Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 3.00.2369

Windows HPC Server 2008 (HPCS) provides enterprise-class tools, performance, & scalability for a highly productive HPC environment. HPCS provides a complete & integrated cluster environment including the OS, Job Scheduler, Message Passing Interface v2 (MPI2) support, cluster management & monitoring.

Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008 (HPCS), the next generation of high performance computing (HPC), provides enterprise-class tools, performance, and scalability for a highly productive HPC environment. HPCS provides a complete and integrated cluster environment including the operating system, a Job Scheduler, Message Passing Interface v2 (MPI2) support, and cluster management and monitoring components. Built on Windows Server 2008 64-bit technology, HPCS can efficiently scale to thousands of processing cores and includes a management console that helps proactively monitor and maintain system health and stability. Job scheduling interoperability and flexibility enables integration between Windows and Linux-based HPC platforms, and supports batch and service-oriented architecture (SOA) workloads. Enhanced productivity, scalable performance, and ease of use are some of the features that make Windows HPC Server 2008 best-of-breed for Windows environments.

Windows HPC Server 2008 can help shorten user time-to-insight for HPC workloads through easier deployment and management. By using the existing Windows-based information technology (IT) infrastructure, HPCS simplifies management, security, and storage for the cluster, and provides seamless access from the desktop.

HPCS includes improved provisioning based on the Windows Server 2008 Windows Deployment Services technology, a faster Microsoft Message Passing Interface (MS-MPI) that includes new NetworkDirect support, an advanced Job Scheduler, and a new management interface built on the Microsoft System Center 2007 user interface (UI), which has support for Windows PowerShell as a preferred scripting interface.
Windows HPC Server 2008 integrates with other Microsoft products to help increase HPC productivity and improve the overall end-user experience. This includes collaboration through Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and the Windows Workflow Foundation, as well as improved management and efficiency by integrating with System Center 2007. Through integration with the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Windows HPC Server 2008 allows developers working with SOA applications to harness the power of parallel computing offered by HPC solutions.

HPCS uses the failover clustering capabilities of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and of Microsoft SQL Server to provide high availability and redundancy of the head node in your HPC cluster.

Windows HPC Server 2008 is a two-DVD package comprised of Windows Server 2008 HPC Edition and the Microsoft HPC Pack 2008.

Windows Server 2008 HPC Edition
The first DVD contains the setup for a 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008 that is restricted to an HPC workload

Microsoft HPC Pack 2008
The second DVD contains Microsoft HPC Pack 2008, which provides the additional interfaces, tools, and management infrastructure described below:

Systems Management

� The new Administration Console based on System Center UI framework integrates every aspect of cluster management.
� Node grouping allows administrators to categorize and batch operations on compute nodes.
� Monitoring heat map allows viewing cluster status at-a-glance.
� Scriptable control of cluster using Windows PowerShell and other command-line tools.
� High availability for multiple head nodes.
� Improved compute node provisioning using Windows Deployment Services.
� Built-in support for cluster-wide updating.
� Built-in system diagnostics.
� Built-in cluster reporting.
� Extensible reporting, allowing for job scheduling analysis using external database tools like SQL Server Analysis Services.
� Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack.
Job Scheduling
� Integration with WCF, allowing SOA application developers to harness the power of parallel computing offered by HPC solutions.
� Job scheduling granularity at processor core, processor socket, and compute node levels.
� Performance improvements for large clusters.
� Support for external databases for Job Scheduling.
� New job scheduling policies.
� Support for Open Grid Forum�s HPC Basic Profile interface for Job Scheduler interoperability.
Networking and MPI
� NetworkDirect, a new Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) network interface providing dramatic performance improvements for MPI applications running over high-speed fabrics.
� Improved Network Configuration Wizard.
� New shared memory MS-MPI implementation for multicore servers.
� MS-MPI integrated with Event Tracing for Windows.