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Mar. 3, 2010
Seattle-based and super computer maker Cray Inc. said yesterday that Microsoft Research has hired its
Custom Engineering Group to research and prototype a computer system that could provide a look into the
future of cloud computing infrastructure, in an effort to learn more from it and to help develop new ideas
that could help the software giant in the long term.
Sources at Cray say that the intent of the agreement is to come up with a new cloud computing prototype
but that for now, the details were not even close to be hammered out by both parties yet. The project is
just in its infancy, Cray said.
Cray added that it's going to be at least 5 to 6 months at a minimum until it begins shipping its new "Baker"
systems and that the company dosen't think that all the testing and fine tuning won't be finished until some time
in late-August or early September 2010.
This contract could result in some substantial money for Cray, provided that all goes according to plans.
The two companies did talk about some money, but neither Microsoft nor Cray did say how large the agreement is
for. But a spokesperson at Cray did say that it was enough money to warrant a press release...
This is the first custom engineering engagement of significance that Cray has done outside of its traditional
scientific and technical high-performance computing arena. However, the problems large supercomputer labs that run
complex scientific applications and those faced by systems running hyperscale Internet and financial applications
aren't as different as people might be led to believe initially.
In 2008, Cray established its Custom Engineering group as a means of diversifying its business and last year,
that business grew to more than $30 million, an increase of 430 percent.
While it will probably only grow at half that rate or less this year, this is still good business for Cray,
which had sales of $284 million last year.
The super computer company is expecting sales of about $318 million this year, with services revenues of
about $110 million. Overall, custom engineering could still be more than half of those services revenues.
The company did say that the new contract with its Custom Engineering Division could see Cray design a
cloud computing system infrastructure that combines "super-efficient power delivery, high-density packaging,
and innovative cooling technologies" that would help reduce data center power utilization, as well as cut down
on hardware costs.
For its part, the Extreme Computing Group at Microsoft Research was formed in June of last year. Dan Reed,
who used to run a division at Microsoft called CCF (Cloud Computing Futures), is in charge of this new group. CCF
was engaged in low-energy, "cloudy infrastructure".
Christian Belady, director of hardware architecture for Microsoft's Extreme Computing Group says that the
goal of the project is to reduce the total cost of ownership for systems while boosting performance.
Source: Cray Inc.
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