Microsoft Unveils Second Beta Of HPC Server 2008 R2

Microsoft Corp., the company behind the popular Windows 7 OS, has released the beta 2 version of its Windows HPC Server 2008 R2, which is the company's first offering in the high performance computing market.

According to industry experts, the beta 2 version of the sophisticated server is designed to allow supercomputers to use the massive latent processing capacity offered by PCs based on Windows 7 operating system.

The second beta of the HPC server from Microsoft had a longer development period than the first beta version, which was released by the software giant at the SC09 supercomputer trade show back in 2009.

The HPC server R8 was an instant hit, owing to its combination of Windows 7 and HPC servers, which allowed complex algorithm-based workbooks to be run on x86 server clusters which worked in tandem with HPC servers.

The senior director for the Server & Tools Business Group at Microsoft, said that the HPC server line will feature HPC Services for Excel 2010 which will available for customers very 'shortly'.

The company claims that customising the algorithm on workbooks to make it compatible with HPC servers (ed : you can download the beta here).