Benefits of Windows Compute Cluster Server (CCS)

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Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 (CCS) is an important step in making HPC accessible to all scientists, engineers, and businesses. Nor-Tech is one of the nation's leading providers or Microsoft CCS.

With CCS, organizations can leverage their existing Windows infrastructure, increasing productivity and reducing overall costs. Additionally, CCS allows the user to focus more on application and less on IT, while helping to avoid isolated Linux islands.

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Node Deployment and Administration
•	Task-based configuration for head and compute nodes
•	UI and command line-based node management
•	Monitoring with Performance Monitor (Perfmon), Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM), Server Performance Advisor (SPA), & 3rd-party tools
Integration with existing Windows and management infrastructure
•	Integrates with Active Directory, Windows security technologies, management, and deployment tools
Extensible job scheduler
•	3rd-party extensibility at job submission and/or job assignment
•	CLI (Perl, FORTRAN, C/C++, C#, and Java), GUI, or submit direct from apps
•	Error recovery, automated cleanup, and security
•	Integration with metaschedulers
Secure MPI
•	User credentials secured in job scheduler and compute nodes
•	Standardized MPI stack
•	Microsoft provided stack reduces application/MPI incompatibility issues
Integrated Development Environment
•	OpenMP Support in Visual Studio, Standard Edition
•	Parallel Debugger in Visual Studio, Professional Edition

Why Windows over Linux?

	Linux	Windows
Desktop Integration	Users must leave desktop environments. (Job submission and result aggregation) Users copy files over and run batch command locally on Linux	Users submit jobs to CCS from within their desktop app (like document printing). Support for command-line and other integration mechanisms
Complexity	Solution stack includes components from multiple vendors; Separate support agreements often required with each vendor	Single, integrated solution stack that has been tested for inter-operability Single vendor standing behind entire stack
Integration into IT Environment	Version/patch management is a challenge Integration into broader Windows-based IT environment difficult	Windows provides SMS for enterprise-wide patch management CCS clusters can be managed with MOM and a range of 3rd party server management packages
Security	No concept of role-based access to cluster	Roles specified in AD carry over to CCS; jobs run on the cluster within the permissions allowed to the job owner
Development Environment	Development tools are non-standard and may be sourced from multiple vendors and open-source groups	Programmers can now leverage the Visual Studio environment VS2005 now has OpenMP support and includes a parallel debugger. Working with key partners to port libraries and other HPC tools to Windows.
Leverage Existing Skillsets		Larger install base means bigger pool of Windows programmers and system administrators, many of them in-house