Platform Computing

Platform Computing was a Canadian software company founded in Toronto in 1992 by Songnian Zhou, Jingwen Wang, and Bing Wu. The company built software for managing computational workloads across clusters, grids, and, later, private-cloud environments. Its best-known product was Load Sharing Facility, generally called LSF, a workload-management and job-scheduling platform that helped organizations distribute computing jobs among available servers according to policies, priorities, resource requirements, and queue conditions. LSF originated in the Utopia research project at the University of Toronto. Platform developed the commercial product in part with support from CANARIE, a Canadian organization involved in advanced networking and research infrastructure. The product addressed a growing need among research institutions, engineering organizations, financial firms, manufacturers, and other enterprises to use distributed computing resources more efficiently. Rather than treating servers as isolated machines, Platform's software coordinated them as shared computing infrastructure. The company expanded during the 1990s and early 2000s as high-performance computing, cluster computing, and computational-grid deployments became more common. Platform reported revenue of approximately US$300,000 in 1993 and about US$12 million in 1997. Its reported revenue reached approximately US$46.2 million in 2001 and US$50 million in 2003. These figures describe historical company revenue and should not be interpreted as current financial results. Platform broadened its portfolio beyond batch scheduling. In 1999 it announced SiteAssure, a suite aimed at website availability and monitoring. It later expanded into cluster management and message-passing software through acquisitions related to Norway-based Scali AS. Platform acquired Scali's Manage business in 2007 and completed the acquisition of the remaining Scali business in 2008. The resulting technologies included Scali MPI, which Platform rebranded as Platform MPI, extending the company's reach into parallel application communication and cluster administration. In 2009 Platform entered the private-cloud market with Platform ISF, or Infrastructure Sharing Facility. The product was designed to help organizations create and administer private clouds by coordinating physical and virtual resources. That same year, Platform acquired HP-MPI from Hewlett-Packard, adding another established high-performance-computing technology to its portfolio. The company also participated in open-source and industry-standard initiatives. It joined the Hadoop project in 2011 and worked on improvements related to the Hadoop Distributed File System. Platform Lava, derived from LSF and released under the GPLv2 license, became part of Red Hat HPC before being discontinued in 2011; OpenLava followed as an open-source successor. Other community and technical activities included Platform FTA, Nagios plug-ins, and the Community Scheduler Framework. Platform participated in organizations including The Green Grid and the Open Grid Forum, and its products were associated with standards and initiatives such as DRMAA, Intel Cluster Ready, HPC Profile, JSDL, Open MPI, and Project Kusu. IBM acquired Platform Computing in January 2012. After the acquisition, Platform's technologies and expertise became part of IBM's broader portfolio for high-performance computing, distributed workload management, and cloud infrastructure. Platform Computing is therefore best understood as a historical enterprise-software brand and acquired company rather than an independent operating business today.

Platform Computing was established in Toronto, Ontario, in 1992 by Songnian Zhou, Jingwen Wang, and Bing Wu. Its initial technology grew out of the Utopia research project at the University of Toronto, with some development support from CANARIE. The resulting Load Sharing Facility became the company's central commercial product. LSF was designed to schedule and distribute jobs across networked computing resources, allowing organizations to share server capacity while applying administrative policies and workload priorities. The company developed during the expansion of Unix clusters, engineering workstations, scientific computing, and computational grids. Historical figures cited for Platform include approximately US$300,000 in revenue in 1993, approximately US$12 million in 1997, approximately US$46.2 million in 2001, and approximately US$50 million in 2003. Platform was privately held and maintained its headquarters in Markham, Ontario, with branch offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Platform expanded its product range in 1999 with SiteAssure, aimed at website availability and monitoring. It subsequently pursued cluster-management and parallel-computing capabilities. In October 2007 it acquired the Scali Manage business from Scali AS. In August 2008 it acquired the remainder of Scali's business, including Scali MPI, and renamed that technology Platform MPI. In June 2009 it announced Platform ISF, a private-cloud management product intended to coordinate physical and virtual infrastructure. In August of the same year it acquired HP-MPI from Hewlett-Packard. The company also participated in open-source projects and technical communities. It joined Hadoop in 2011 and worked on the Hadoop Distributed File System. Platform Lava, an open-source scheduler based on LSF and licensed under GPLv2, was incorporated into Red Hat HPC before being discontinued in 2011. OpenLava subsequently served as its successor. Additional projects and integrations included Platform FTA, Nagios plug-ins, the Community Scheduler Framework, and Project Kusu, which formed the basis of Platform Cluster Manager. Platform was a member of The Green Grid and the Open Grid Forum, and its products were associated with standards and initiatives including DRMAA, Intel Cluster Ready, HPC Profile, JSDL, and Open MPI. IBM acquired Platform Computing in January 2012. The transaction ended Platform's existence as an independent company and transferred its technologies into IBM's broader high-performance-computing and infrastructure-software activities.

