In fact, their motivations are perfectly aligned with ours?that is, as broad a penetration as possible.

We understand that the availability of 64-bit applications from software vendors such as ESI is critical in helping our mainstream customers be able to easily deploy, manage, and use Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003.

The centers we chose have a unique blend of expertise as they do research in HPC systems and, in many cases, are closely affiliated with a HPC center, giving them a unique insight from both a scientific and industry perspective on what will actually help solve real problems.

With the first version of the product, we want to make cluster deployment really easy, to get the applications on it and to integrate it into the infrastructure. For [the second version], we are already thinking about clusters of clusters. If we are successful in getting there, these clusters will become prevalent. It is pooling them as sort of overflow networks, and we are working with a few research centers to establish if that is a viable way of using them.

Our focus is not on the very highest-end systems but on divisional and departmental computing systems.

[The second version] will look at how we can control the hardware using the standard ways of rebooting. We will also look at how we can make the integration of clusters into the applications, including workstation applications, even easier. We are also looking at performance monitoring tools for the cluster space as a whole, which is a big area for development.