Parallel computing, distributed computing, grid computing and cloud computing all belong to the category of high-performance computing, the main purpose is to analyze and process big data, but they have many differences. The electronic nautical chart cloud service is based on the theory and technology of high-performance computing, through the improvement of the traditional service architecture, in order to realize the rapid access and processing operation of the massive electronic nautical chart data, so that it can better provide the corresponding computing and processing capabilities for the computationally-intensive and data-intensive problems in the field of marine geographic information science. The high-performance computing architecture is the technical foundation for the storage and processing of massive electronic nautical chart data, and is also the guarantee for the smooth development of the electronic nautical chart cloud service prototype system.
Cloud computing is a computing model driven by the demand for big data storage and analysis and resource elasticity expansion and contraction, which has five key features: ① based on distributed parallel computing technology; ② capable of realizing scale and elasticity of computation and storage; ③ virtualization and multilevelization of user services; ④ driven by high-performance computing and big data storage; and ⑤ dynamization and elasticity of service resources. In recent years, cloud computing has been able to gain widespread attention mainly because of the following three reasons: ① the enhancement of equipment storage and computing power and cost reduction, the birth and popularization of multi-core, multi-processor technology; ② the accumulation of more and more professional data in various industries, which are in urgent need of effective use; ③ the extensive use of network services and Web2.0 applications.
Early parallel computing was mainly used in the field of scientific research, with specific application environments, requiring the use of high technical skills to complete the tasks required parallel program design. Although parallel computing at that time was still far away from the general public, it had already laid the methodological foundation for complex problems. It can be said that parallel computing is the initial stage or germination of cloud computing, which provides practical and simple ideas and basic thoughts for the development of cloud computing.
At the conceptual level cloud computing intersects with parallel computing, cluster computing, grid computing, and distributed computing cloud computing not only evolves from grid computing, but grid computing also provides the basic network framework support for cloud computing. Grid computing focuses on the provision of computing and storage capabilities, while cloud computing focuses more on the abstraction of resources and service capabilities, which is the evolution of grid computing to cloud computing.
As a result, compared to other forms of computing, cloud computing is a mature and stable streaming commercial resource that provides users with quantifiable abstraction services as easily and reliably as a hydroelectric power plant provides quantifiable hydropower resources.