HP, Microsoft extends alliance
ConvergenceAsia staff
03/07/2007

HP and Microsoft have announced an extension of their worldwide sales and marketing agreement that addresses the high-performance computing (HPC) market.

The companies have come together to drive high-performance computing into the mass market by delivering supercomputing clusters that are easier to deploy, support and manage for enterprise and mid-market customers.

The extension of the alliance entails a multimillion dollar investment by both HP and Microsoft, and includes HP selling Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server (CCS) 2003 direct and via reseller channels as part of the HP Unified Cluster Portfolio, which is supported on HP ProLiant servers, HP BladeSystem and HP Cluster platforms.

"We see the addition of Microsoft as an important part of our Unified Cluster Portfolio program to expand the market and bring HPC technology to the mainstream," said Winston Prather, Vice President and General Manager, High Performance Computing, HP.

The combination of Windows CCS and HP servers enables users to expand their compute capability and tap into the power of clusters. Windows CCS is designed specifically to make HPC clusters easier to design, integrate and manage within organisations.

HP enhancements to Windows CCS include custom installation scripts and documentation that streamline deployment. The optional HP Message Passing Interface and InfiniBand drivers offer increased scalability and performance in applications that require high-speed, low-latency communications. Using HP's custom installation kit for Windows CCS, a customer can realistically expect to have a 64-node cluster deployed and running within two hours.

As part of the alliance, HP and Microsoft have established technology centres in Houston and Grenoble, France, for customers and independent software vendors. The technology centres provide a venue for benchmarking, testing and validating applications on HP servers based on AMD and Intel processors running Windows CCS.

Additionally, to help more customers take advantage of HPC solutions based on Windows, HP and Microsoft are teaming with ANSYS, a global provider of simulation software and technologies, to deliver the ANSYS portfolio of CAE applications.

Said Chris Sharp, General Manager for Server and Tools, Microsoft Asia Pacific, "Microsoft's work with HP and ANSYS will deliver greater productivity and performance so they can tackle today's most complex, technical computing challenges. Our long-established relationship with HP, and strong reseller channels, will enable us to bring HPC solutions to enterprise and mid-market customers."

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