Press Releases from the Past 25 Years

Scott McNealy Named President

Business Wire
February 13, 1984

Summary: Sun Microsystems Inc. announced Monday the appointment of Scott McNealy as president and chief operating officer in a reorganization of its executive management team.

McNealy, a co-founder of Sun and formerly vice president of operations, succeeds Owen Brown, who resigned to pursue other business interests. "The board of directors feels that this reorganization will create a strong executive team to manage the rapidly expanding business environment that we face at Sun," said Vinod Khosla, chief executive officer.

Sun Microsystems Announces Increased Sales and Earnings for FY 1984

Business Wire
August 7, 1984

Summary: Sun Microsystems has announced an increase in revenues of more than 300 percent for its second full fiscal year, ended June 30.

According to Robert G. Smith, chief financial officer, revenues for the year were $39 million, with earnings per share of 21 cents, up from $9 million in revenue for fiscal year 1983 and earnings per share of 8 cents. Sun, a privately held firm, manufactures and markets high performance general purpose engineering workstations for technical professionals.

SUN-MICROSYSTEMS; (SUNW) Sun introduces 10-MIPS supercomputing workstation

Business Wire
July 8, 1987
New York

Sun Microsystems Inc. Wednesday introduced the Sun-4 family of 10-MIPS supercomputing workstations and servers that give users the performance of a VAX 8800 system at one-tenth the price.
"We expect this product family to redefine workstation computing and create a new price/performance point in the industry," said Bernard Lacroute, Sun's executive vice president. "Sun built its reputation delivering workstations with industry-leading performance at unmatched price/performance levels. The Sun-4/200 Series continues that tradition."

"This is not only a hardware-only announcement," said Sun President Scott McNealy. "Sun has accomplished something rarely seen in the computing industry by delivering the first supercomputing workstation with a full complement of system and applications software available today."

Several original equipment manufacturers, including Valid Logic and LSI Logic, have ported software applications to the new Sun platform, and more than 90 third-party software developers have either ported their product or demonstrated intent to port to the new system.

The Sun-4/200 Series is ideally suited for all compute-intensive, floating-point or graphics-intensive applications. The primary markets targeted are high-end mechanical-CAD (MCAD) applications, such as solids modeling and finite element analysis, electrical-CAD (ECAD) applications including IC and PC layout and routing; artificial intelligence (AI) development, earth resources and molecular modeling.

The Sun-4 family is source-code compatible with the Sun-3 and Sun-2 families of 680X0 microprocessor-based products, allowing all three product-families to use the same software and be combined in network installations. Sun is also supplying software tools to ease the porting process, allowing migration to the newer, high-performance family of workstations at the user's discretion.
Key to the supercomputing workstation series is its new scalable architecture based on RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) technology.

Called SPARC for Scalable Processor ARChitecture, it is readily scalable to deliver dramatic performance increases in the future.

Sun also announced a new server series based on the SPARC technology that offers the highest performance of any UNIX-based system on the market at dramatically lower costs than conventional superminicomputers. Used as fileservers, computer servers, communication gateways or as cost-effective timesharing systems, these servers are ideal for building high optimized networks.

A Sun-4/260 high-resolution, monochrome deskside workstation with 8 Mbytes of main memory is priced at $39,900. A Sun-4/260 color deskside workstation with 32 Mbytes of main memory, a 560-Mbyte disk subsystem and a 60-Mbyte 1/4-inch cartridge tape system is $85,500.

Sample server configurations range from $36,900 for the Sun-4/260S pedestal model with 8 megabytes of main memory to $104,900 for a Sun-4/280S server with 32 megabytes of main memory and 1.2 gigabytes of disk and tape storage. The Sun-4 systems are available 60 to 90 days after receipt of order depending on configuration.

Upgrades for Sun-3/260 and Sun-3/160 workstations to the 10-MIPS Sun-4 performance are also available. The upgrades are priced at $13,900 for the Sun-3/260 and at $23,900 for the Sun-3/160.
Sun also announced that it will license the new SPARC architecture, operating system and related development tools and compilers to semiconductor and systems manufacturers. This is the first time a major computer systems manufacturer is making its own advanced CPU architecture available to the open market.

The licensees will in turn supply chips, boards and/or complete SPARC-based systems to the open market. SPARC licensees announced today are Fujitsu Microelectronics, Cypress Semiconductor and Bipolar Integrated Technology.

