In view of integrating High-Performance Computing (HPC) technology in Azure, Microsoft has bought Cycle Computing, a software company which simplifies this process with cloud orchestration tools.

The company’s offering allows one to deploy HPC and high-compute applications in internal grids and virtualized environments as well as on the cloud.

Peddling to success 

Azure Stack
– Microsoft

Before the acquisition, Cycle Computing grew almost threefold every year since it was founded in 2005.

CycleCloud, its bestselling service - which currently supports AWS, Google Cloud and private cloud platforms, but will be developed for Azure in future versions - provision and configure cloud clusters for big compute and large technical computing applications and to automate, monitor and manage usage and workflows.

By allowing customers to access HPC systems on the cloud more easily, Microsoft is hoping to see more of its customers transitioning workflows onto the cloud, i.e. Azure. 

“As customers continue to look for faster, more efficient ways to run their workloads, Cycle Computing’s depth and expertise around massively scalable applications make them a great fit to join our Microsoft team. Their technology will further enhance our support of Linux HPC workloads and make it easier to extend on-premise workloads to the cloud,” said Jason Zander, Azure’s corporate VP. 

Cycle Computing’s CEO Jason Stowe stated that “we see amazing opportunities in joining forces with Microsoft. Its global cloud footprint and unique hybrid offering is built with enterprises in mind, and its Big Compute/HPC team has already delivered pivotal technologies such as InfiniBand and next generation GPUs. The Cycle team can’t wait to combine CycleCloud’s technology for managing Linux and Windows compute and data workloads, with Microsoft Azure’s Big Compute infrastructure roadmap and global market reach.” 

On a fully unrelated note, if you’re curious about how many cyclists it would take to power a data center, DCD contributor Sarah Church may hold some of the answers.