The mission of the Distributed & Grid Computing Group at the Texas Advanced Computing Center is to develop and deploy new software technologies that help connect and aggregate advanced computing systems (HPC, storage, visualization, networks, etc.) into powerful computational Grids. The activities of the Grid Computing Group include: evaluating current Grid software technologies for applicability and usefulness in TACC's environment; working with UT applications researchers to use Grid software; working with Grid researchers at UT and other institutions to develop, deploy and test Grid software over regional and national scales; and conducting research and development activities to develop new Grid software technologies. The TACC Grid Computing Group comprises scientists, programmers, and students with a variety of backgrounds who contribute to the broad activities of this group.

The Grid Computing Group has several R&D projects in progress and receives funding from four federal agencies (NSF, NASA, DoE, and DoD) to support its work. The R&D activities are focused on four main objectives: Grid resources information data storage/archival system; Web services for Grids; Grid-based portals; and deployment, configuration, and enhancement of Grid schedulers. These activities are targeted towards three main Grid deployment efforts: a UT campus grid, the High Performance Computing Across Texas HiPCAT Texas Internet Grid for Research & Education (TIGRE), and NSF Grid programs at NPACI, including the TeraGrid. The R&D projects will also contribute to emerging DoD and DoE Grids and to the NASA Information Power Grid (IPG).