Cloud computing offers the kind of processing power that cannot be ignored by customers currently leveraging high-performance computing (HPC) resources. This is the premise of a new Microsoft sponsored whitepaper authored by David Chappell, from David Chappell and Associates, titled: “Windows HPC Server and Windows Azure - High-Performance Computing in the Cloud.”

The document is available free of charge via the Microsoft Download Center, offering insight into way Windows Azure and Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 are better together. Chappell notes that Cloud computing is redefining the HPC paradigm.

“Why not take advantage of the massive data centers now available in the cloud? For example, Microsoft’s Windows Azure provides on-demand access to lots of virtual machines (VMs) and acres of cheap storage, letting you pay only for the resources you use,” he stated.