Grid computing

Grid computing is the most distributed form of parallel computing. It makes use of computers communicating over the Internet to work on a given problem. Because of the low bandwidth and extremely high latency available on the Internet, grid computing typically deals only with embarrassingly parallel problems. Many grid computing applications have been created, of which SETI@home and Folding@Home are best-known examples.

Most grid computing applications use middleware—software that operates between the operating system and the application, which manages network resources and standardizes the software interface for grid computing applications. The most common grid computing middleware is the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC). Often, grid computing software makes use of "spare cycles", performing computations at times when a computer is idling.