The goal of autonomic computing is the reduction of complexity in the management of large computing systems. The evolution of computing systems faces a continuous growth in the number of degrees of freedom the system must manage in order to be efficient. Two major factors contribute to the increase in the number of degrees of freedom: Historically, computing elements, such as CPU, memory, disks, network and so on, have nonuniform advancement. The disparity between the capabilities/speeds of various elements opens up a number of different strategies for a task depending upon the environment | 13 Autonomic computing and Grid Pratap Pattnaik Kattamuri Ekanadham and Joefon Jann Thomas J. Watson Research Center Yorktown Heights New York United States INTRODUCTION The goal of autonomic computing is the reduction of complexity in the management of large computing systems. The evolution of computing systems faces a continuous growth in the number of degrees of freedom the system must manage in order to be efficient. Two major factors contribute to the increase in the number of degrees of freedom Historically computing elements such as CPU memory disks network and so on have nonuniform advancement. The disparity between the capabilities speeds of various elements opens up a number of different strategies for a task depending upon the environment. In turn this calls for a dynamic strategy to make judicious choices for achieving targeted efficiency. Secondly the systems tend to have a global scope in terms of the demand for their services and the resources they employ for rendering the services. Changes in the demands resources in one part of the system can have a significant effect on other parts of the system. Recent experiences with Web servers related to popular events such as the Olympics emphasize the variability and unpredictability of demands and the need to rapidly react to the changes. A system must perceive the changes in the environment and must be ready with a variety of choices so that suitable strategies can be quickly selected for the new environment. The autonomic computing approach is to orchestrate Grid Computing - Making the Global Infrastructure a Reality. Edited by F. Berman A. Hey and G. Fox 2003 John Wiley Sons Ltd ISBN 0-470-85319-0 352 PRATAP PATTNAIK KATTAMURI EKANADHAM AND JOEFON JANN the management of the functionalities efficiencies and the qualities of services of large computing systems through logically distributed autonomous controlling elements and to achieve a harmonious functioning of the global system within the confines
