Microsoft is preparing to take on Linux on both price and performance, says server manager

Microsoft is preparing to take on Linux in a battle over price and performance, according to John Borozan, product manager for the forthcoming Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 (WCCS) software.

WCCS is a new version of Windows designed for high-performance computing (HPC) applications, such as those used for geological exploration, but it will also have a valuable role to play working with Excel spreadsheets.

WCCS will go on sale in the summer. Borozan said the price has not yet been set but will be very competitive against Linux rivals. Borozan added that 80 percent of existing HPC systems use x86 chips and run Linux software.

"HPC workloads are growing faster than any other x86 workload," said Borozan. "In 2004 HPC jumped 70 percent. In 2000 almost all HPC was on Risc systems, now almost all of it is on x86. Ten percent of x86 servers go into HPC systems." He added that the 64bit feature in AMD's Opteron and Xeon EM64T chips give HPC on x86 systems another boost. "In this market 64bit is pretty much a requirement," he said.

Borozan argued that WCCS would also appeal to companies working with Excel spreadsheets, which could run on WCCS thanks to integration between WCCS and Excel Services in the forthcoming Office 12. Companies could store complex spreadsheets on a WCCS system and users could work with the spreadsheets via a web interface. This would give the spreadsheet the processing power of the cluster, and enable firms to prevent spreadsheets from being removed from the server.

WCCS is based on the same kernel as Windows Server 2003 x64. It has been locked down so that it can only be used for HPC applications because it will be sold at a lower price, Borozan said.

Microsoft has also developed its own job scheduler and message-passing interface (MPI) layer, built using de facto standard open-source code. "By using this layer we made it easy for independent software vendors to port their products to WCCS," Borozan said. WCCS is expected to be launched in June.