<br /><br />IEEE DS Online Exclusive Content <br />Book Reviews <br />The Tech Hotlist: Grid Computing and P2P <br />Milan Lathia &#8226; Gridalogy and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign <br />From P2P to Web Services and Grids: Peers in a Client Server World <br />By Ian J. Taylor <br />275 pages <br />US$64.95 <br />Springer, 2004 <br />ISBN: 1-852-33869-5 <br />P2P (peer-to-peer) and grid computing are hot new technologies that have been <br />touted by the media and are popular in academic and industrial circles. From P2P <br />to Web Services and Grids: Peers in a Client Server World provides a <br />comprehensive, updated review of the new and improved distributed computing <br />technology formed by the union of computing and communications. <br />As Ian J. Taylor points out, he wrote the book primarily for university students. <br />It’s written like a textbook, and very well, too. You need a computing foundation <br />and some familiarity with grid computing to grasp all the concepts. The book does, <br />however, give a good overview of the technology before delving too deeply into <br />the details. Each chapter builds the technical know-how needed for the next one. <br />Taylor is a professor at the University of Cardiff. The book is based largely on his <br />online notes on P2P and distributed systems, which have been valuable to many <br />students, including me. In addition, the book explains in detail recent technologies <br />such as JXTA, Jini, Globus, and Freenet. Taylor also gives security, a rising </P> <br /><br />concern with grid computing, the attention it deserves. He provides additional <br />references for each chapter if you need more detail. <br />The book has four parts: Distributed Environments; Middleware, Applications, and <br />Supporting Technologies; Middleware Deployment; and From Web Services to <br />Future Grids. The distributed-environments section works as an orientation and an <br />introduction to many grid-computing-related concepts. It talks about P2P (peer-topeer), <br />Web services, and grid-computing technologies. It covers the concept of <br />distributed computing and P2P, their history, the technology, and academic and <br />industrial applications. The grid-computing chapter is well written, with good <br />information on the Globus Toolkit and the grid architecture. This section sets the <br />tone of the book by introducing and explaining the basic principles of distributed <br />computing—the backbone of P2P and grid computing. <br />The second section explores several well-known P2P and distributed computing <br />technologies such as Jini and JXTA. Taylor uses code snippets to simplify many <br />complex concepts used in these technologies. He also introduces signatures, <br />encryption, and other related technologies. The analogical and simplified <br />explanations of key concepts such as virtual organization, network topology, and <br />addressing are well done. Additionally, this section details Gnutella and Freenet, <br />two of the most popular P2P file-sharing mechanisms. Although neither Taylor nor <br />I support illegal file sharing, I do appreciate the system’s architecture and design. <br />His explanation does justice to file-sharing software concepts and technology. This <br />section also looks in depth at concerns such as scalability and security. Not many <br />authors have written in detail about security for grid computing. <br />The third section includes chapters on several demo applications and code <br />examples for using different technologies in grid computing. You can download <br />and run the sample code from the companion Web site. The section details and <br />demonstrates the power of Jini, JXTA, and related Web services. </P> <br /><br />The final section covers various grid technologies. Services based on the Grid <br />Computing Architecture and OGSA (Open Grid Services Architecture) reintroduce <br />the notion of "state to a Web service.” P2P and grid computing are becoming <br />extremely popular and require much effort in terms of standardization. The section <br />also brings up issues such as the drawbacks of OGSI (Open Grid Services <br />Infrastructure). <br />The book is an easy read and makes many complex concepts easy to <br />understand. Its small size encouraged me to bring it along during business trips. <br />The book explains and correlates many P2P and grid-related concepts. Being in <br />the grid-computing business, I own many books on the subject, and From P2P to <br />Web Services and Grids: Peers in a Client Server World is a valuable addition to <br />my collection. <br />The book is a must for all grid-computing professionals and a good read for <br />enthusiasts and those who are curious about the technologies. <br />Milan Lathia is the president of Gridalogy, a grid software services and research company, and a <br />master’s student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Contact him at <br />milan@gridalogy.com. <br />Related Links <br />l DS Online's Peer-to-Peer Community <br />l DS Online's Grid Computing Community <br />l "A Loosely Coupled Vision for Computational Grids" <br />l "A Scalable P2P Platform for the Knowledge Grid" </P> <br /><br />Cite this article: <br />Milan Lathia, "The Tech Hotlist: Grid Computing and P2P," review of From P2P to Web Services and <br />Grids: Peers in a Client Server World by Ian J. Taylor, IEEE Distributed Systems Online, vol. 6, no. 11, <br />2005. </P> <br /><br /> </P>