In conjunction with today's announcement of the 10-MIPS Sun-4 family, Sun Microsystems has reduced the base price of its high-end Sun-3/200 series of 4-MIPS systems by 15-19 percent. With this price reduction, Sun now offers a fully expandable, high-end workstation at a mid-range price.

Sun also introduced the Symbolic Programming Environment, a set of sophisticated software tools for the development of artificial intelligence applications on Sun's general-purpose workstations. The new tools, which improve productivity and ease program development in the Lisp programming language, offer the first true symbolic programming environment for general-purpose workstations.
The Symbolic Programming Environment lists for $3,500 and will be available in the first quarter of 1988 for the Sun-4 and Sun-3 families of workstations.

Sun Microsystems Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., is the leading supplier of distributed computing systems based on industry standards.

SunSoft introduces first shrink-wrapped distributed computing solution: Solaris

Business Wire
September 4, 1991
San Jose, CA

SunSoft, the system software subsidiary of Sun Microsystems Inc., Wednesday raised the bar in the software market with its introduction of Solaris, the industry's first "shrink-wrapped" distributed computing environment available in volume on a compact disc.

Solaris will be available on the computing industry's highest-volume multivendor platforms, SPARC-based RISC systems and Intel 80386/486-based personal computers.

The announcement was made at SunSoft's Catalyst Developers Conference, which had more than 1,000 attendees from around the world. Today's introduction is the company's first major product launch since starting business July 1 and represents its opening move in the hotly contested market for advanced system software.

Most system software available today is designed for stand-alone computers. However, SunSoft's Solaris integrates the world's leading distributed computing technologies to empower the workgroup. Solaris is a total system software solution integrating a 3-D desktop metaphor with a robust developer environment that is founded on the industry's most powerful 32-bit operating system, SunOS.

This operating system now incorporates the UNIX System V Release 4 (SVR4) industry standard, which unites 80 percent of the 10 million UNIX users. Solaris also features support for next-generation technologies, such as symmetric multiprocessing and multithreading, to drive volume on the commercial desktop.

"While other companies are talking about making distributed computing a reality, at SunSoft, we're there," said Edward J. Zander, president of SunSoft. "Solaris offers 32-bit power, symmetric multiprocessing with multithreading, application interoperability and objects -- the kind of technologies that will be required for developing next-generation networked applications."

Some of the world's largest computer vendors today announced support for Solaris on the Intel platform. Novell announced it will partner with SunSoft to introduce the Solaris product for intel to its reseller channels and incorporate its NetWare network operating system products into SunSoft's new distributed computing environments.

ASCII Corp., Japan's largest PC and UNIX software company, announced that it will distribute Solaris for Intel through its resellers in Japan.

Intel announced plans to cooperate with SunSoft to ensure that Solaris 2.0 will be optimized to run on the X86 platform.

Dell Computer Corp., one of the fastest-growing computer companies in the United States, announced that it will offer Solaris on its Intel-based products. AST Research, the third-highest volume supplier of 80486-based systems in the United States, certified that Solaris will run on its products. In addition, Toshiba, CompuAdd and NetFRAME, a leading supplier of PC superservers, expressed their support for Solaris on the Intel X86 platform.

Many of the leading SPARC vendors endorsed Solaris. CompuAdd, Solbourne, Tatung, Toshiba, and Sun Microsystems Computer Corp. announced that they will offer Solaris on their products. These companies offer a range of systems from laptops to mainframes.

In addition, ICL, the leading computer manufacturer in Europe, announced a collaboration with SunSoft to enable SVR4 applications to run unchanged on multiple SPARC platforms.

By making Solaris available on the SPARC and Intel platforms, SunSoft unites the world's highest-volume RISC and CISC platforms with a single computing environment. According to International Data Corp. (IDC), a market research group based in Framingham, Mass., SPARC captured 65 percent of the total RISC market in 1990.

Intel X86-based systems accounted for 84 percent of all computers shipped in 1990, according to IDC. Software written for Solaris on Intel an SPARC will be source code compatible, enabling developers to create one application that runs on both platforms.

Already, Solaris inherits a base of more than 3,600 third-party software and hardware products -- the industry's largest compatible 32-bit solution base.

