Responding to high numbers of deaths at sea in the fishing industry, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution contracted Active Web Solutions (AWS) to create an automated sea-safety application. AWS developed a location-based service infrastructure, code-named GeoPoint, which transmits position data to a centralized tracking and alerting system. AWS used GeoPoint to build MOB Guardian, a search-and-rescue application for fishing vessels. To extend GeoPoint to more scenarios, AWS migrated it to the Windows Azure™ platform. By hosting GeoPoint in the “cloud,” in Microsoft® data centers, AWS attained massive scalability, richer functionality, and lower infrastructure costs. AWS was able to quickly convert its application to a hosted service and avoid the expense of building and managing a data center. AWS also has the flexibility and scalability to offer GeoPoint to many more markets.

Cast Iron Systems specializes in helping organizations connect Internet-hosted (cloud) applications with on-premises applications. When Microsoft announced the Windows Azure™ platform, Cast Iron set out to enhance its Cast Iron Integration Solution with Windows Azure platform connectivity. Using the Service Bus and Access Control Service, Cast Iron created the needed connectors in just one day. Faster time-to-market enabled Cast Iron to supply a timely solution to an urgent need. Its enhanced product can help customers host applications off-premises without concerns about interoperability with on-premises data. With the Cast Iron Integration Solution, companies can now use application data wherever it resides and scale workloads without worrying about overloading the communications infrastructure.

When researchers at Rutgers wanted to explore massive computing scenarios with real-world significance for fields such as financial services and pharmaceuticals, they turned to Windows® HPC Server 2008. In one research project, the software proved at least 30 percent faster than Linux. The Windows HPC Server cluster was deployed in one day and works like the Windows operating system with which users and administrators are already familiar.

Banca IFIS wanted to speed up its batch processing to meet an increase in customer demand for services. The bank worked with its partner Teamlab to migrate its existing Electronic Credit Line Management application to the Windows® HPC Server 2008 operating system. Doing so helped the bank reduce its batch-processing times by 75 percent, ensure high availability, and avoid purchasing additional hardware to accommodate the heightened demand.

EURO/CFD, which provides digital simulation of fluid mechanics and heat transfer, recently expanded its computing infrastructure and upgraded to the Windows® HPC Server 2008 operating system for its 37-node cluster. EURO/CFD can now launch simulations on 20 server computers simultaneously. With the resulting 20-percent increase in computation speed, EURO/CFD has gained a competitive edge by delivering detailed, accurate information for customers.

The High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) provides computing resources to internal and external research and industry partners. The institute uses diskless boot technology for all of its 700 compute nodes to implement a compute cluster with Windows® HPC Server 2008. HLRS has found that using diskless boot technology in combination with the latest cluster technology leads to significant savings, thanks to the high energy efficiency.

Stork Thermeq, a provider of products and services for industrial water-steam systems, used a Red Hat Linux high-performance computing (HPC) system to support its research. But the company found that the system took considerable expertise to run and maintain, pulling researchers away from their work, and would have required outside consultants to expand and maintain the system’s structure. The company migrated to the Windows® HPC Server 2008 operating system because it provided greater scalability and easier management. Stork Thermeq also found that the system delivers greater cluster efficiency and flexibility because of the integrated Job Scheduler and because it performs 30 percent faster per node than the company’s previous Linux system. Due to the accelerated performance, Stork Thermeq researchers can run more compute jobs and gain deeper insight for improved products and services.

The Department of Physics at the University of Bologna needed to increase its computation speed for complex tomographic analysis of large works of art. After successful testing, it now conducts its calculations on a cluster that runs the Windows® HPC Server 2008 operating system. Doing so made it possible for university researchers to avoid rewriting code, reduce calculation times from 20 days to 6 hours, and expand into new areas of research.

Draft implementation of Office Communicator 2007 R2 along with AudioCodes’ Mediant 1000 media gateway, resolve key communication issues of remotely working Burda’s employees. Client computers’ users now can share single remote desktop and participate in audio, video and web conferences. Integration with PBX decreases the company’s overhead significantly.

REEDS Jewelers is a full-service jewelry retailer operating online and in 16 U.S. states. To be successful, REEDS needs fast, accurate information exchange between corporate staff and the chain’s 67 stores. Phone and paper-based communications were time-consuming and difficult to reference, and the company’s e-mail and collaboration systems were unstable and difficult to use. REEDS used its Microsoft® Enterprise Client Access License Suite to deploy the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite, part of Microsoft Online Services. REEDS employees are now more productive, with more time to strategize and sell. By hosting communications services in a Microsoft data center, REEDS has reduced infrastructure costs by 90 percent and e-mail support work by 80 percent. It has also improved the availability of critical messaging systems.