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Microsoft strengthens its High Performance Computing

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CIOL Bureau
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MUMBAI, INDIA: Microsoft Corporation India Private Limited has announced the Release to Manufacture (RTM) of Windows HPC Server 2008 – its latest offering in the High Performance Computing (HPC) segment. With this, Windows HPC Server 2008 will be available to Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and computer manufacturers for final distribution.  Windows HPC Server 2008 provides an easy-to-deploy, cost-effective and scalable high-performance computing solution - which combines the power of the Windows Server platform with rich, out-of-the-box functionality to help enhance productivity and reduce complexity of any given HPC environment. Evaluation copies of Windows HPC Server 2008 are now available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/hpc.

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Commenting on the launch, Pallavi Kathuria, Director, Server Business Group, Microsoft India said, “The success achieved by Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 in the last few years is a strong testament of Microsoft’s value proposition in the High Performance Computing market. We are confident that as the successor, Windows HPC Server 2008 will help us further build on this momentum by offering an easy to deploy, cost effective and scalable HPC solution for firms to leverage their existing resources and scale from workstation to cluster — all in a familiar Windows environment”.

With this launch, Microsoft has strengthened its commitment to driving the adoption of High Performance Computing beyond traditional HPC workloads into mainstream scenarios. “While the contribution of HPC solutions has been acknowledged worldwide in complex computational scenarios like engineering, science and medical research projects – today, this technology has indeed evolved beyond its conventional realms of utility to include a wide range of mainstream modern day technologies like storage, networking and data management”, said Kathuria. 

Microsoft brings the value of an integrated HPC solution and a productive development environment to customers for whom high-performance computing has been out of reach in the past. By focusing on productivity for users, developers and administrators, Microsoft is positioned to take high-performance computing mainstream. “The launch of Windows HPC Server 2008 is just another step in our vision to drive HPC mainstream” added Kathuria.

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In India specifically, apart from the academic space, Microsoft has experienced a great rise in the adoption curve of its HPC solutions in commercial scenarios like Manufacturing, BFSI and Media & Entertainment, and has been working with leading names in these areas in India.

Based on Windows Server 2008, Windows HPC Server 2008 is designed to deliver:

* Improved productivity of systems administration and cluster interoperability by dramatically simplifying the overall deployment, administration and management over the entire system lifetime while ensuring interoperability with existing systems infrastructure.

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* Rapid HPC application development through integration with Visual Studio 2008, which provides a comprehensive parallel programming environment. In addition to supporting standard interfaces such as OpenMP, multiprocessor interconnect (MPI) and Web services, Window HPC Server 2008 also supports third-party numerical library providers, performance optimizers, compilers and debugging toolkits.

* Seamless scaling from workstation to cluster by allowing end users to harness the power of distributed computing through a familiar Windows-based desktop environment without requiring specialized skills or training.