Microsoft Releases Computational Cluster Technical Preview To olkit

[Schilling, Richard]

O.K. someone has to start, so might as well be me. . . .

I'd bet if Peter Dell ran some numbers on how much it would cost to hire
all of us to develop custom software -vs- the total cost of ownership for a
"Microsoft clustering solution", we'd beat 'em in price.

I looked at the web page for the clustering preview kit, and the kit comes
with a bunch of evaluation software, including C++, and some versions of
MPI and PALPACK.  The problem I can see outright is that you've got to use
all the evaluation stuff - Visual C++, Windows 2000 Server, etc . . . to do
any testing.  And after all that work to develop a test suite (e.g. convert
your existing code), the only thing you have is a system that works for as
long as the evaluation software runs out - if you even get done before
then.  And buying the software to keep it going means buying into the
product life cycle for Microsoft products.  

I've seen too much work go into other products to justify the time needed
to explore this.  Perhaps just another marketing ploy to hock mediocre
software.  

So, am I alone in my concerns?


Here's to getting Microsoft to CONTRIBUTE something USEFUL,

Richard Schilling
Webmaster / Web Integration Programmer
http://www.affiliatedhealth.org
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