On Tuesday, Microsoft released the beta of Windows HPC Server 2008, the operating system for cluster systems. Red Hat is also coming with an OS version for supercomputers, in collaboration with the Platform Computing.
Windows HPC Server 2008 is the successor to Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003. Microsoft is trying to gain a foothold in the supercomputer market dominated by Linux and Unix with these operating systems. According to the company, its own test cluster, consisting of 2048 cores, achieved a 30 percent gain in supercomputing benchmark Linpack after upgrading from Compute Cluster Server 2003 to HPC Server 2008. The Top500 supercomputer list includes the first cluster to be on Windows Compute Cluster. Server is based on spot 116, Zo reports BetaNews.
Microsoft made its announcement at SC07, a large-scale supercomputing gathering taking place this week in Reno, US. Red Hat left there too know that it will come up with a new package together with Platform Computing: Red Hat HPC Solution. The two companies are bundling Platform Computings Open Cluster Stack1 with Red Hat Enterprise Linux with which both the SMB and the higher segment should be able to deploy and manage hpc clusters. Microsoft will therefore have to put its best foot forward, since the competition is not to be underestimated.