Feature Story
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Choice on a grand scale.Sun extends product line through strategic alliance with AMD; plans to offer high-performance x86 systems at affordable prices. 17.Nov.03--Increased demand for higher performance and compute power--at a low cost--is driving businesses to grow their infrastructures and protect their existing investments at the same time. Now an alliance between Sun and chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices puts Sun in a position to deliver a complete line of x86 systems to meet that demand. Announced at Comdex today, Sun and AMD are combining 20 years of enterprise expertise with the industry-standard economics of x86, in an effort to deliver systems with extreme performance at compelling prices. As part of this industry-changing move, Sun announced its intentions to add a complete portfolio of AMD Opteron microprocessor-based servers running the Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS), Linux, and the Java Enterprise System to Sun's entry-level family of UltraSPARC processor and Xeon-based x86-based systems. This alliance between Sun and AMD allows Sun to deliver a complete line of x86 systems that scale out--from 32- to 64-bits, and from single systems to entire compute farms.
Sun DeliversThrough this strategic alliance, Sun aims to:
"Sun has always been about choice," said Neil Knox, executive vice president for Sun's Volume System Products. "This agreement with AMD helps to ensure that customers have the greatest flexibility and choice as they transition from 32-bit to 64-bit x86 infrastructure." Benefits to Your BusinessAMD Opteron processor-based systems from Sun can help satisfy the increasing demand for compute power with 64-bit, x86 solutions. This can provide customers greater platform choice with a maximum price/performance ratio. Further, Sun and AMD plan to work together to optimize the Solaris OS for AMD Opteron 64-bit, which will enable customers to take advantage of the industry's number one UNIX operating system and binary compatibility between 32- and 64-bit environments. Sun will begin offering AMD Opteron processor-based systems in 2004. These will include two- and four-processor servers. "We'll take advantage of industry economics to deliver these extreme performance systems at very accessible prices," said Knox. Investment protection is critical. With this announcement, Sun provides you with the path to 64-bit x86 applications without losing your current investment in 32-bit x86 applications. For example, existing Solaris 9 OS x86 applications will run native on the Solaris OS for Opteron. In addition, the Solaris OS and Linux will enable native 32- and 64-bit applications' coexistence, providing a seamless growth path to the future. Broad-based SolutionsKey ISVs are lining up to support the Sun systems featuring the AMD Opteron processors. BEA Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Inc., Computer Associates, Documentum, MatrixOne, SAP AG, Synopsys, Inc. and Oracle are among the first enterprise software providers to provide their horizontally scalable applications on the new AMD Opteron hardware. Additionally, Sun and AMD are launching a joint ISV Adoption Program. Through the program, ISVs interested in developing software for the Sun's AMD Opteron platform lineup will have early access to development systems. The Solaris OS brings such technologies as containers for resource management and the Trusted Solaris OS for extreme levels of security to the AMD Opteron processor platform. In addition to the Solaris OS, Sun offers a choice of Linux platforms, from Red Hat and SuSE, to round out a customer's choice of operating systems for Sun's hardware lineup that features the AMD Opteron processor. What's more, the Java Enterprise System, Sun's revolutionary approach to acquiring, deploying, and managing enterprise software, will be available on the new AMD Opteron systems. With the Java Enterprise System, customers get Sun's complete portfolio of network and Web services software in a fully integrated, tested, ready-to-deploy software system, for only $100 per employee per year. High Performance for Demanding ApplicationsThe AMD Opteron processor is designed to deliver high-performance solutions for today's most demanding enterprise applications. The AMD Opteron processor's design balances strong floating-point performance with powerful integer performance, especially in single-threaded applications. "The AMD Opteron processor has created quite a buzz in the industry," said Knox, "but customers have been waiting for a tier-one vendor to fully embrace AMD Opteron processors. Now with Sun they'll get a portfolio of high-performance systems from a vendor who can provide industry-leading service and support." The AMD Opteron processor's design uses the HyperTransport bus architecture to support large memory and interprocessor bandwidth, which helps to reduce system bottlenecks, allowing the processor to use memory more efficiently. The chip also incorporates a NUMA architecture, which allows for greater memory and hence, improved application performance. The Sun systems featuring the AMD Opteron processor are designed to be a great choice for customers who are deploying high-performance technical computing (HPTC) or grid computing applications, Web services, EDA, or databases that demand raw compute power. Financial services applications--straight-through processing for stock transactions, for example--will also take advantage of the floating point and integer performance of the AMD Opteron processor-based systems from Sun. Scale Up and Scale OutSun will continue to develop and deliver solutions for both scale out and scale up workloads with its UltraSPARC processor. Further, Sun continues to invest in Throughput Computing, an initiative for its next-generation UltraSPARC processors that aims to dramatically increase application throughput with chip multithreading technology. Such processors can dramatically increase application performance and enhance system scale out or scale up. It's Your ChoiceFor customers who only run 32-bit applications and want exceptional price/performance, Sun will continue to offer its Intel-based x86 systems--the Sun Fire V60x and V65x servers. "For the customer, it all boils down to the application," said Knox, "Whether customers choose the SPARC platform, Opteron, or Xeon depends on the kind of performance they need for their applications. And Sun is ready to meet those needs, whether it's raw compute power, throughput, or memory access." So if you're looking for greater performance from your x86 enterprise applications, Sun has a solution for you. This article contains projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future products, results or financial performance of Sun Microsystems, Inc., including statements that the SUN and AMD alliance is targeting the delivery of systems with extreme performance at compelling prices; Sun's intent to add a complete portfolio of AMD Opteron microprocessor-based servers and power desktops running Solaris, Linux and Java Enterprise System to Sun's entry-level family of systems; that the alliance will allow Sun to deliver a complete line of x86 systems that scale out from 32- to 64-bits; Sun's aim to offer choice of software with the Solaris OS, Linux and Sun Java platform and to deliver optimized Solaris OS for 64-bit AMD Opteron processors; Sun's plan to work together with AMD to optimize the Solaris OS for AMD Opteron 64-bit; Sun's intent to offer AMD Opteron processor-based systems in 2004; Sun's intent to take advantage of industry economics to deliver extreme performance systems at very accessible prices; Sun's belief that it provides you with a path to 64-bit x86 applications without losing your current investment in 32-bit x86 applications; that Solaris 9 OS x86 will run native on the Solaris OS for Opteron; that Solaris OS and Linux will enable native 32- and 64-bit applications' coexistence, providing a seamless path to the future; that Sun and AMD are launching a joint ISV Adoption Program; that the Java Enterprise System will be available on the new AMD Opteron systems; that customers will get a portfolio of high-performance systems from a vendor who can provide industry-leading service and support; that the chip will allow for greater memory and hence improved application performance; Sun's belief that it systems featuring AMD Opteron processors are a great choice for customers deploying high-performance technical computing or grid computing applications; that the SPARC processor will continue to be Sun's flagship for extremely scalable Symmetric Multiprocessing; that Sun continues to invest heavily in the SPARC architecture and is leveraging the processor's inherent scalability with its Throughput Computing strategy; that Sun is ready to meet customers' needs, whether it's raw computing power, throughput, or memory access; and that Sun has a solution for you. Factors that might cause actual results to differ include risks associated with developing and marketing new products, lack of success in technological advancements, lack of acceptance of new products, adverse business conditions, failure to retain key employees, cancellation or delay of projects and in particular the cancellation or delay of the alliance with AMD, increased competition and continued adverse general economic conditions in the U.S. and internationally. These and other risks are detailed from time to time in Sun's periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Sun's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003 and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 28, 2003. | ||||||||||||||
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