Stratus Technologies, Inc., a global launch partner of Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008, announced today that its Stratus ftServer line of fault-tolerant servers will support Microsoft's new high-performance computing platform, bringing field-proven 99.999 percent uptime reliability to critical functions within the cluster:

• As the head node, which is the central management, scheduling and controlling node for the entire cluster
• As WCF broker nodes, which are the intermediaries between the application and cluster services, load balancing service requests with service execution and returning results to the application

"Windows HPC Server 2008 brings a new level of simplicity to enterprise-class high-performance computing," said Allan Jennings, Stratus senior vice president, product & solutions development. "Its scalability and power place it at the center of critical applications, such as investment pricing, financial risk analysis, securities trading strategies and other high-value functions that can tolerate no downtime. Stratus ftServer systems strategically placed in the HPC cluster will provide continuous availability for applications like these." "We're excited to collaborate with Stratus to provide valuable insight and validate fault tolerant-aware functionality in the Windows Server operating system," said Vince Mendillo, director of HPC at Microsoft Corp. "This collaboration is designed to enable uninterrupted operation of Windows HPC Server under the most extreme high performance computing circumstances." Every Stratus ftServer model has passed the rigorous Windows Hardware Compatibility tests and is listed in the Microsoft server catalog, ensuring HPCS users that their software will run flawlessly. Stratus is both a Microsoft Platinum OEM and Microsoft Gold Certified partner for enterprise systems. For more information on the Stratus and Microsoft relationship, please listen to the following podcast with Antonio Zurlo, technology specialist for Microsoft its Web site.