What is grid computing exactly?
Think about it in the way it is used. For example, some
scientists are working on a project which requires a lot of
equation running and analyzing data. Their supercomputer can only
do so much though, and the results would take maybe even a few
months. So instead, they put the equations and data to analyze into
a data packet and send it out to a volunteer computer on the grid.
The simple home computer (today's home computer is the
supercomputer of yesterday) runs the data packet, runs the
equations, and analyzes the data, then sends it back to the
project. This is a more efficient way of computing for many
research projects.
IBM had a big hand in developing it, so check their website for
more information.