The Cornell Theory Centre's Lifka believes that an early software development kit for the HPC Edition could arrive as soon as this fall. The centre is helping Microsoft develop and test the new software.
Microsoft has several upcoming server releases, to which an HPC version of Windows could be added. Service Pack 1 of Windows Server 2003 is due later this year, followed by a more substantive upgrade, code-named R2, slated for 2005. The next major update to Windows, code-named Longhorn, is scheduled to arrive in server form in 2007.
According to job postings, Microsoft is adapting MPI to Microsoft's .Net infrastructure. A key foundation of .Net is the C# programming language and the Common Language Runtime, or CLR, which lets C# programs run on a multitude of different systems.
Lifka said the first phase will use a version of MPI written for a specific operating system and hardware type. The next foundation will be a version of MPI for the CLR that will let administrators run the same programs on a wide variety of different Windows machines -- for example, those using Xeon, Opteron or Itanium processors.
So far, programs written for the CLR and .Net aren't as fast as those written for a specific machine, "but we see constant improvement in that," Lifka added. Another area that needs work is security and easy patch installation, he said.
Overall, Lifka is a fan of Windows for high-performance computing. The biggest reason for his enthusiasm is that it can dovetail easily with other versions of Windows in a company.
And companies are more familiar with Windows than Linux, he added. "Moving to Windows has allowed us to have a greater number and quality of corporate relationships," Lifka said.
Microsoft takes a long-term view of the challenge.
Muglia often discusses technology moving from possible to practical to seamless, as it matures. High-performance computing on Windows today is in the possible stage, he said, but the goal is to make it practical.
"That is something that will happen in the next few years," Muglia said. "There is an opportunity to make this better."
