Windows HPC Server 2008 goes RTM

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 23 September 2008 12:40

Business IT - Technology

"We believe that Windows HPC Server 2008 and IBM System x hardware will significantly expand the high-performance computing market,” said Dave Jursik, vice president of HPC Sales for IBM.

"The combination of Microsoft’s proven software with IBM’s unique supercomputing tools and solutions gives clients industry-leading productivity and extreme, high-end performance," he added.

Two subsets of Windows HPC Server 2008 will be offered. Windows Server 2008 HPC Edition is the successor to Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster Edition, and is used to run clustered applications.

Microsoft HPC Pack 2008 is the successor to the Microsoft Compute Cluster Pack, and provides additional software for job scheduling, management, and high-speed networking.

The Windows Server 2008 HPC Edition licence allows for one instance running in a physical environment and one in a virtual environment, although when both instances are in use there are limitations on the one running on physical hardware.

The operating system will be offered with and without Hyper-V licences.

Pricing for Windows HPC Server 2008 is not expected to be announced until November 1.