• 2012

  IBM acquires Platform Computing

  [1]Platform Computingen.wikipedia.org

  IBM acquired Platform Computing, ending its operation as an independent company.

• 2011

  Platform participates in Hadoop

  [1]Platform Computingen.wikipedia.org

  Platform joined the Hadoop project and focused on work related to the Hadoop Distributed File System.

• 2009

  Platform enters private-cloud infrastructure

  [1]Platform Computingen.wikipedia.org

  Platform announced Platform ISF for managing shared physical and virtual infrastructure in private-cloud environments.

• 2009

  HP-MPI is acquired

  [1]Platform Computingen.wikipedia.org

  Platform acquired HP-MPI from Hewlett-Packard.

• 2008

  Scali MPI becomes Platform MPI

  [1]Platform Computingen.wikipedia.org

  Platform completed its acquisition of Scali and rebranded Scali MPI as Platform MPI.

• 2007

  Scali Manage business is acquired

  [1]Platform Computingen.wikipedia.org

  Platform acquired Scali's Manage business, adding cluster-management capabilities.

• 1999

  SiteAssure is announced

  [1]Platform Computingen.wikipedia.org

  Platform announced SiteAssure to address website availability and monitoring requirements.

• 1992

  Platform Computing is founded

  [1]Platform Computingen.wikipedia.org

  Songnian Zhou, Jingwen Wang, and Bing Wu founded Platform Computing in Toronto, Ontario.

Enterprise software for coordinating distributed computing resources, scheduling workloads, administering clusters, and building private-cloud infrastructure.

• Workload management and job scheduling

  Load Sharing Facility

  Load Sharing Facility, commonly known as LSF, was Platform Computing's flagship product. It scheduled batch and interactive jobs across distributed servers and clusters, matching workloads with available resources and organizational policies. LSF became a widely recognized enterprise workload-management technology for high-performance computing and other resource-intensive environments.

• Website availability and monitoring · 1999

  SiteAssure

  SiteAssure was announced in 1999 as a suite for website availability and monitoring. It represented an expansion from computational workload management into operational monitoring and service reliability.

• Parallel computing and message passing · 2008

  Platform MPI

  Platform MPI was the name given to Scali MPI after Platform acquired the remaining Scali business. It provided Message Passing Interface capabilities for parallel applications running across high-performance-computing clusters.

• Private-cloud infrastructure management · 2009

  Platform ISF

  Platform Infrastructure Sharing Facility was introduced to help organizations establish and manage private clouds. It was intended to coordinate both physical and virtual resources and extend Platform's workload-management expertise into cloud infrastructure.

• Open-source workload scheduling

  Platform Lava

  Platform Lava was an open-source scheduler based on Platform LSF and distributed under the GPLv2 license. It became part of Red Hat HPC and was discontinued in 2011.

• Open-source workload scheduling

  OpenLava

  OpenLava was developed as a successor to Platform Lava, continuing the open-source scheduler line associated with Platform's workload-management technology.

• Cluster administration

  Platform Cluster Manager

  Platform Cluster Manager was based on Project Kusu and was intended to support the administration and management of computing clusters.

• 2012

  Sell the company to IBMM&A

  Background

  Platform had developed a portfolio spanning workload scheduling, cluster management, MPI, private clouds, and open-source computing infrastructure.

  Action taken

  IBM acquired Platform Computing in January 2012.

  Aftermath

  Platform ceased to operate as an independent company and its technologies became part of IBM's infrastructure and high-performance-computing activities.

  Source

• 2009

  Enter the private-cloud market with Platform ISFProduct launch

  Background

  Organizations were increasingly seeking ways to pool and govern physical and virtual infrastructure as private clouds.

  Action taken

  Platform announced Infrastructure Sharing Facility, software for establishing and managing private-cloud resources.

  Aftermath

  The announcement extended Platform's established resource-sharing and scheduling positioning into cloud infrastructure management.

  Source

• 2009

  Acquire HP-MPIM&A

  Background

  Platform was expanding its high-performance-computing and parallel-application portfolio.

  Action taken

  Platform acquired HP-MPI from Hewlett-Packard.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition added established MPI technology to Platform's cluster and parallel-computing offering.

  Source

• 2008

  Complete the acquisition of ScaliM&A

  Background

  Platform had acquired Scali's Manage business in 2007 and subsequently pursued the remainder of the Scali business to obtain its MPI technology.

  Action taken

  Platform completed the acquisition of the remaining Scali business and rebranded Scali MPI as Platform MPI.

  Aftermath

  The transaction broadened Platform's portfolio from workload scheduling and cluster management into parallel message-passing software.

  Source

• 2022.02

  Reported2022.02.22

  Sweet Flower launches a pop-up at Platform[2]Sweet Flower在Platform开设快闪店prnewswire.com

  Sweet Flower launched a retail pop-up at Platform in Culver City, where visitors could learn about the retailer and its cannabis products. The pop-up was available through March 11.

Read more

1. 1Platform Computingen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Sweet Flower在Platform开设快闪店prnewswire.com