Sun makes volume play with four-way server

Robert McMillan   Today’s Top Stories   or  Other Servers Stories  

Gain a faster, cheaper way to manage workload Server Management: The tried and true vendors vs. the new-idea startups Blades: fast growing and incompatible Business Transaction Management: Facilitating the Management of Virtual Environments Solving 9 Common IT Challenges Through Workload Profiling and Portability Green IT: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint with Citrix Learn-Fast Guide: Get Up to Speed on Green IT SaaS Solutions for Remote Systems Management Learn-Fast Guide: Software as a Service is Growing Up Sign up to receive Servers Resource Alerts

September 17, 2003 (IDG News Service) -- Sun Microsystems Inc. today continues its fight for the volume systems market by announcing three new products, including a new four-way server priced under $16,000.
The Sun Fire V440 will be one of three new systems the hardware vendor plans to unveil at its Sun Network show in San Francisco this week. Also planned is the Sun Blade 1500 workstation and the first update to Sun's line of tower servers since the late 1990s: the Sun Fire V250.
The V440 is a rack-mounted system that will have less memory and less-powerful processors than Sun's current entry-level four-way offering, the V480. But with list pricing ranging from $10,000 to $26,000, it will also be much less expensive, said Souheil Saliba, vice president of marketing and strategy for Sun's volume system products. "The 480 and the 440 address two different spaces. The 440 is essentially half the price point of the 480."
One of the chief differences between the two systems will be at the microprocessor level. The V440 will use the UltraSparc IIIi processor with 1MB of Level 2 cache per processor. The V480 uses the UltraSparc III with 8MB of cache per chip.
For some applications, however, the V440 looks like it might make an excellent low-cost alternative to its more pricy relative. The two systems performed almost identically during an electronic design automation application benchmark run by Texas Instruments Inc., according to Chris Davis, the company's worldwide IT strategy manger for semiconductor design IT.
Davis has been testing a beta version of the V440 for three months as a possible replacement for some old Sun systems TI is using for chip design. Based on the price and performance of the systems, he said he would take the V440 over the V480, should he eventually make a purchase. "Within the scope of what I am doing at TI, which is a pretty narrow scope relative to Sun's entire marketplace, the 440 looks like the best fit," he said.
Volume systems are an increasingly important market for Sun, as IT managers are shifting their buying from Sun's traditional midrange and high-end systems to less expensive machines like the V480 and V440, according to IDC analyst Jean Bozman. "IT managers are generally adding to their infrastructure by adding servers that way because there's so much pressure on IT budgets.
"Volume servers are selling well in general, and Sun has had success in the volume server space," she said, noting that the V480 has sold well since its introduction in June 2002.
But Sun's developing software strategy will play an increasingly important role in helping the company compete with rivals like Dell Inc.,

Continued...
1 | 2 | NEXT  

Reprinted with permission from

IDG.net
Story copyright 2008 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

"In Thursday's IT Blogwatch, we wonder why Cisco is buying a tiny company called PostPath for $215 million -- could..." Read more... "One year later, Intel's efforts to create cross-vendor standards for blades are still falling on deaf ears at IBM and..." Read more... Read more Servers & Data Center posts or See all Blogs

Microsoft warns of IE8 lock-in with XP SP3 Image Gallery: 'Fashion' PCs hit the catwalk Apple confirms iPhone security bug, promises patch Malware infects space station laptops Review: Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 offers some nifty new features Sprint's WiMax service to include local features Veoh ruling bolsters YouTube effort to fend off $1 billion Viacom suit Update: Google may let users comment on, rearrange search results Air traffic network glitch cleared up -- for now As SSD factories explode, memory prices plummet More top stories...

Scented, other 'fashion' PCs hit the catwalk Steve Jobs' death greatly exaggerated; Bloomberg obit a mistake Target agrees to $6M settlement of accessibility lawsuit Microsoft reveals IE8 Beta 2 Trade body to hear Microsoft complaint against Taiwan company European court won't stop U.K. hacker's extradition to U.S. Panasonic and Sony tout plasma, LCD TV plans at IFA show iPhone gets two AT&T data plans for international travelers Microsoft Office Live Small Biz suffers outage, possibly lost e-mail McCain's online reach surges in days before Dem convention

