Grid computing is an impressive, confident, powerful technology model, winning high-profile admirers as it approaches full maturity. With the rise of Amazon Web Services, and, specifically, Amazon EC2, this style of computing is enjoying a higher profile than ever before.

The professional sector is increasingly adopting a distributed model for hosting and deploying applications that has become almost commonplace in Web 2.0 applications. The ability to deliver different elements of applications simultaneously over a cohesive network of servers essentially defines grid computing, also known as distributed computing. Grids embrace software or middleware, which enables a user community to make use of the combined power of networked hardware and access applications across the public Internet as services.

It’s no longer relevant to define grid computing in terms of expansive pioneering volunteer projects such as SETI or Folding@home. It’s also unnecessary for commercial applications of grid computing to be defined solely by consumer cloud computing success in the Web 2.0 sphere. By dedicating networked servers to application hosting, grid computing enables scalability and efficient application deployment to the enterprise, accelerating ROI for everyday businesses.