What is grid computing?

Grid computing is a parallel processing architecture in which CPU resources are shared across a network, and all machines function as one large supercomputer. A well known example of grid computing in the public domain is the ongoing Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in which thousands of people share the unused processor cycles of their PCs in the vast search for signs of rational signals from outer space. Grid computing depends on the software to divide and apportion pieces of a program among several computers. It is cost-effective and can solve problems that can’t be approached without an enormous amount of computing power.