1-page Solution Brief - Posted 11/18/2008
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Supercomputing Company Chooses Windows HPC Server 2008 over Linux
“We chose Windows HPC Server 2008 because it makes high-performance computing available to more users and offers excellent performance. In fact, its performance surpassed our expectations.”
—Cao Zhennan, Technical Center Manager, Dawning Information Industry Company
Business Needs
Many of China’s largest organizations, from government departments to aviation and space companies, rely on Dawning Information Industry Company for high-performance computing (HPC). In fact, the company owns more than 30 percent of the country’s HPC market.
Dawning previously used Linux HPC operating systems on its computers, but it wanted to offer more choices to customers, particularly those unfamiliar with Linux technology. “Many of our main customers for high-performance computers in the Chinese market struggle because they lack experience with Linux,” says Li Jun, Chief Executive Officer for Dawning.
Solution
Dawning decided to switch to Windows® HPC Server 2008 to run its next-generation computer, the Dawning 5000A. “We believe that using Windows HPC Server 2008 will make it easier for more customers to take advantage of HPC,” says Sha Chaoqun, GM of Server Product for Dawning. “The Dawning 5000A currently is China’s biggest supercomputer and the world’s largest that is based on Windows HPC Server 2008.” Each of the computer’s 1,920 compute nodes has 4 AMD Opteron Barcelona 1.9-gigahertz processors, 120 terabytes of total disk space, and a 160-gigabytes hard drive per node. The Dawning 5000A will be installed in the Shanghai Supercomputer Center.
Benefits
With Windows HPC Server 2008, Dawning is expanding its customer base for greater market opportunity and is experiencing:
- Excellent performance, with an initial rating of 180.6 teraflops and overall Linpack Benchmark efficiency of 77.5 percent.
- Lower network latency than Linux operating systems.
- Reduced complexity for expanded use, increased convenience, and more flexible management for customers.
- Fast, easy deployment; staff needed only 10 hours to set up and debug nearly 2,000 nodes once the hardware was in place and tested.
