14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is making headway toward having two versions of Windows for supercomputers available on the market. The Redmond giant is already offering Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 and the Release Candidate 2 build of Windows HPC Server 2008, but the company is gearing up to go gold with its latest iteration of the Windows operating system for the high performance market. In this context, the company made available for download documentation addressing the compatibility of Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 and Windows HPC Server 2008. According to Microsoft, the document released at the end of the past week is a “must-read” for customers that are looking to deploy the two versions of Windows for supercomputers side-by-side.
“Head nodes using WCCS can control compute nodes only in WCCS clusters, and head nodes using HPCS can control compute nodes only in HPCS clusters. Compute nodes in each cluster must be of the same base operating system as the head node - there is no support for mixed WCCS/HPCS clusters. Head nodes of HPCS clusters can be redundant, using Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering. There is no redundancy support for WCCS head nodes. Individual nodes of a compute cluster can belong to only one cluster - either WCCS or HPCS, but not both,” Microsoft explained in the Windows HPC Server 2008: V1/V2 Compatibility whitepaper.
What Microsoft is delivering with the documentation is a perspective over the basic requirements for Windows Computer Cluster Server 2003 and Windows HPC Server 2008 clusters to coexist in the same environment. According to the Redmond giant, all possible efforts were made in order to ensure complete backwards compatibility between the two Windows for supercomputer versions. Although Microsoft has failed to confirm anything officially, the company is reportedly planning to release Widows HPC Sever 2008 to manufacturing this week.
“If it worked in WCCS, it should work in HPCS! Windows HPC users can continue to use familiar applications and scripts on both versions of HPC clusters. Management and scheduler applications and tools from both WCCS and HPCS can be installed side-by-side on the same client workstation, helping to ensure full interaction with both clusters from a single user workstation. Where the same set of scripts and applications will be expected to work on both types of clusters, care should be taken to use only WCCS syntax and calls to ensure compatibility,” reads the conclusion of the whitepaper.