Microsoft is expanding its cloud 
-based tool set for scientists who require large-scale data computation and analysis capabilities with Project Daytona, which will run a range of machine -learning algorithms on Windows Azure.
Azure is an application hosting system that is key to the company's cloud strategy.
Help from Google
Daytona is powered by a runtime version of MapReduce, an open-license model created by rival Google that is capable of reaching hundreds of server cores to analyze data.
"Daytona gives scientists more ways to use the cloud without being tied to one computer or needing detailed knowledge of cloud programming -- ultimately letting scientists be scientists," said Dan Reed, corporate vice president of the technology policy group at Microsoft. "We're very excited to empower the research community with this enhanced tool kit that will hopefully lead to greater scientific insights as a result of large-scale data-analytics capabilities."
The project is part of the eXtreme Computing Group's Cloud Research Engagement Initiative, which made its debut this week at the 12th annual Microsoft Research Faculty Summit at the company's Redmond, Wash., headquarters. The computing giant's researchers cited a high demand for a data-analysis and -processing framework for workers in healthcare, education and environmental science who have stockpiles of data and need tools to sort through them.
The Project Daytona MapReduce Runtime will be available for free download with sample codes and instructional materials to help researchers set up a cloud data-analysis service on Azure. User support and periodic updates will be available, too.
"This event lays the groundwork for Microsoft's future collaboration with universities, industry and government," said Tony Hey, corporate vice president of Microsoft Research Connections. He added that executives chose this year's theme based on their commitment to forward-looking technology. "It is our goal to advance research, inspire technological innovation and cultivate the next generation of thought leaders."
Future World
Microsoft's research summit is a three-day event for scientists, academics, educators and government officials to meet with Microsoft researchers to look at emerging challenges and trends. The theme of this year's event is Future World, bringing in more than 300 thought leaders to explore natural user interfaces, cloud-computing initiatives, and machine learning.
Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT , said Daytona seems to be aimed more at research than business clients.
"Microsoft is careful to say that it's focused at researchers, and I expect they'd find it of greatest use, particularly if the Azure infrastructure provides better performance than is available to them otherwise," King said.
"But businesses using big data solutions, like EMC's Greenplum and IBM's Netezza, are typically being used to analyze and gain insight into proprietary company information," he added. "I don't see many companies lining up to entrust that sort of information to Azure or other public clouds today, but that situation could change over time."
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