Difference between Cloud Computing and Grid Computing

Key Difference: Cloud computing is used to define a new class of computing that is based on network technology. Cloud computing takes place over the internet. It comprises of a collection of integrated and networked hardware, software and internet infrastructures. These infrastructures are used to provide various services to the users. Grid computing is a computational model that is also based on the network model. It provides the ability to perform higher throughput computing with the help of many networked computers.

There is no precise definition to explain cloud computing. However, it is referred to as a model that provides an on-line network access to a shared pool of resources. Cloud computing is based on TCP/IP model and it is used to define a new class of computing that is based on network technology. Cloud computing takes place over the internet. It comprises of a collection of integrated and networked hardware, software and internet infrastructure.

These infrastructures are used to provide various services to the users. One of the biggest advantage of using cloud computing is that it hides the complexity and details of underlying infrastructure, and thus users can easily avail the services through simple graphical interfaces. These systems are virtually managed and often distributed.

Grid computing is a computational model that is also based on the network model. It provides the ability to perform higher throughput computing with the help of many networked computers. It emerges in the form of virtual computer architecture. It mainly consists of two grids- Infrastructure and Applications Grid. Infrastructure Grid consists of hardware resources like the processors, storage and network. Applications Grid consists of packaged or custom applications that are employed in business logic.

Both the systems are also similar in many characteristics. They both provide resource pooling and broad network access. However, still many differences occur between the two computing models. Cloud computing has evolved from grid computing that has the provision of on-demand services.

Comparison between Cloud Computing and Grid Computing:

	Cloud Computing	Grid Computing
Definition	Cloud computing is used to define a new class of computing that is based on network technology. Cloud computing takes place over the internet. It comprises of a collection of integrated and networked hardware, software and internet infrastructures.	Grid computing is also a kind of network system that is used to share computer power and data storage capacity across the network.
Goals	Reduced Investments and Proportional Costs Increased Scalability Increased Availability and Reliability	Resource Sharing Pervasive, uniform, and reliable access to data, storage capacity and computation power Delivery of computer power as a utility. (City Water, electricity systems)
Types	Public Clouds Private Clouds Community Clouds Hybrid Clouds	Distributed Computing Systems Distributed Information Systems Distributed Pervasive Systems
Advantages	Cloud computing is cost efficient Fast backup and Data Restoration Automatic Software Updates and Deployment Nearly unlimited Storage Very easy access to services	It saves a lot of time Resource saving is achieved Cost saving also occurs due to the Grid computing systems Space is also saved Reliable Access to additional resources
Characteristics	It provides a shared pool of configurable computing resources. On-demand network model is used to provide access. The clouds are provisioned by the Service Providers. It provides broad network access.	It is on a small to large scale to deal with varying number of resources. The resources of the grid may be located at distant places. It must be built with standard services, protocols and inter-faces. It must grant access to available resources in case a resource failure takes place.
Disadvantages	More elasticity means less control especially in the case of public clouds. Restrictions on available services may be faced, as it depends upon the cloud provider.	Management of the resources can create some issues. Security problems may arise. Scheduling problems can often take place.
On demand self service	Yes	No
Rapid Elasticity	Yes	No
Network access	Can also be accessed through internet.	Usually within a corporate network.
Transparency	High	Low
Time to run	Real time	No real time
Ownership	Single	Multiple
Security	High (Virtualization)	Low (grid certificate service)
Virtualization	Vital	Not a commodity
Discovery	Membership services	Centralized indexing and decentralized info services
User Management	Centralized or can be delegated to third party	Decentralized and also Virtual Organization (VO)-based
Resource Management	Centralized/Distributed	Distributed
Portal Accessible	Only using IP (no DNS registered)	Via a DNS system
Example	Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Amazon EC2 - Amazon.com provides different types of cloud computing services.	eDiaMoND: this project is used for breast cancer treatment.