State of the art in networks and grid infrastructures

In order to connect and access instruments located at various places on earth one needs a special grid infrastructure connected via high-speed, low-latency networks. The requirements of the network are dictated by the instruments themselves which are deployed within the grid. There are several possibilities how to achieve the desired properties of a network: Using special hardware, using the right protocols in the network protocol stack, and selecting appropriate middleware. All of these options will be discussed in this deliverable. There also exist several projects and testbeds related to the idea of remote instrumentation. This deliverable will have a look at the most important ones, in order to gain information which would otherwise not be possible to retrieve during RINGrid's short project lifetime.