The HEPiX Virtualisation Working Group: Towards a “Grid of Clouds”

<!--HTML-->The HEPiX Virtualisation Working Group has sponsored the development of policies and technologies that permit Grid sites to safely instantiate remotely generated virtual machine images confident in the knowledge that they will be able to meet their obligations, most notably in terms of guaranteeing the accountability and traceability of any Grid Job activity at their site. We will present the current status of the HEPiX Virtualisation Working Group technology and or links to related projects, notably StratusLab. We will also comment on the utility of our work in enabling a move from a Grid environment to a “Grid of Clouds” to provide a more responsive service to end users and reduce the service management load at participating sites.