combines It is process architecture that provide on-

different computing resources from demand computing resources and
multiple locations to achieve desired and infrastructure on basis of pay per use
common goal. method.

It distributes workload across multiple It allows organization to allocate and

systems and allow computers to contribute segregate computing resources and
their individual resources to common infrastructure to various users on basis of
goal. their requirements.

It makes better use of existing resources,

address rapid fluctuations in customer It simply reduces IT costs, easier to manage,
demands, improve computational provide greater flexibility, compatibility,
capabilities, provide flexibility, etc. provide more convenience, etc.

It mainly focuses on sharing computing It mainly focuses on acquiring computing

resources. resources.

It is of three types i.e., computational grid, It is of two type i.e., Internal and external
data grid, and collaborative grid. utility.

It is used in large organizations such as

Amazon, Google, etc., where they establish
It is used in ATMs, back-end their own utility services for computing
infrastructures, marketing research, etc. storage and applications.

Its main purpose is to make computing

Its main purpose is to integrate usage of resources and infrastructure management
computer resources from cooperating available to customer as per their need, and
partners in form of VO (Virtual charge them for specific usage rather than flat
Organizations). rate.
Its characteristics include resource Its characteristics include scalability, demand
coordination, transparent access, pricing, standardized utility computing
dependable access, etc. services, automation, etc.