Commodity computing (also known as commodity cluster computing) involves the use of large numbers of already-available computing components for parallel computing, to get the greatest amount of useful computation at low cost.[1] This is a useful alternative to high-cost superminicomputers or boutique computers. Commodity computers are computer systems - manufactured by multiple vendors - incorporating components based on open standards.[citation needed]
The purpose of commodity cluster computing is to utilize large numbers of readily available computing components for parallel computing to obtaining the greatest amount of useful computations for the least cost. The issue of the cost of a computational resource is key to computational science and data processing at GSFC as it is at most other places, the difference being that the need at GSFC far exceeds any expectation of meeting that need.