ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces fundamental concepts for grid computing, Web services, and service-oriented architectures. We briefly discuss the drawbacks of previous approaches to distributed computing and how they are addressed by service architectures. After presenting the basic service architecture components, we discuss current Web service implementations, and how grid services are built on top of them to enable the design, deployment, and management of large, distributed systems. After discussing best practices and emerging standards for grid infrastructure, we also discuss some end-user tools. We conclude with a short review of some scientific grid projects whose science goals are directly relevant to remote sensing.
