Distributed computing

Posted at: Tuesday 29th June 2004 by Ian Betteridge

You might just use your bog-standard 2.4GHz PC for writing inane messages to your friends, but it could become the most powerful computer in the world, or at least part of it. Ian Betteridge explains how

Some observers have even gone as far as predicting that distributed computing will mean that computing power becomes like electricity, with as much available as you're prepared to pay for, all supplied via the network. Effectively, computing power will be available on demand whenever you want it. Want a more powerful CPU? Don't bother upgrading - just buy some spare capacity on someone else's machine, and suddenly you'll have more speed than ever before. It might not happen next year, but expect it to happen one day.