Sun Microsystems and the Globus Project Monday announce a joint effort to advance "Grid" computing.

"Grid" - or distributed computing - is a type of computing in which different components and objects comprising an application can be located on different computers connected to a network.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based networking giant says it will combine its Grid technologies, including Sun Grid Engine software and the Technical Compute Portal with the Globus Toolkit.

The Toolkit is an open-architecture, open-source set of protocols, services, and tools that address central problems in "Grid Computing" the secure, scalable, and coordinated sharing and use of resources in dynamic, multi-institutional "virtual organizations."

Grid Computing and the Globus Toolkit have seen widespread adoption over the past two years in the research and education area, with dozens of major projects worldwide applying these concepts and technologies to challenging problems in scientific and technical computing.

IBM's has begun a similar initiative with Entropia, a San Diego-based startup.

"Sun sees Grid Computing as a megatrend for information technology," says Sun CTO Greg Papadopoulos. "We are very pleased to be extending the compatibility between Globus and Sun's Grid technologies begun in 1998. The combination provides a powerful and complete Grid Computing solution for the Solaris Operating Environment. Expanding our relationship with the Globus Project helps facilitate the development of key tools and applications that will help usher in this new era in computing."

After an early integration of Sun Grid Engine with Globus two years ago, Sun says it is now looking to working more closely with the Globus Project by integrating Sun's Grid Computing software stack for Cluster Grids, Campus Grids, and Global Grids.

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The development will be achieved mainly through a standard and open API for Distributed Resource Management systems and applications, which Sun recently proposed to the Global Grid Forum.