Windows starts to show some supercomputing strength
Updated 3:12 p.m. to correct the number of the highest ranking Windows cluster
While Windows is ubiquitous on the desktop and well represented in the server racks, until recently it has been nearly absent from the world's largest supercomputers.
Starting several years ago, though, Microsoft made a concerted effort at this part of the market, creating a separate version of Windows solely for computing clusters.
The first big fruits of that effort were evidenced in this year's top 500 list of the world's biggest supercomputers. Five of those on the list were Windows clusters, including one at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications that ranked No. 23.
Of course, that still leaves 495 that aren't running Windows at all.
But, it's significant progress, says Bill Hilf, who once set up Linux clusters for IBM but now oversees Windows Server marketing efforts. He says to expect further gains in the top 500 as Microsoft comes out with its next version of high-end Windows. That release, dubbed Windows HPC Server 2008 and now available in a feature-complete release candidate, is due for a final release this fall.
Hilf said it's this release that will really make Windows suitable for clusters with more than 1,000 separate servers. "We weren't ready to fully take on most of those," he said.
But although Top 500 results are nice, Hilf said perhaps more important is the potential for HPC Server 2008 to allow cluster computing to move further beyond government and university labs and into corporate departments where the massive computing power can be used for things like fraud detection.
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Microsoft's next version of high-end Windows, dubbed Windows HPC Server 2008, is available in a feature-complete release candidate and is due for a final release this fall.
(Credit: Microsoft )
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
Also, since they hired this guy who used to build Linux clusters, how much code in this "special" version of Windows was "borrowed" from the Unix world? I remember that MS couldn't get a decent IP stack to work in Windows 2000 and they simply copied and pasted code from BSD.
Finally, why would anybody with half a brain build a cluster with Windows when you can do it with Linux for better performance and for less money?
How much is the price tag to get a "Windows Cluster Special Edition 2008 Business Premium Service Pack 23-a"? Let me guess... Since nobody would want to use Windows for this, they are offering it for free for the time being, trying to break through and then switch to a ridiculous price tag later on? Come on, this strategy worked with the consumer but it won't work with people who know what they are doing. Linux gives me the source code so I know what is going on behind the scenes or I can plug my own extension in the kernel to take advantage of some special hardware. Does MS give away the source code too?
Bottom line: Windows is persona non grata in the cluster world.
This seems to be a very expensive face saving effort by Microsoft, that has no practical application in the real world.
If MS ever builds their 1000 server Windows cluster, I'll be interested in knowing how many weeks it takes to run a Windows Update session on it.
- by Tony McCune June 21, 2008 7:49 PM PDT
- The biggest Microsoft resellers is probably Dell and they seem to be looking in other directions when it comes to cloud, grid and large scale computing.
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