One of the problems with gaining a wider usage of the grid and extracting more potential CPU cycles and resources out of machines is to make use of those machines that are not permanently connected to your network. For example, laptops and notebooks may only connect to your network when the user wishes to exchange email with the rest of the staff.Distribution of work in this environment is more difficult because we do not have direct access to the machines in question and therefore cannot directly submit work to these machines as they are unlikely to be connected when work is submitted.I’ve got an article over at developerWorks which covers the details on how to develop a proxy service to your grid by using email as the transport medium.