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Story: Microsoft starting to win over Linux servers

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MS HPC

I can't talk about the relative performance or the manageability - except that yes, these are issues and no, Microsoft is unlikely to change much about its core code to make things better for its HPC group.

However, that's rather missing the point. Where MS HPC makes sense is where for whatever reasons Linux is too expensive in time or people. If you're a small company with no Linux expertise, lots of Windows smarts and a particular HPC requirement, then you don't mind the inefficiencies or lack of tweakiness if it's good enough; likewise, if you're running some fat financial model in Excel and it's taking two days to recalc, then doing it in seconds via MS HPC is going to be what you want - even if the Linux code can do it in seconds/2.

Linux-based HPC can of course get these markets too - *if* it has the tools to be friendly towards people who are Windows-rich and time poor. If you're a traditional HPC user who's managing some big scientific or engineering task with a lifetime of months or years, then it's absolutely better to have code you can tweak - and you'll find that this isn't where Windows HPC is making a mark. It's perhaps where HPC hasn't been that big that things are happening...

Rupert

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