Installation

First, the selected grid system must be installed on an appropriately configured set of machines. These machines should be connected using networks with sufficient bandwidth to other machines on the grid. Of prime importance is understanding the fail-over scenarios for the given grid system so that the grid can continue operating even if any of the management machines fail in some way.

Machines should be configured and connected to facilitate recovery scenarios. Any critical databases or other data essential for keeping track of the jobs in the grid, members of the grid, and machines on the grid should have suitable backups. Furthermore, public key certificates must be backed up and the private keys must be held in a highly secured place inaccessible by anyone else.

After installation, the grid software may need to be configured for the local network address and IDs. The administrator will usually require root access to the machines managing the grid.

In some grid systems, he will also need root access to the donor machines required to install the software on those as well.

The software to be installed on the donor machines may need to be customized so that it can find the grid management machines automatically and include pre-installed public keys for the grid. This software may be provided to potential donors on an FTP or equivalent server or be made available on physical media.

Once the grid is operational, there may be application software and data that should be installed on donor machines as well. This software may have specific licensing restrictions that should be understood and adhered to.

Some grid systems include tools to assist with grid-wide license management. This can both help in following the rules of the licenses and most efficiently exploit those licenses.