More than 50 software developers, providing solutions for a range of commercial, productivity and technical markets, also announced support for SunSoft's new distributed computing environment. These include Lotus Development Corp., Ashton-Tate, WordPerfect, Oracle, Cadence, Ventura Software, Informix and ASK/Ingres.

Solaris: Shipping in Volume With a Path to the Future

Based on SunOS, the highest-volume 32-bit UNIX operating system, Solaris gives users the power of multitasking, multiprocessing and multithreading on the desktop. Today, SunOS runs of 500,000 machines and represents more than 47 percent of the workstation market, according to Dataquest, a market research firm based in San Jose.

Solaris has been designed to meet the needs of end users, software developers and system administrators in distributed computing environments. For end users, Solaris offers the intuitive OPENLOOK 3-D desktop metaphor with multimedia workgroup productivity applications, making the network easily accessible by commercial desktops.

For software developers, Solaris features a robust developer environment: OpenWindows with the object-oriented application interoperability product, ToolTalk, to easily create next-generation distributed applications. Lastly, for system administrators, Solaris includes ONC (Open Network Computing), the industry's most widely used heterogenous networking solution, with more than 1.3 million nodes.

Project DOE: Distributed Objects Everywhere -- SunSoft's Vision For the 1990s

Solaris extends the benefits of its distributed computing technologies to include object-oriented computing benefits for workgroups. SunSoft calls this vision Project DOE: Distributed Objects Everywhere.

"Distributed objects are de rigueur in the '90s," said Zander. "And with Solaris, distributed technologies are within reach of every type of user."

Solaris, unlike personal computer operating environments that require a total rewrite to move objects, provides a seamless path to distributed objects as it builds on SunOS.

SunSoft is delivering the first component against its vision of Project DOE. In February 1991, SunSoft and Hewlett-Packard (HP) developed the industry's first Distributed Object Management Facility (Distributed MF). This was submitted to the Object Management Group (OMG). In June, SunSoftadded to its object technology foundation with the introduction of ToolTalk.

The product has been endorsed by a number of leading software vendors including Lotus Development Corp., Cadence, Valid and Clarity Software. Other elements of Project DOE will be introduced later this year.

Availability and Pricing

SunSoft offers two versions of Solaris. Solaris 1.0 is based on SunOS 4.1.1, OpenWindows Version 2 and DeskSet Version 2. It is available immediately for all SPARC vendors in a shrink-wrapped package that includes a compact disc and documentation. It has a suggested retail price of $1,395 for traditionally configured workstations and a price of $795 for low-cost commercial systems, such as laptops.

Solaris 1.0 is available through SunSoft and major computer system manufacturers worldwide.

Solaris 2.0 is based on SunSoft's latest SVR4-based SunOS 5.0 with symmetric multiprocessing and multithreading, and enhanced ONC. It features OpenWindows Version 3 and DeskSet Version 3. Solaris 2.0 is offered on the SPARC and Intel platforms. It maintains source compatibility with Solaris 1.0, providing a smooth migration path for software developers to SVR4.

Developer copies of Solaris 2.0 on SPARC are available immediately through SunSoft. An early access release of Solaris for the SPARC and Intel platforms will be available on early 1992. Solaris 2.0 will be shipped in volume of both platforms in the first half of 1992. Pricing will be announced at that time.

Sunsoft launches Solaris 2.0; distributed solution combines UNIX SVR4, multiprocessing, 3-D user environments

Business Wire
September 4, 1991
San Jose, CA

SunSoft Wednesday introduced Solaris 2.0, the industry's most advanced distributed computing solution.

Solaris combines 32-bit power, industry-standard networking, a robust developer environment and a 3-D multimedia desktop metaphor, all shrink-wrapped on a single compact disc to deliver next-generation system software for the commercial desktop. SunSoft also announced Wednesday that it will make this powerful solution available for SPARC RISC and Intel X86 platforms.

Solaris 2.0 is based on the most widely-used 32-bit operating system, SunOS. The new Solaris SunOS implementation, SunOS 5.0, incorporates Systems V Release 4 (SVR4), which unites 80 percent of the 10 million UNIX users. It also includes symmetric multiprocessing with multithreading to "turbo-charge" mission-critical applications such as databases and transaction processing. In addition, SunOS 5.0 offers enhancements for the commercial market with added security, on-line automatic file back-up and easy system installation.

