TY - Generic T1 - Computing the Tree of Life: Leveraging the Power of Desktop and Service Grids T2 - Parallel and Distributed Processing Workshops and Phd Forum (IPDPSW), 2011 IEEE International Symposium on Y1 - 2011 A1 - Adam L. Bazinet A1 - Michael P. Cummings KW - (artificial KW - (mathematics) KW - analysis KW - BOINC KW - COMPUTATION KW - computational KW - computing KW - data KW - Estimation KW - evolutionary KW - GARLI KW - genetic KW - Grid KW - GRIDS KW - handling KW - heterogeneous KW - History KW - HPC KW - information KW - intelligence) KW - interface KW - interfaces KW - Internet KW - jobs KW - lattice KW - learning KW - life KW - likelihood KW - load KW - machine KW - maximum KW - method KW - model KW - molecular KW - phylogenetic KW - portal KW - Portals KW - power KW - project KW - resource KW - Science KW - sequence KW - service KW - services KW - sets KW - software KW - substantial KW - system KW - systematics KW - tree KW - TREES KW - user KW - Web AB - The trend in life sciences research, particularly in molecular evolutionary systematics, is toward larger data sets and ever-more detailed evolutionary models, which can generate substantial computational loads. Over the past several years we have developed a grid computing system aimed at providing researchers the computational power needed to complete such analyses in a timely manner. Our grid system, known as The Lattice Project, was the first to combine two models of grid computing - the service model, which mainly federates large institutional HPC resources, and the desktop model, which harnesses the power of PCs volunteered by the general public. Recently we have developed a "science portal" style web interface that makes it easier than ever for phylogenetic analyses to be completed using GARLI, a popular program that uses a maximum likelihood method to infer the evolutionary history of organisms on the basis of genetic sequence data. This paper describes our approach to scheduling thousands of GARLI jobs with diverse requirements to heterogeneous grid resources, which include volunteer computers running BOINC software. A key component of this system provides a priori GARLI runtime estimates using machine learning with random forests. JA - Parallel and Distributed Processing Workshops and Phd Forum (IPDPSW), 2011 IEEE International Symposium on ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Necessity is the mother of invention: a simple grid computing system using commodity tools JF - J Parallel Distr ComJ Parallel Distr Com Y1 - 2003 A1 - Myers, D. S. A1 - Michael P. Cummings KW - Apache KW - computing KW - distributed KW - Grid KW - HTTP KW - java KW - Linux KW - Perl KW - SQL KW - Unix KW - XML-RPC AB - Access to sufficient resources is a barrier to scientific progress for many researchers facing large computational problems. Gaining access to large-scale resources (i.e., university-wide or federally supported computer centers) can be difficult, given their limited availability, particular architectures, and request/review/approval cycles. Simultaneously, researchers often find themselves with access to workstations and older clusters overlooked by their owners in favor of newer hardware. Software to tie these resources into a coherent Grid, however, has been problematic. Here, we describe our experiences building a Grid computing system to conduct a large-scale simulation study using "borrowed" computing resources distributed over a wide area. Using standard software components, we have produced a Grid computing system capable of coupling several hundred processors spanning multiple continents and administrative domains. We believe that this system fills an important niche between a closely coupled local system and a heavyweight, highly customized wide area system. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved. VL - 63 ER -