The Sun Grid will supply processing and storage capabilities through a Web portal for US$1 per hour per CPU to individual and corporate users, who can pay by credit card.

The grid has been available since last August to large companies that contract for significant use of the system. The retail version is open to all potential users, Sun said.

Aisling MacRunnels, Sun's director of utility computing, described the Sun Grid portal as a "full open pilot" whose typical users will likely be individual scientists, engineers or developers "looking to just get their work done."

Such high-performance computing users are the primary target for the grid, she said.

To a lesser extent, Sun is also aiming the grid at independent software vendors looking to use it to deliver software as a service, she said.