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Simulation software performance highlighted at 2008 International ANSYS Conference: ANSYS has announced preliminary performance data for its software running on Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008 highlighted during the 2008 International ANSYS Conference held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The preliminary data shows substantial performance gains when running software from ANSYS on the new Windows operating system. Performance data was presented at the ANSYS booth in the conference exhibition hall on Tuesday, August 26. "ANSYS invests significant resources in optimization of our software for high-performance computing (HPC), and we have achieved some impressive performance gains on the latest solution from Microsoft," said Chris Reid, vice president, marketing at ANSYS, Inc. "The combination of ANSYS software and Windows HPC Server 2008 enhances cluster computing as an option for our customers who need more HPC capacity in order to expand the role of simulation in their engineering process -- allowing engineers to work with larger data sets and perform complex analysis with shorter turnaround time." ANSYS plans full support for Windows HPC Server 2008 in upcoming software releases. High-performance computing uses supercomputers and computer clusters to solve the advanced computing problems that are inherent in engineering simulation. Windows HPC Server 2008 combines the power of a Windows 64-bit server platform with out-of-the-box functionality to improve productivity and reduce complexity of users' HPC environment. It provides a comprehensive set of deployment, administration and monitoring tools that are easy to deploy, manage and integrate with existing infrastructure. Early adopters of the solution include Spraying Systems Co., a world-leading manufacturer of industrial spray products for chemical, power, pharmaceutical and other process industries. Spraying Systems Co. invested in a Windows-based cluster in 2007, leveraging their existing Windows-based infrastructure and expertise. "The biggest benefit," said Rudolf Schick, vice president of spray analysis and research services at Spraying Systems Co., "has been the speed at which the company can achieve even complex computations, which has increased up to 12-fold. Using a dual or quad-core workstation is fine for smaller simulations, but for complex extensive simulations, even multi-core workstations couldn't complete the computations in a reasonable timeframe. We were delighted to obtain such dramatic results from our investment in a Windows cluster." "As engineering simulations become more complex, customers using workstations are looking to move up to high-performance computing to improve performance and meet tight project schedules. Our relationship with ANSYS is key to Microsoft's commitment to helping companies get better products to market faster," said Kyril Faenov, general manager of HPC at Microsoft. "Windows HPC Server 2008 makes computing capacity more easily deployable and maintainable within existing infrastructures. Typical HPC solutions can be costly and complex, so we have designed a Windows-based HPC solution to meet performance objectives for engineering simulations while still being easy to deploy, use and manage." In addition to presenting at the 2008 International ANSYS Conference, Microsoft will be exhibiting and participating as a gold sponsor of the event. Visit its Web site for more information about the conference.