Applying grid technology to Web application systems

Grid middleware such as the Globus toolkit and grid standards such as the open grid services architecture (OGSA) are intended to be expressive enough for building distributed enterprise applications, yet their use in this context remains largely unexplored. Here, two specific issues related to the use of grid technology for Web application systems, an important class of enterprise applications is examined. The first is whether existing middleware can be used to move legacy Web applications to a grid platform, and if so, how; the second is whether such grid-enabling brings advantages in terms of additional functionality, enhanced performance, or simplified management. These issues are addressed by grid-enabling a sample J2EE Internet banking application and comparing its performance with the original version, and then designing a scalable software architecture that can use the dynamic resource allocation facilities of grids to handle fluctuating client demands. Initial performance studies suggest that the architecture can indeed scale in response to changes in client load, indicating that the application of grid technology in this context is potentially useful as a way to enhance the manageability of the overall system.