Grid computing....  

Grid computing is the act of sharing tasks over multiple computers. asks can range from data storage to complex calculations and can be spread over large geographical distances. In some cases, compters within a grid are used normallay and onl act as part of the grid when they are not in use... These grids scavenge given projects. SETI@home is perhaps one of the best know grid computing projects, and a number o other organzations rely on volunteers offering to add their computers to a grid.

These computers join together to create a virtual supercomputer... Computers networked together can work on the same problems, that traditionally were reserved fro supercomputers, and yet this network of computers are more powerful than the supercomputers built in the seventies and eithties. Modern supercomputers are built on the principles of grid computing, incorporating many smaller computers into a larger whole.