15 great gadgets for the back-to-school crowd Here are 15 devices and add-ons that make the back-to-school computing experience extraordinary. The new employee connection: Social networking behind the firewall As Facebook-like apps infiltrate the enterprise, they're integrating the workforce in unforeseen ways. Build a three-screen workstation for $230 or less If you want to expand the visual capabilities of your laptop, you can add two monitors without spending a lot of time or money. The Asus Eee 1000 — more power, still portable The latest iteration of Asus' groundbreaking mini-notebook adds a faster CPU, a larger display and a better keyboard. Windows Vista A to Z Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS. More Continuing Coverage After 9/11: Homeland Security Apple's iPhone Ask a Premier 100 IT Leader Bill Gates steps down BlackBerry Legal Battle Data Security Breaches Electronic Voting Firefox H-1B Visas HP's Boardroom Scandal Handheld Devices Hurricane Katrina Aftermath Microsoft Legal Issues Microsoft's Vista Open Source RFID Technology SCO's Linux Fight Sarbanes-Oxley Act Spam Voice Over IP Wi-Fi Windows Meta File Vulnerability Windows XP Service Pack 3 IT Careers 2010 Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready? More Special Reports Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Best in Class 2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders 2006 Salary Survey 2007 Best Places to Work in IT 2007 IT Forecast 2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders 40 Years of Computerworld ASPs, Take Two Best Places to Work in IT 2003 Best Places to Work in IT 2004 Best Places to Work in IT 2005 Best Places to Work in IT 2006 Business Intelligence Home Runs Business Intelligence: Smarter BI Business Intelligence: The Future of BI CRM Goes Vertical CRM: Sober CRM Career Planning Guide 2005 Careers: IT Profession 2010 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005 Data Management: Mining for Gems Data Management: Taming Data Chaos Development: Hard-Workin' Web Sites Development: New Tools New Choices Development: The New World of Application Development Development: The Web Services Tsunami Development: Web Services Hurdles Disaster Recovery: Preparing for the Worst E-commerce Grows Up E-mail/Groupware: Big Decisions Faces of Mobile IT Forecast 2006 Global Mobile Hardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple Challenges Hardware: On-Demand Un-Hyped Hardware: The Shape of Things to Come Horizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge Technologies IT Management: Guide to Managing Vendors IT Management: Navigating Global IT IT Management: Recovery Ahead IT Management: The Future of IT IT Management: The Resourceful Project Manager Innovative Technology Awards 2004 Management: Reinventing IT Microsoft in Transition Mobile/Wireless Leaders and Laggards Mobile/Wireless: The Untethered Worker Mobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge Costs Network Management: Taking Control Networking: Turbulence Ahead! Networking: VoIP Goes Mainstream Operating Systems: In the Slow Lane Operating Systems: Linux Goes Global Operating Systems: Should You Nix Unix? Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's Guide Outsourcing: Outsourcing Dangers Premier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in Class Premier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in Class ROI: Do the Math! Salary Survey 2003 Salary Survey 2004 Salary Survey 2005 Security Action Plan Security: Compliance Headaches Security: Proactive Security Security: Risk and Reward Security: Tips From Security Pros Souped-up Security Storage: Battling Complexity Storage: Cheap & Secure Data Stores Storage: Stretching Your Storage Dollars Storage: The Lean Storage Machine Storage: The New Rules of Storage Storage: The Ultimate Backup Guide Supply Chain: Missing Links Supply Chain: RFID Reality Check The Business of Security Web 2.0 Security Wireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone The File Data Management Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone Windows Protection Zone Identity & Security Management Zone See your link here

Learn-Fast Guide: Get Up to Speed on Green IT (Source: Computerworld) Whether it's in the front office or the server room, green thinking can save energy, trees and money. From the Editorial Staff at Computerworld, here's the latest thinking on greening your operations. Download this executive briefing  Embracing Innovation - The Business Case for PC Blades Embracing Innovation - The Business Case for PC Blades Watch this webcast now! Go to the webcast  Virtualization Everywhere Download this white paper, free, compliments of Citrix. (Source: Citrix) Adoption of virtualization is concentrated among large enterprises, while adoption by mid-sized companies has been much slower. For these companies, the cost and complexity of server virtualization solutions has been a barrier. In this paper, we'll discuss how Citrix XenServer" provides simple, economical server virtualization for any size company. Download now! Download this white paper  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Dynamic Capacity Management for Virtualized Environments Five Technologies Simplifying Infrastructure Management Cut Data Center Energy Costs View more whitepapers

• Microsoft warns of IE8 lock-in with XP SP3
• Scented, other 'fashion' PCs hit the catwalk
• Image Gallery: 'Fashion' PCs hit the catwalk
• More top stories 

SQL Anywhere Developer Edition Download SQL Anywhere is the industry-leading mobile and embedded database. Designed for database-powered applications that operate in frontline environments without onsite IT support, SQL Anywhere offers enterprise-caliber features in a database that is easily embedded and widely deployed in server, desktop, remote office and mobile applications. Download the free SQL Anywhere Developer Edition

Intercept Spam & Viruses With MessageLabs MessageLabs is offering a complimentary 30 day trial of its managed Anti-virus and Anti-spam security solutions. MessageLabs guarantees complete protection against all know and unknown email threats. By providing 24 hour support, your business can increase productivity and decrease risk. Register for a complimentary trial and receive a free datasheet. Download this white paper now!