Platform Computing Launches Cloud-Building Software

High-performance computing software provider Platform Computing 10 November launched Platform ISF, a new software package that enterprises can use to build and maintain private clouds.

Platform ISF, developed for the HPC (high-performance computing) market but being made available for all enterprise systems, was launched as a beta product in June. It is “a technology-agnostic platform that supports any collection of hardware, operating systems and virtual machines, enabling IT [professionals] to manage workload across both virtual and physical environments and support multiple hypervisors and operating systems from a single interface,” Platform Computing Vice President of Products Jingwen Wang said.

What sets Platform ISF apart from standard virtualized systems is that it “creates a shared computing infrastructure from physical and virtual heterogeneous resources to deliver broad application environments with efficient workload-smart and resource-aware policy capabilities,” the company said.

“Platform ISF meets all the requirements needed in a cloud management product: a workload distribution engine; an infrastructure aggregation layer; a self-service portal for IT administrators; metering and monitoring; and robust APIs for integration with third-party tools,” Forrester Principal Analyst James Staten said. “We believe [Platform ISF] is perhaps the most complete internal cloud software solution we’ve seen so far.”

Platform Computing, which makes cluster, grid and cloud management software, has been in business for nearly two decades, supplying customers almost exclusively in the HPC market.
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The company claims 2,000 customers and five million CPUs under management. It has strategic relationships with Cray, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Red Hat and SAS, and employs about 530 professionals working in 10 global locations.

Platform ISF has been made available for free 30-day download trials.