Various exemplary embodiments are a method and apparatus for selecting an access solution in a Grid network including one or more of the following: receiving an application request, the application request having an associated application cost; identifying a plurality of Grid endpoints for which the application cost is not more than an amount of available resources at each of the plurality of Grid endpoints; computing, for each of the plurality of Grid endpoints, a lowest cost path to access the Grid endpoint; and selecting, as the access solution, a first Grid endpoint of the plurality of Grid endpoints. Various exemplary embodiments are a method of selecting aback-up access solution in a Grid network including one or more of the following: ordering a first plurality of couples according to one or more metrics; determining a strategy; and calculating a share of resource load for each couple in the strategy.