EnLIGHTened Computing: An Architecture for Co-Allocating Network, Compute, and Other Grid Resources for High-End Applications

Many emerging high performance applications require distributed infrastructure that is significantly more powerful and flexible than traditional Grids. Such applications require the optimization, close integration, and control of all Grid resources, including networks. The ENLIGHTened (ENL) Computing Project has designed an architectural framework that allows Grid applications to dynamically request (inadvance or on-demand) any type of Grid resource: computers, storage, instruments, and deterministic, high-bandwidth network paths, including lightpaths. Based on application requirements, the ENL middleware communicates with Grid resource managers and, when availability is verified, co-allocates all the necessary resources.