Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Hardware
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

Sun puts Intel-based server plans into action

Debuts two x86 systems with Xeon chips, following deal signed in January

September 25, 2007 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Sun Microsystems Inc. on Tuesday will begin expanding its line of x86-based servers to include rack-mounted systems based on Intel processors -- an announcement that comes eight months after Sun and Intel Corp. signed a joint development agreement.

Sun is rolling out two Intel-based servers, topped off by the Sun Fire x4450. That system has sockets for four of the quad-core Xeon 7300 processors that Intel released earlier this month. The new server, which comes in a 2U (3.5-in.-high) enclosure and can support 2GB to 128GB of memory, starts at $8,895 and will ship next month, according to Sun officials.

The lower-end model being introduced by the company is the Sun Fire x4150, which has two sockets and can support either dual-core Xeon chips or Intel's Xeon 5300 quad-core devices, which preceded the 7300 series. The x4150 comes in a 1U enclosure and is scheduled to ship before the end of this month, with prices starting at $2,995.

Both servers support Sun's Solaris operating system as well as Linux and Windows.

Sun's embrace of the x86 platform began in earnest with its announcement four years ago of an alliance with Advanced Micro Devices Inc. In 2005, the hardware vendor dropped several existing low-end systems based on Intel chips and began shipping AMD-based servers. Sun relied exclusively on AMD's Opteron processors for its x86 line until signing the development deal with Intel early this year.

As part of that agreement, Sun said it planned to develop a full of line of Xeon-based servers and workstations, and work with Intel to optimize Solaris for hardware built around the Intel chips. Its initial offering with Intel support was the Sun Blade 6000, a modular blade server system that was introduced in June and can be equipped with dual-core Xeon chips as well as with Opteron and Sun's own UltraSparc T1 processors.

Sun officials said the two rack-mounted servers being announced this week are only the start of the company's planned line of Intel-based systems, although they added that Sun will ship machines based on AMD's new quad-core Opteron by year's end. That device, which was code-named Barcelona, was introduced this month as part of an effort by AMD to recover ground it has lost to Intel in the server market.

Bill Heilman, a platform specialist at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, has been beta-testing the Sun Fire x4450. Heilman said he plans to use the system as a server consolidation platform to help cut power costs in the university's data center. "We want to get away from server sprawl," he said.

Read more about servers in Computerworld's Servers Knowledge Center.



Jump to comments

Sun

Additional Resources

EFD vs. HDD - What You Need to Know
WHITE PAPER
Enterprise flash drives provide a new Tier 0 storage layer capable of delivering high I/O performance at a very low latency. Proper use of EFDs in an Oracle environment can deliver increased performance compared to fibre channel drives. Read the recommendations for identification of the best DB components for EFDs.
Gartner Research Report: Magic Quadrant for Application Delivery Controllers, 2009
WHITE PAPER
The market for products to improve the delivery of application software over networks remains dynamic and innovative. Vendors focused on solving enterprises' most-pressing application problems have become the top players.
Eight Criteria for Server Load Balancing
WHITE PAPER
Server load balancers are a simple yet highly effective means to scale an application environment while ensuring its availability. Today's solutions should also address application performance and security. Read about the top eight criteria you should consider when choosing a server load balancer and how Citrix NetScaler meets those requirements.

What People Are Saying

White Papers & Webcasts

Faster, Cheaper and Easier to Maintain
Can you afford not to upgrade your servers to today's advanced, energy-efficient technologies?  

The Workday User Experience Video
Watch Workday's Creative Director, Scott Lietzke, discuss the business-centered design philosophy at Workday.

Business Process Framework Demo
Learn about Configurable Business Processes and Calculated Fields. Watch Now!

Global Distributed Service in the Cloud with F5 and VMware
Learn how F5 and VMware help you orchestrate and deliver access to services in the cloud by providing a robust Application Delivery Networking...  

Manager Experience Demo
Go beyond self-service solutions to perform more effectively. Watch Now.


IT Jobs