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Science cloud computing helping companies with their homework

Published Feb 03, 2011

A major European venture has just begun in which, among others, KTH, Microsoft and the EU will be helping companies realize the point with cloud computing. A couple of really solid academic server farms, plus Microsoft's Azure cloud computing forms the muscles behind the project.

Åke Edlund
Åke Edlund, researcher at the Center for High Performance Computing (PDC) at KTH

Venus-C is the name of the cloud computing initiative that will be in progress until the end of May 2012. Then hopefully, as many European companies as possible will have taken the opportunity to test the advantages of cloud computing, which in itself shall enhance the competitiveness of EU-based companies.

"The EU wants companies to wake up and start using cloud computing. So industry is looking at the benefits that are available. Since Venus-C is EU-funded, it is a very inexpensive educational lesson from which we can gain a lot. It is important that EU-based companies do their homework today before their competitors have cost-effective computer cloud solutions in place," says Åke Edlund, researcher at the Center for High Performance Computing (PDC) at KTH and one of those in charge of the Venus-C project.

Together with Professor Erwin Laure, head of the PDC, he has worked for nearly seven years with the multi-disciplinary grid project EGEE, which aims to share computers and computing resources to universities throughout the entire world, including assignments from CERN. One and a half years ago they decided to do research and invest in cloud computing, which is directed more towards trade and industry.

"In the U.S., Microsoft has donated lots of time from its computer cloud Azure to the academic world. This is to increase the use of Azure. Now the same thing is happening in Europe in project form thanks to Venus-C. Microsoft is also contributing €4 million to Venus-C, while the EU is providing €3.5 million," says Åke Edlund.

He adds that, at the same time there are more ways to get in to Venus-C. Two different open source based solutions are being offered to companies who want to test the cloud.

Venus-C is a very applied and a practical research project aimed at established businesses that already sell such services, but that may be more effective with help from cloud computing in their business operations.

Rendering
Renderings of large urban areas - another area for Venus-C

"If companies do not have use for their IT systems on a 24/7 basis, there are clear break points when for example cost savings can be made," says Åke Edlund.

Altogether there are seven different user groups with associated fields connected to Venus-C. Some of them are biomedicine, including systems biology and simulations and the construction industry with exploration and renderings of large urban environments. Another group is the one in English which goes under the name of Civil protection and emergency.

"There are people from Greece, who in recent years have had major problems with fires. Venus-C may be used as a basis for risk assessment and perform real-time simulations to see how fires spread," says Åke Edlund.

Just fires and fire fighting are typical examples of tasks that are well suited for cloud computing. Nobody really knows when a fire is about to start nor do they know where. And that is the point of offering cloud computing to businesses and organizations. Companies learn to identify when major work peaks arise, and when the cloud may be of use in business operations.

"It is also possible that companies that are testing Venus-C can think up new innovative solutions thanks to cloud computing, which had not been a reality without access to such," says Åke Edlund.

For more information, contact Åke Edlund at 070-662 15 10 or edlund@pdc.kth.se.

Peter Larsson