Win2008 HPC and XP?(!)

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:51:46 Z

I've been trying to follow up on some advice from IBM, that Windows HPC nodes are pratically a stripped-down version of XP, without the extra fat.
However, from everything I've learned about Win2008 HPC so far, I can't find a clear answer as to what a compute node is actually running. Specifically:
Can you run individual, independent processes on each node, or HPC is only about executing one hefty program from the head node, that utilizes the whole cluster as one big CPU pile? What do you see if you plug a monitor to an individual compute node?

I'm asking because IBM doesn't support Windows XP or Vista on their servers, but does support HPC nodes.

Thanks.

Win2008 HPC and XP?(!)

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 04:16:01 Z

It looks pretty much like Windows Server 2008. The branding is different and a few things got taken out that don't make sense for an HPC server.

You can run individual, independent processes on each node.

If you plug a monitor in, you will see the familiar Windows desktop (only without the fancy Aero effects in Vista)

Win2008 HPC and XP?(!)

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:51:15 Z

So the node OS is no "stripped-down version of XP", but of Server 2008...?

Win2008 HPC and XP?(!)

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:31:45 Z

The OS is *not* stirpped-down version of Windows Server 2008; it is the real thing. However the EULA limits you as to what you can run on Windows HPC Server 2008.

thanks,
.Erez

Win2008 HPC and XP?(!)

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:33:01 Z

Lio said:

However the EULA limits you as to what you can run on Windows HPC Server 2008.

Is there a list of existing Windows applications that are not compatible with HPC Server 2008 because of this? My company is preparing to migrate to this platform within the next two months and I'd like to be sure that our current Windows applications & development software will run without issue.

Cheers,
~Reese

Win2008 HPC and XP?(!)

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:54:14 Z

You can find some information here: http://www.microsoft.com/hpc/en/us/pricing-licensing.aspx

Two applications that come to mind which do not meet the HPC Server licensing are Exchange and SQL server

thanks,
.Erez

Win2008 HPC and XP?(!)

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:04:05 Z

Lio said:

Thanks, .Erez. Does anyone have experience with Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended or Premier Pro CS4 on HPC 2008? Those are the main apps with which our production department is concerned over compatibility.

Cheers,
~Reese

Win2008 HPC and XP?(!)

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:51:23 Z

Adobe does not advertise support for Photoshop on Windows Server operating systems as far as I know. They also used to actually have blocks in their setup that would check if you were running on a Windows client OS. People have gotten it to install succesfully on Server 2003 with a little effort, but through unsupported means.

It is really up to them to say if they will support running Server 2008 or not though.