MS plots supercomputing boost

Microsoft plans to drive supercomputing power to a broader audience of scientists via its cloud computing and server technologies, states The Register.

The tech giant has opened a Technical Computing group, saying it will let scientists focus on research without having to build complicated server systems.

The group is part of Microsoft's server and tools division, and will focus on three areas: Azure cloud computing, the development of parallel software programs, and creating powerful technical computing tools.

HP has reported solid results for its second quarter as strong growth in PC and x86 server sales helped offset an unremarkable quarter for its services business, reports Bloomberg Business Week.

Sales of HP's business critical systems; which include Itanium servers running HP-UX, continued their decline, falling 17% from last year.

But overall, revenue from the Enterprise Storage and Servers group climbed 31% to $4.5 billion. HP's revenue for the quarter ended 30 April was $30.8 billion, up 13% from a year earlier.

IBM has updated its System x iDataPlex servers to include graphics processors from Nvidia as it tries to bring high-performance capabilities to its scale-out servers, says PC World.

“The servers are aimed at organisations that want to run scientific and commercial applications on graphics processors; which are faster at executing certain tasks than traditional CPUs,” says David Turek, vice-president of deep computing at IBM's Systems and Technology Group.

According to IBM, there is increased interest in hybrid computing systems that use graphics processors along with CPUs, with many companies preparing to deploy such systems.