The Microsoft High Performance Computing team is pleased to release the first preview of the HPC Server 2008 R2 solution!
This preview consists of two parts: a Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system, and the HPC Pack 2008 R2 software.
Download the 'Windows Server 2008 R2 HPC Edition' ISO image (~3 GB)
If you want to set up a High Availability head node, or have more than 128 gigs of RAM in you rmachine, Download the 'Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition RC Build' image
Download the 'HPC Pack 2008 R2 Beta 1' archive (~1 GB)
Burn the Windows Server operating system image to a DVD - do not try to use a CDR for this!
Expand the HPC Pack archive and put the contents on a network-accessible file share, USB memory stick, CDR, etc
Use the Windows Server 2008 R2 DVD to begin installation of your Head Node
The product key is listed in the Description for whichever Edition you pick
These keys will allow you to install, but not to 'activate'. 'Activation' is not supported in the pre-release builds.
Once the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system installation is complete, run the Setup.exe application from the HPC Pack to complete installation of your Head Node
We look forward to hearing your feedback (positive or negative), and encourage you to use either:
Discussion forums through the 'Newsgroups' tab on the Connect beta site
Bug/Suggestion submission forms through the 'Feedback' tab on the Connect beta site
