Parasitic Computing: Present Relevance and Future Scope

Abstract

In parasitic computing, host machine uses CPU and computational resources of other machines connected over the same network. The underlying purpose is primarily to solve metaheuristic problems, for which there is no defined algorithm to find its solution, but we can assess how good a given candidate solution is. Thus, in case of metaheuristic problems, there exists large number of candidate solutions each of which requires evaluation. In parasitic computing, we make use of remote computers over the network to evaluate these candidate solutions by merely engaging them in simple communication. Parasitic computing exploits standard networking protocols to transform the internet into a distributed computing environment where machines unknowingly perform computations for parasitic computer. In this paper, we will discuss basics of parasitic computing and its relevance in current scenario. We will further discuss its future scope in the light of issues raised by parasitic computing.