Grid computing has made a slow, but steady, entry into the consciousness of the typical business user over the last four or five years. Often seen as a niche technology, usable in only a few very specific markets, Grid computing is now seen as another alternative to the problem of maximising computing power.

In a nutshell, grid computing distributes work over a number of machines. For the niche markets, grids are used for everything from computational grids for proteins and fluid dynamics, right up to the use by studios like Dreamworks which use grids to render the animations and special effects in many movies.