If you have an existing application, or you are developing a new one, what’s the quickest way to make that application work within a grid? Well one solution is to use virtualization techniques – build a virtual layer around your application so that the deployment and distribution of the application, and how you use the different components is exposed through a standardized layer. Meanwhile, within your potential grid, look at how you can create a virtualized environment. Create the same virtual interfaces to core elements such as security, resources, and then build a system that enables you to deploy your application within this virtualized environment. Finally, you should be able to build an interface to your grid that works through a virtual layer. The virtual interface to your grid should look the same as the virtual interface used with a single instance of your application, but hidden behind the functionality of the grid. In this new series of tutorial at IBM, I look at each of these different levels and the theory and practical considerations behind them. The first tutorial in the series I cover the fundamental issues behind converting your application for a virtualized environment:

This “Application virtualization” series is for developers who wish to convert a single stand-alone application into a grid-enabled application through virtualization. By using virtualization, you can remove the proprietary elements and interfaces to your application, and the environment in which it runs in a way that the interfaces and methods for using the application are no longer the limiting factor.The first step to providing a consistent, virtualized environment for a grid is to create a virtualized interface to the core components of the system and your application. We’ll examine the main components in the hardware that makes up your grid and examine how standard components like an SOA focus can help make your physical systems available as an abstracted virtual layer that can be exploited by standardized applications.Main topics:

• Creating a grid black box
• Abstracting CPU resources
• Abstracting storage resources
• Abstraction techniques

You can read the full tutorial: Application virtualization, Part 1: Level 1 — Abstracting your grid infrastructure.