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Windows HPC Server 2008 R2

High Performance Computing

A comprehensive and cost effective solution for harnessing the power of HPC.

Overview

High Performance Computing (HPC) gives analysts, engineers, and scientists the computation resources they need to make better decisions, fuel product innovation, speed research and development, and accelerate time to market. Some examples of HPC usage include: decoding genomes, animating movies, analyzing financial risks, streamlining crash test simulations, modeling global climate solutions, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and other highly complex problems.

In the past, the most common way to apply multiple compute cycles to a complex problem was to use specialized supercomputing hardware – a solution with a very high cost of entry and technical complexity.

However, recent software and hardware advances have made it possible to leverage existing IT skills and create an HPC environment using off-the-shelf servers and high speed interconnects. These systems can deliver industry-leading computing power with more efficiency and at a significantly lower cost of entry and ownership. This form of HPC is called a commodity HPC cluster.

A cluster consists of several servers networked together where each server in the cluster performs one or more specific tasks. Cluster components include Head Nodes, and Compute Nodes, Job Scheduler and Broker Nodes (for SOA enabled clusters.)

Learn more about High Performance Computing.

Windows HPC Server 2008 R2, Microsoft’s third-generation High Performance Computing (HPC) solution, is a comprehensive and cost effective solution for harnessing the power of high performance computing. Out-of-the-box, world-class performance and scalability enables organizations of all sizes to rapidly deploy solutions ranging from personal HPC workstations to large clusters spanning thousands of nodes.

Key features of Windows HPC Server 2008 R2

Windows Azure Integration

Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 enables service oriented, HPC jobs to be executed as a service using Windows Azure i.e. you can use resources running within a Windows Azure datacenter as temporary “compute nodes” to extend the capabilities of your on-premise Windows HPC cluster. Download Windows HPC and Azure Whitepaper.

HPC Services for Excel 2010

Windows HPC Server can accelerate Excel calculations by one or more orders of magnitude by executing them on HPC clusters in a manner transparent to end users. See a video of HPC accelerating Excel.

Support for Workstation Nodes

With Windows HPC Server 2008 R2, Windows 7 workstations or desktops in your establishment which are idle, can be utilized to run HPC jobs thereby extending the compute capacity of existing clusters without buying additional hardware. Download the whitepaper on adding workstations to an HPC cluster.

Above and beyond these, Windows HPC Server R2 packs in many features and enhancements such as a powerful job scheduler, support for multiple application types, integration with Active Directory and an extensive diagnostic and troubleshooting framework.

Benefits

HPC systems are a significant investment and you need a system you can trust. Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 is a complete solution by design with benefits that include:

Ease of Use

It integrates more easily with your existing IT infrastructure and ensures you get more value out of your existing IT investments and personnel. This includes integration with:

Windows Azure for scaling to the cloud
Windows 7 to more easily utilize idle cycles on your workstations
SharePoint for a rich, intuitive browser-based interface
Excel 2010 to dramatically speed up Excel computations

Strong Performance

Over the last 5 years Microsoft has relentlessly focused on improving performance across all aspects of the product including the operating system, networking, and application runtimes. Windows HPC Server and Linux compare closely on benchmarks for applications such as LS-DYNA, Milliman, and ANSYS.

Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

With Windows HPC Server 2008 R2, you can lower both your operating and capital costs by:

Offering a complete, end-to-end solution that eliminates the time and effort required to cobble together a stack from disparate components
Taking advantage of existing technology investments and employee skills
Buying an affordably priced product
Using a rich, familiar, Windows Server-based administrative tool-set that enhances the productivity of system administrators

Rich Tool Set

Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 allows you to maximize utilization of your HPC cluster. By enabling end-users to experience HPC applications through familiar Windows technologies and tools, it ensures broader adoption of HPC in your organization.

Application Development

Using Windows HPC Server supports the ease of application development. With a tightly integrated set of dedicated cluster and parallel development tools, anchored around Visual Studio 2010, developers can build robust and scalable HPC applications more easily and quickly.

Learn more about the benefits of choosing Windows HPC Server.