Sideband computing
Encyclopedia
Sideband computing is a general term for an area of computer science that is related to the distributed computing and multiple communication channels.

Sideband is defined as when a user connects to some normal network service, a separate communication channel is opened through which a server distributes tasks to the clients. Through sideband computing method, any network server which has a lot of clients can form into a large-scale super-computing network. During this process, the resources in the clients could be utilized through the central server so long as the main channel is maintained.

Generally, the task could be any task that is performed by individual client and used in the various distributed computing environment such as Social computing
Social computing
Social computing is a general term for an area of computer science that is concerned with the intersection of social behavior and computational systems. It has become an important concept for use in business. It is used in two ways as detailed below....

, Volunteer computing
Volunteer computing
Volunteer computing is a type of distributed computing in which computer owners donate their computing resources to one or more "projects".-History:...

, and Edge computing
Edge computing
Edge computing provides application processing load balancing capacity to corporate and other large-scale web servers. It is like an application cache, where the cache is in the Internet itself. Static web-sites being cached on mirror sites is not a new concept...

, Grid Computing
Grid computing
Grid computing is a term referring to the combination of computer resources from multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal. The grid can be thought of as a distributed system with non-interactive workloads that involve a large number of files...

, or Utility Computing
Utility computing
Utility computing is the packaging of computing resources, such as computation, storage and services, as a metered service similar to a traditional public utility...

. Collaborative task in social computing is one example.

Sideband computing is also a type of super computing where each client carries out some real computation tasks that could be the individually executed. With the server aggregating the results from each client, it effectively achieves the function of a real super-computer.

History

Sideband computing is first coined by Yongyong Xu in a paper titled “Global Sideband Service Distributed Computing Method” on a conference “Communication Networks and Distributed System Modeling and Simulation (CNDS’98) on January 1998.

In this paper, a fractal image distributed task was implemented as a demo to the power of distributed computing.

Advantage

Sideband computing maximizes the participation and involvement of clients who are connecting with the server so that every client could help to contribute. With little cost, the network server can act as a supercomputer.

Most other distributed computing requires each client to manually install client side software, proactively participate in the computing and the computation is the sole objective of such client side software.

With sideband computing, sideband service stays along with a regular network service, which allows the sideband services being served without much interrupting to the main network service that is less intrusive and more user-friendly to the end user.

On a different view, a client can be viewed as paying its “contributing” in exchange of the regular service it is served. This is similar to volunteer computing
Volunteer computing
Volunteer computing is a type of distributed computing in which computer owners donate their computing resources to one or more "projects".-History:...


Disadvantage

Sideband computing requires a regular network service being performed beforehand.
Without the main network service, it is not called sideband method.

Applicable Fields

Ajax
Ajax (programming)
Ajax is a group of interrelated web development methods used on the client-side to create asynchronous web applications...

 and Web 2.0
Web 2.0
The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web...

 are claimed to be one of the area where sideband method is used. It is said that Ajax is conducted through asynchronously though additional channel other than a browser-server’s main HTTP channel.

Examples of sideband computing in this sense include collaborative filtering, online auctions, online ranking, mashing up, prediction markets, reputation systems, computational social choice, tagging, and verification games using Ajax.

A typical setup would involve that the server allows each client to do a small amount of work and the server coordinates and aggregates results every client to form a larger picture.

For instance, when sideband computing applies to the social computing based on each client creating or recreating social conventions and social contexts through the use of client’s computing resource, software and technology.

Many social networking services, which utilize The Wisdom of Crowds, such as Wikis, social bookmaking, blogging, instant messaging, online bidding, and other kinds of electronic market or electronic negotiation platforms where people interact socially, could found the trace of sideband method.

Another application of the sideband computing method is P2P
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...

, where
a peer could not only a client or a server, in addition, it also acts as other roles including routing, proxying, caching.

Other claimed area of the sideband computing method are grid computing, clouding computing, cluster computing and utility computing where a node could perform functions more than its primary duty through a sideband channel.

Intellectual Property

A Patent 6,418,462 is granted to the sideband computing method. It is filed on January 7, 1999 and granted on July 9, 2002.

Licensing and validity of the patent claims is unknown yet.

See also

  • Social computing
    Social computing
    Social computing is a general term for an area of computer science that is concerned with the intersection of social behavior and computational systems. It has become an important concept for use in business. It is used in two ways as detailed below....

  • Volunteer computing
    Volunteer computing
    Volunteer computing is a type of distributed computing in which computer owners donate their computing resources to one or more "projects".-History:...

  • Grid computing
    Grid computing
    Grid computing is a term referring to the combination of computer resources from multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal. The grid can be thought of as a distributed system with non-interactive workloads that involve a large number of files...

  • Utility computing
    Utility computing
    Utility computing is the packaging of computing resources, such as computation, storage and services, as a metered service similar to a traditional public utility...

  • Edge computing
    Edge computing
    Edge computing provides application processing load balancing capacity to corporate and other large-scale web servers. It is like an application cache, where the cache is in the Internet itself. Static web-sites being cached on mirror sites is not a new concept...

  • Cloud computing
    Cloud computing
    Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....

  • Ajax (programming)
    Ajax (programming)
    Ajax is a group of interrelated web development methods used on the client-side to create asynchronous web applications...

  • Web 2.0
    Web 2.0
    The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web...

  • P2P
    Peer-to-peer
    Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...

  • Clusters
    Cluster (computing)
    A computer cluster is a group of linked computers, working together closely thus in many respects forming a single computer. The components of a cluster are commonly, but not always, connected to each other through fast local area networks...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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