SCIENCE

Platform Computing has announced a migration program for Grid Engine users. With the recent change in licensing and distribution for Grid Engine, its users are at a critical juncture with respect to the selection of workload management software. Platform Computing is offering a stable, proven and feature-rich alternative that can meet the needs of the most demanding customers. With the launch of the migration program, customers will find workload management more affordable than ever and get the help needed to make a migration easy.

The Grid Engine Migration Program provides customers with the tools and support to move to a powerful, secure commercial cluster and workload management product, either Platform HPC, the easiest and most complete HPC cluster solution, or Platform LSF, the most powerful and comprehensive HPC workload management platform.  Customers will benefit from a complete set of robust yet easy to use management capabilities with cluster provisioning, workload management, automated workflow, and monitoring and analysis, all of which are accessible through a unified web interface. Platform LSF and Platform HPC also include application integration templates for industry leading ISV applications, making it easier to use and manage third party applications with the cluster.

The program also includes free evaluation software downloads, discount license pricing and migration services, all backed by the industry's best customer support with nearly two decades of product and technology leadership. Many customers of Grid Engine have already made the move to Platform LSF, the standard in workload management, and have found the move rewarding and simple.

Supporting Quotes:

• "We've been working closely with Platform Computing over the years to deliver complete, integrated cluster solutions that are optimized and customized to our customer's unique requirements," said Donnie Bell, Marketing Director, HPC strategy, Dell Inc.  "These solutions deliver a complete and robust set of HPC management capabilities, all of which are designed to enable faster results for a wide range of workloads conducted across the scientific and research communities."
• "We are very pleased with the results of our decision to partner with Viglen to migrate to Platform Computing," said Chris Collins, Head of Research Computing Services, University of East Anglia. "The robust capabilities in Platform HPC will enable us to lower power consumption and increase collaboration between different departments in the University. The Windows/Linux dual boot functionality will help make HPC more accessible to other researchers, who are not traditionally HPC/Linux users.  In addition, the easy-to-use interface will make it simpler to capture metrics such as resource usage per user, helping ensure that we are achieving optimal resource utilization as well as facilitating accurate billing for system resource usage."
• "Grid engine users are at a critical decision point and are being forced to decide which workload manager they should utilize going forward," said Louise Westoby, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Platform Computing. "Grid Engine, which was previously distributed and managed by one source, has now diverged along several paths.  Current users must decide if they are going to use the open source version of Grid Engine, which no longer has the support of Grid Engine's developers, purchase Oracle Grid Engine or utilize one of the other Grid Engine forks.   In comparison, there is only one Platform LSF, and it has retained backwards compatibility for over 18 years.  It has rock-solid stability and dependability and a strong roadmap into the future."

Key Points:

• In December 2010, Oracle announced its plans to stop work on the open source version of Grid Engine and dismantle the CollabNet site (gridengine.sunsource.net). Going forward, Oracle Grid Engine will only be available as a commercially licensed software product.  Many current customers are therefore at a decision point: Should they purchase Oracle Grid Engine, continue to use the unsupported open source version of Grid Engine or migrate to another workload manager?
• Platform provides the most powerful management products for demanding, distributed and mission-critical high performance computing environments. Both Platform LSF, the HPC standard in workload management software, and Platform HPC, the easiest and most complete HPC cluster solution, deliver a complete set of management capabilities all designed to work together to address customers' high performance computing needs. Alternative products such as Grid Engine lack key HPC components and vendor support, relying on customers' technical ability and time to implement.
• Platform's Grid Engine Migration Campaign includes several key components, all designed to help customers transition smoothly from Grid Engine to Platform products:
  • Discount License Pricing– Special license pricing is available for both Platform LSF and Platform HPC for current Grid Engine users.  These prices are only valid through June 30, 2011, so Platform encourages customers to act quickly.
  • Migration Support/Services from the HPC Experts –Specially priced migration services including an assessment of customers' existing Grid Engine environment, Platform LSF installation and configuration and training.
  • Free Product Downloads –Free product downloads are available for Platform LSF and Platform HPC.  Trial licenses are backed with full support from Platform Computing.
• Platform will be hosting a webinar on March 16, 2011 providing more details on why and how Grid Engine users should migrate to Platform.