Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 Architecture

Windows Compute Cluster Server (CCS) 2003 provides a high-performance computing (HPC) solution based on a cluster of servers. The cluster features a head node that controls and mediates all access to cluster resources and is the single point for management, deployment, and job scheduling for the compute cluster, which consists of the head node and one or more compute nodes.

To simplify deployment and management, CCS can use an existing Active Directory infrastructure for security, account management, and overall operations management, along with tools such as Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 and Systems Management Server 2003.

The compute nodes can be connected (via multiple network interface cards) to the corporate network, a private network (among the cluster), and an MS-MPI Interconnect, which uses the Microsoft Message Passing Interface (MS-MPI), a high-speed networking interface that runs over Gigabit Ethernet, InfiniBand, or any network that provides a WinSock Direct-enabled driver. MS-MPI is based on and compatible with an MPI developed by Argonne National Laboratory.