SCIENCE

Nimbis Services in collaboration with R Systems NA announces HPC Workbook Beta Program powered by Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 and HPC Services for Excel 2010, available today.  HPC Workbook is a subscriber-based on-demand cloud service enabling Internet connected Windows desktop users with the ability to load and run Excel 2010-based complex modeling workbooks in parallel on R Systems HPC clusters powered by Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 and HPC Services for Excel 2010.

Nimbis Services will enable desktop users with on-demand, pay-as-you-go, click-through ordering of HPC Workbook services through the Nimbis Cloud portal, a convenient, familiar, and secure web-based storefront tailored for HPC ordering and order fulfillment starting September 20, 2010 in pilot mode. R Systems will provide a reliable and secure connection to their state of the art HPC clusters running on an infrastructure of Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 with HPC Services for Excel2010.

Three levels of HPC Workbook service will be available: Trial, Standard, and Premium. The Trial service level is intended for first time and experimental users to evaluate functionality on a virtual HPC cluster. The Standard service is intended as the standard upgrade after evaluation on the Trial service. This service will provide significant HPC performance gains over Excel on the desktop using dedicated physical HPC clusters. The Premium service provides the highest level of performance by minimizing scheduling time with dedicated physical scheduling nodes.

"Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 has enabled Nimbis Services and R Systems to quickly develop a product "HPC Workbench" that will enable new technical computing opportunities for users requiring additional computing capability beyond their desktop" said Robert Graybill, President and CEO of Nimbis Services.

"Companies such as Nimbis Services in cooperation with R Systems are critical to lowering the barriers of access to technical computing for the broader technical community" said Bill Hamilton, Director, Technical Computing, Microsoft Corp.  "With the availability of HPC Workbook offer powered by HPC Services for Excel 2010, Nimbis Services and R Systems open up new opportunities for innovation."