An online community for open source grid and cluster users, administrators and developers debuted on the Internet at Grid.org.

Grid.org provides the single aggregation point for information and interaction by the community of users, administrators, and developers interested in a complete open source grid and cluster stack.

The site sponsor, Univa UD, unveiled Grid.org during the Supercomputing 07 conference.

“The site has been built to support the needs of users of the open source Cluster Express release from Univa UD, which includes many open source components including Grid Engine, Globus and Ganglia,” said Steve Tuecke, co-founder and chief technology officer at Univa UD and a primary architect of the Grid.org community. “By aggregating information from many distinct open source grid and cluster efforts and facilitating interaction between users who have historically been left on their own to struggle with the integration of these components, Grid.org should be a valuable additional resource not just for new grid and cluster users but also for members of the current open source communities.”

Grid.org is designed as a destination for community members who want to connect easily and productively with those who have similar interests and who want to engage in a vibrant, functioning community of active participants. At Grid.org, community members can engage with others to discuss issues as well as give and receive help and contribute to the Cluster Express open source software project.

It also will be a resource for professionals who want to learn more about open source grid and cluster computing, in general.

Besides providing links to other open source grid and cluster sites, Grid.org will include areas for participants to build their personal professional networks, participate in forums and blogs, access white papers and case studies, explore upcoming events and download free Univa UD Cluster Express open source software for integrated cluster management.

“We are hosting Grid.org to promote the broad adoption of open source grid and cluster technologies,” said Dr. Ian Foster, co-founder and chief open source strategist at Univa UD. “There are many very good resources relating to open source today, and we want to provide a single site that lets the community navigate this wealth of information and build on it.”

Grid and cluster pioneers will recognize Grid.org as the Web site where Univa UD precursor United Devices operated a public interest Internet research grid with connections to more than 3.6 million devices worldwide, with its primary mission being to demonstrate the power of early grid technology. In this capacity, Grid.org processed data related to cancer, smallpox, and human genome research among other projects.

About Grid.org

Established in 2001, Grid.org is an online community for open source grid and cluster software users, administrators and developers. The site’s current mission is to work with community members to broaden the reach of the site and encourage use of open source technologies for grid and cluster computing at large. The site provides a single location where open source grid and cluster information can be aggregated so that people with a similar range of interests can easily exchange information, experiences and ideas related to Univa UD’s complete open source grid and cluster software stack.

About Univa UD

Univa UD is the leading provider of open source products for grid and cluster computing environments. The company’s industrial-strength offerings range from departmental and HPC cluster management to enterprise-wide grids, and represent the proven and cost-effective alternative to traditional proprietary products that customers have been waiting for. Based on a combination of open source and proprietary components, Univa UD offerings include a downloadable open source cluster management product, a proprietary cluster product with rich functionality, and a comprehensive enterprise grid product based on award-winning technology. All Univa UD products are run by Fortune 1000 companies in large-scale, production environments. Univa UD is headquartered in Lisle, Ill., with offices in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit www.univaud.com.