Emerging Computing Platforms for Solving Complex Engineering Problems

Introduction

The basic utilities such as electricity, gas, water are the type of services that can be commercialized and delivered at the doorstep of a user. The user is not concerned about the location of the service provider or the method of the service delivery. Computing is a new utility whose nature has been intensely transformed to a traditional utility where users can utilize the services as per their requirement and irrespective of their location. The modern times have seen a substantial increase in computing needs of the users. One of the chief scientists of Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), Leonard Kleinrock, (Kleinrock, 2005) in 1969, stated “‘As of now, computer networks are still in their infancy, but as they grow up and become sophisticated, we will probably see the spread of ‘computer utilities’ which, like present electric and telephone utilities, will service individual homes and offices across the country”. The computing vision of Kleinrock came into light in the 21st century, which has seen a revolution in the computing industry. The users can easily access computing services on demand without making a heavy invest in IT organizations. Though a seamless, timely, hassle-free and ubiquitous computing service has proven really helpful in the modern times, it presents new challenges to the software developer for building software that can be provided as a service to the users without installing them in their individual systems. The significant advancement in Information and Communication Technology needs a type of computing, which is required to meet the everyday demands of the generic computing class of users. There are many computing models such as cluster computing, grid computing, cloud computing and many more which have been used in solving complicated problems of science and engineering. These are the key terms of this chapter as given below:

• (i)

  Distributed Computing: It is a computing model in which software components are shared among multiple computing devices within a fixed area.

• (ii)

  Cluster Computing: Cluster computing is a way of computing where a group of computers is combined together through some wired network in a manner, such that it behaves like a single entity.

• (iii)

  Grid Computing: The grid computing model involves a distributed computing environment which involves multiple systems, including heterogeneous resources to find solution for complex engineering problems.

• (iv)

  Cloud Computing: It is a service based computing model which involves the distribution of services (private or public) through mode of Internet.

• (v)

  Fog Computing: It is an extended version of cloud computing model which places resources in logical locations between clouds and sources of data.

• (vi)

  Edge Computing: The edge computing model attempts to reduce the bandwidth and latency by bringing neighboring the computing and data source together. The computing can be brought to any IoT device or user’s computer which minimizes the cost of long distance relationship between customer and provider.

• (vii)

  Utility Computing: This computing model provides resources and other services to the customer on demand basis. The cost of computation depends on the type of usage, which varies from service to service.

The chapter will discuss the latest trends in the computing platforms which can provide fundamental computing services to the users for fulfilling their computational needs. Also, it will explain various limitations or issues related to these computing platforms along with their possible solutions.