Grid Computing Aims To Harness "Clusters' More Power, Less Cost Information processing moves to a higher level by utilizing group effort.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: J. BONASIA

More companies facing earnings and sales growth gridlock are turning to grid computing.

This emerging type of computing format lets companies tap into more computing power at a low cost by sharing resources among a company's many departments, or even among companies.

Grid computing uses clusters of personal computers, servers or other machines. They link together to tackle complex calculations.

In part, grid computing lets companies harness their unused computing power, or processing cycles, to create a type of supercomputer. The grid is available to many users via the corporate network. Specific computers can be added or deleted to the grid as needed.

"Grids have the potential to be far more important than the Internet," said Hewlett-Packard Co. executive Rich Friedrich.

Industry executives say fields that need lots of computing power are emerging as the first corporate markets for grid computing. These fields include life sciences, aerospace and financial services. International Data Corp. expects cluster market revenue -- hardware and software -- to jump to $2.3 billion in 2005 from $500 million last year. Grids are made up of clusters of computers, and IDC expects similar growth in the still hard-to-define grid market.