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supercomputing.simplifed.

PARTNER PROFILEThe COMSOL Group provides softwaresolutions for multiphsics modeling.The are a fast growing, high techengineering software compan with aproven track record and a vision as aleader of the industr. The companwas founded in Jul 1986 in Stockholm,Sweden and has grown to includeofces in Denmark, Finland, France,German, The Netherlands, Norwa,India, Ital, Switzerland, UnitedKingdom, and U.S.A.

Comsols customers are researchers

and engineers working for leadingtechnical enterprises, research labs,and universities. Comsols productshelp them design and develop saferand more energ efcient automobilesand aircraft, improve the receptionto mobile phones, assist in the searchfor new energ sources, exploringthe universe, developing medicalequipment for more accurate diagnoses,and help to educate the next generationof scientists.

SITUATION

With the new version of COMSOLMultiphsics, Comsol chose to focus onserving the broadest market possible whileadhering to their tradition of developinginnovative software. To accomplishthis, COMSOL placed ease of use andaccelerated time to solution as primarproduct requirements. Usabilit is keto adoption, sas Niklas Rom, PhD, VicePresident of Engineering for COMSOL. Wemake each software release as accessibleas possible to a wide audience.

SOLUTIONThe goal to make its simulation products

accessible extends to the operatingsstems that COMSOL software supports.In addition to accessibilit, parallelcomputing is another ke componentin minimizing time to solution forcomplex multiphsics problems. COMSOLMultiphsics for Windows HPC Server 2008R2 brings a exible and intuitive simulationenvironment to parallel platforms resultingin a scalable and affordable clustersolution for virtual prototping.

With a market consisting of researchersand IT staff who are often morecomfortable using Windows, it made senseto focus on Windows HPC Server 2008 R2

as the platform OS for HPC and parallelismin COMSOL Multiphsics.

COMSOL MULTIPHYSICSCOMSOL Multiphsics is a softwareenvironment for the modeling andsimulation of an phsics-based sstem. Aparticular strength is its abilit to accountfor multiphsics phenomena. Optionalmodules add discipline-specic tools foracoustics, chemical engineering, earthscience, electromagnetics, heat transfer,microelectromechanical sstems (MEMS),and structural analsis.

COMSOL Multiphsics for WindowsHPCS targets mainstream computing.

Version 4.0 delivers a exible and intuitivesimulation environment to parallelplatforms, which provides users with ascalable and affordable cluster solution forvirtual prototping. All controls neededfor conguration and management ofjobs with Windows HPC Server 2008 R2are readil available with the click of abutton within the COMSOL Multiphsicsgraphical user interface. No command-lineoperations are required.

WINDOWS HPC SERVER2008 R2

Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 combinesthe power of a 64-bit Windows Serverplatform with rich, out-of-the-boxfunctionalit to improve productivitand reduce the complexit of an HPCenvironment.

Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 enablesbroader adoption of HPC, and increasesproductivit b providing numerous end-user, administrator, and developer featuresand tools.

WINDOWSHPC AND COMSOL MULTIPHYSICSBRING EASE-OF-USE TO PARALLEL COMPUTING

COMSOLDEVELOPED COMSOL MULTIPHySICS TO SUPPORT THE

PARALLELISM ON WINDOWS HPC SERVER 2008 R2

For us, Windows HPC Server 2008

R2 plays a key role in lowering

the intimidation factor and other

considerations involved when new

users consider working in a parallel

computing environment...

-David Kan, Vice President of Sales, Southwest United

States, for COMSOL

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End users experience a rich and compatible environmentthat allows the use of familiar applications such as MicrosoftExcel, Sstem Center, and Microsoft Visual Studio.Organizations can take advantage of existing technologinvestments and skill sets to help minimize total cost ofownership, optimize return on investment, and make HPCresources easier to manage.

Administrators can use Microsoft management tools to

centrall manage the Windows Server infrastructure.Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 includes an improved heatmap view for cluster management, extensible diagnosticframework for customized testing in an programmingor scripting language, and a rich reporting database andenhanced API for building custom reports.

Developers can use familiar development tools, such asthe native parallel debugger in Microsoft Visual Studio,to develop and troubleshoot parallel programs includingsupport for standard interfaces such as Message PassingInterface (MPI), OpenMPI, and Web Services.

Excel 2010 offers cluster-safe user dened functions toWindows HPC Server 2008 R2, which provides the abilitto run complex or time consuming User Dened Functions.

you can use Excel as a Windows Communication Foundationclient to submit Service Oriented Architecture requests tothe cluster to visualize results.

Desktops that are running the Windows 7 operating sstemcan now be added to our HPC cluster as workstation nodes.Use these nodes to run cluster jobs based on a conguredpolic, or bring them online manuall as needed. WithWindows 7 desktops, our HPC cluster is now more exibleand scalable than ever before.

Windows HPC Server R2 has been extended to WindowsAzure cloud computing platform as well, allowingadministrators to tap into additional computing capacit ondemand b transparentl adding Azure resources to a localcluster.

The WHPC Job scheduler is multi-core aware, allowingsophisticated scheduling b core, b socket, or b server.Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 includes Service-balanced

Scheduling, which optimizes the process of starting jobs andbalances the resources that are assigned to jobs in real time,according to their priorit. Users can manage this all in anew, simplied user interface.

BENEFITS

Ease of useCustomers who run COMSOL Multiphsics software on WindowsHPC Server 2008 R2 have the potential to spend more timesolving engineering problems and less time dealing withunderling computer issues.

Familiarit and UsabilitWindows users will appreciate the familiar environment thatCOMSOL Multiphsics on Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 provides.With Ofce interoperabilit and Windows 7 usabilit, end-userswill have the tools the need to create fast, scalable simulations.

Free Cluster Nodes LicensingUsers of COMSOL Multiphsics oating network license willbe able to deplo their simulations on an number of hosts without an additional COMSOL licensing cost. New users whopurchase a oating network license will also be able run theirsimulations on a cluster sstem with an unlimited number ofnodes free of charge.

COMSOL Multiphysics on Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 in action: Parametric sweep distributed on a small cluster

Cores

A frequency domain analysis is performed on a patch antenna by sweeping 21 frequencies in

the GHz band. For each frequency a problem with 1.3 million degrees of freedom is solved.

The model was run on a small cluster of four Microsoft HPC Server 2008 machines with

dual four-core CPUs, Intel Xeon 5420. Each CPU has two memor y channels giving it a total

of four memory channels. The model required 19 GB memor y and the sweep took 33138

seconds on a single core of one machine. PARDISO direct linear solver was used.

Speedup

1 8 16 24 32

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

FURTHER INFORMATION

For more information about Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 and HPC, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/hpc

For more information about COMSOL, please visit http://www.comsol.com

This data sheet is for informational purposes onl. No part of this document ma be reproduced or transmitted in an form or b an means, electronic ormechanical, for an purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,IN THIS SUMMARy.