- Access Grid
Access Grid is a collection of resources and technologies that enables large format audio and
video basedcollaboration between groups of people in different locations. The Access Grid is an ensemble of resources, includingmultimedia large-format displays, presentation and interactive environments, and interfaces withGrid computing middleware and Visualization environments. In simple terms, it is advancedvideoconferencing using big displays and with multiple simultaneous camera feeds at each node (site). The technology was invented atArgonne National Laboratory , Chicago.As of 2005 there are well over 500 nodes around the world that allow for various forms of creative and academic collaborations. Access Grid users tend to useJabber as their text-based back-end. Indeed, the [http://www-unix.mcs.anl.gov/fl/research/accessgrid/software/releases/3.0.1/ new version of the Access Grid Toolkit] integrates a Jabber Client with the Access Grid software.The Access Grid has generated great interest and activity in Australia, where factors such as widely disparate geographic locations and relatively low population-densities have previously presented great obstacles to "in-person" collaborations.
The International Centre of Excellence for Education in Mathematics ( [http://www.ice-em.org.au/AGR/index.html ICE-EM] ) have funded 10 Australian universities to construct nodes. The nodes allow the mathematics postgraduate community and professionals access to international experts who are visiting Australia. The nodes also provide a means of carrying out collaborative research with peers within Australia and internationally.
Australia's first Access Grid node was built at [http://oldsite.vislab.usyd.edu.au/research/accessgrid/index.html Sydney VisLab at the Australian Technology Park] in August 2001.
By 2007 the Australian AG network has grown to more than 30 sites serviced by Asia Pacific Access Grid (APAG) venue servers at University of Sydney (AG2) and University of Queensland (AG3).
The University of Queensland began providing AG facilities in 2002, with increasing usage every year since then. In 2004, the UQ Vislab began providing the Access Grid installation packages for various Linux distributions, as well as FreeBSD, to the wider AG community, although intellectual property concerns have placed the future of the Linux-based technologies into doubt. It has also been active in developing various enhancements and add-ons including shared applications for remote sensor monitoring shared application, [http://www.vislab.uq.edu.au/research/accessgrid/software/instruments Remote Thermo] and shared GIS based on [http://www.vislab.uq.edu.au/research/accessgrid/software/grass/ GRASS] .
By December 2006 each New Zealand university has an operational AG node, and use of the grid is increasing.
Current development work includes a [http://www.vislab.uq.edu.au/research/accessgrid/virtual_fs/ federated data management using Storage Resource Broker (SRB)] and [http://www.vislab.uq.edu.au/research/accessgrid/software/advideo/ high definition video communications] .
ee also
*
inSORS External links
* http://www.accessgrid.org/
* http://www.agsc.ja.net/
* http://www.vislab.uq.edu.au/research/accessgrid/
* http://agschedule.ncsa.uiuc.edu/
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
