Windows China behind the HPC Server 2008

On October 27th, Microsoft officially released the Chinese version of Windows HPC Server 2008 in China. I thought that the conference would be a big book for this, and the industry would be noisy for a while. I never thought about it. Fang is so calm that I laughed at myself too much. On the next November 17, the Dawning 5000A with Windows HPC Server 2008 was successfully launched into the TOP 10 of the top 500 global supercomputers organized by TOP500.org. Became the only non-US native supercomputer in the top 10 of the list (7 of the remaining 9 computers in TOP 10 are in service at the US Department of Energy's National Laboratory). That is to say, the Dawning 5000A has overwhelmed all the supercomputers from Europe and Japan, which is exciting! However, I still have not seen the expected response in the industry.

Sometimes I feel very wonderful, and the information is getting more and more developed, which makes people lack the kind of surprise from many new events and new things. This is probably the "original sin" of the media! However, I am thinking again, people are so calm about Windows HPC Server 2008, perhaps because they think that Microsoft is doing this for high-performance computing. This is ultimately due to the trust of Microsoft. Well, I would rather be the latter, so that I would not think that I am a "sinful body."

The release of Windows HPC Server 2008, in my opinion, first of all, Microsoft successfully added a flagship product to its product line (previously Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 does not count, after all, there is no conspicuous HPC in the name), and the subsequent dawn of the 5000A into the TOP 10 supercomputer is a "naked" indication of the strength of Windows HPC Server 2008.

For Windows HPC Server 2008, analysts at many market analysts have given full recognition. Cui Yue, an IDC analyst, believes that on the basis of previous products, Windows HPC Server 2008 pays more attention to user needs, and has greatly improved in many aspects. The recognition of user feedback is high, which helps HPC (High Performance Computing). The popularity of ). I believe that the HPC market will develop very well in China. Gartner analyst Tian Yu believes that the launch of Windows HPC Server 2008 enhances Microsoft's strength in high-performance computing products. From the perspective of the product itself, a more user-friendly interface and easier-to-use parallel programming make high-performance computing more accessible to the average user, helping to promote the promotion of high-performance computing in the commercial field.

The release of Windows HPC Server 2008 also makes its R&D team, especially from the Microsoft China R&D Group Server and Development Tools Division, proud to be proud of this product and Microsoft released in March this year. The three enterprise-class computing products - Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, SQL Server 2008, are the wisdom of their collaboration with the US R & D team.

Recalling the growth of his team, Xie Enwei, general manager of the server and development tools division of Microsoft China R&D Group, also expressed his feelings. He said that the connection between Microsoft China HPC R&D team and high-performance computing products began in 2005. Years ago, only a short three years ago. However, from Microsoft's first-generation HPC products to the recently unveiled Windows HPC Server 2008, the team has successfully penetrated from the "peripheral functions" to the "core components" development in just over three years. Such rapid evolution of capabilities is inextricably linked to their development philosophy of “growth in actual combat”.

Perhaps this is the opportunity. At the beginning of the establishment of the China R&D team, it was “according to its meeting” to participate in the research and development of Microsoft's first generation of HPC products, “targeting in running” and “fighting in battle” The concept was fully demonstrated during the team's completion of the task. While working as a peripheral function development task for the first generation of high-performance platforms, the Chinese R&D team will focus more on team building work. In the end, while successfully completing the R&D tasks, they also built a sound organizational structure covering development, testing and project management functions, and also made initial contact with Chinese industries and customers to make their own technology, products and markets. The understanding began to mature.

"There is still a lot of whip in the fast horse." After having such a complete R&D capability, the Chinese R&D team immediately ushered in a good opportunity to further hone its strength - to participate in the development of Windows HPC Server 2008. The young engineers on the team not only worked closely with the US project manager, but also successfully completed the development and testing of core component levels such as the new user interface and SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) programming model in the new platform management module. Developed important features such as reports and a new command line interface based on PowerShell.

From the two practical experiences of the Chinese R&D team, “accumulation in cooperation” is also a secret to its rapid growth. Not long ago, he officially joined the Microsoft China R&D Group Server and Development Tools Division. He is currently a senior architect of HPC. Dr. Xu Mingqiang has been leading the Redmond team since 2004 to develop job scheduling systems, SOA programming modes and runtimes in Microsoft HPC products. System, in the process of collaborative research and development in the past four years, he deeply understands and sincerely affirms the technical ability and understanding of Chinese developers.

The gap between time and space, as well as the differences in language, culture and communication habits. Under Microsoft's global distributed research and development model, there is no "discomfort" in the collaborative development between Chinese and American teams. "The new Chinese team has thus gained a valuable opportunity to learn and learn." According to reports, through the talent exchange and training programs of Microsoft's "Silk Road" and "Marco Polo", the Sino-US R&D team has successfully reached the goal of promoting exchanges and strengthening mutual trust. The Chinese team has also made great progress in a short period of time. .

According to Xie Enwei, the next goal of the R&D team in China is to further strengthen the team's technical accumulation and management capabilities in five years or so to create a stronger core competitiveness and build a Independent development of the development team of Microsoft high-performance computing products. Previous 12 Next Read the full story