Integrated with Solaris SunOS 5.0 in ONC (Open Network Computing), the industry's leading solution for connecting different computers. In Solaris 2.0, ONC adds a number of technologies that improve the installation and management of heterogenous networks.

Solaris 2.0 also offers a new developer environment that enables software developers to create next-generation distributed applications easily and quickly. Called Solaris OpenWindows Version 3, it includes the recently introduced ToolTalk object-oriented application interoperability solution, allowing software developers to integrate their programs across the network.

For end users, Solaris 2.0 puts network resources on the desktop through the intuitive 3-D OPEN LOOK desktop metaphor and the DeskSet suite of 15 productivity, workgroup and multimedia applications. Users can, with the click of a mouse, perform sophisticated tasks across an array of networked computers.

Solaris 2.0 also offers international support for users worldwide to customize their desktops according to local language requirements. In addition, it supports more than 16 million colors on the desktop.
"We designed Solaris to enhance ease of use for everyone -- end users, software developers and system administrators," said Steve MacKay, vice president of user environment software at SunSoft. "The power of Solaris integrated with its graphical desktop metaphor makes simple tasks intuitive and complex tasks possible for every type of user."

All of these powerful technologies -- SunOS 5.0, ONC, OpenWindows, OPEN LOOK and DeskSet -- are integrated into a single solution that runs on the SPARC RISC and Intel X86 platforms.

Solaris 2.0 will also be the basis of future advances in the area of object-based computing for SunSoft. Unlike personal computer operating systems that require a total rewrite to move objects, Solaris 2.0 provides a smooth path as it builds on the SunOS foundation. SunSoft calls its vision of object-based computing Project DOE: Distributed Objects Everywhere. Through Solaris 2.0 and Project DOE, SunSoft plans to bring object-oriented technology into the commercial mainstream.

"While the '80s was the decade of the killer application, the '90s will be the decade of a killer environment that meets the needs of all users." said Bill Coleman, SunSoft's vice president of system software. "By bringing the most powerful distributed computing solutions to the highest-volume multivendor platforms, Solaris 2.0 will be the catalyst that transforms computing in this decade."
Software written for Solaris 1.0, SunSoft's distributed computing solution based on SunOS 4.1.1, is source compatible with Solaris 2.0. In addition, Solaris 2.0 on the Intel and SPARC platforms is a source code compatible, opening up the largest 32-bit hardware market for software developers.

These vendors only need to create one application that runs on both architectures. Solaris 2.0 already inherits the largest compatible application base in the 32-bit market, with more than 3,600 third-party software and hardware solutions.

In related announcements, more than 50 software developers revealed plans to develop applications that take advantage of the new features of Solaris 2.0. These include Lotus Development Corp., Ashton-Tate, Oracle and Cadence. Also, a large number of computer vendors announced support for Solaris for the SPARC and Intel platforms. These include AST Research, CompuAdd, Dell Computer, Solbourne Computer, Sun Microsystems Computer Corp. and Toshiba.

Solaris 2.0 Solution: The Killer Environment

Designed to address the needs of users, software developers and system administrators, Solaris 2.0 is divided into three components: the foundation technologies, the developer environment and the user environment.

Solaris Foundation: SunOS 5.0 -- Turbo-Charged UNIX

SunOS 5.0, the foundation of Solaris 2.0, is an enhanced version of System V Release 4 (SVR4), the industry-standard UNIX operating systems jointly developed by AT&T and Sun Microsystems Inc. SVR4 consolidates the leading versions of UNIX -- Xenix, BSD, SunOS and System V.

SunOS 5.0 features symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) designed with a multithreaded (MT) kernel. Multithreading greatly speeds up I/O processing and concurrency, increasing the performance of mission-critical commercial and technical applications.

A "thread" is a sequence of computing instructions that make up a program or process. In an SMP/MT environment, many threads can simultaneously execute several functions inside the operating system. With SunOS, there are also threads outside the operating system kernel.

These application-accessible threads allow software developers to divide programs into many smaller units each of which independently targets individual processors in a system simultaneously, thereby dramatically increasing overall performance.

Solaris SunOS 5.0 also includes real-time capabilities, making Solaris ideal for applications that require a dependable and split-second response such as on-line transaction processing, telecommunications switching and military command and control.

SunOS 5.0 features new technology extensions, critical for managing large heterogenous networks in the commercial market. These technologies include disk mirroring, in which the system makes a "mirror" copy of the user's file on another disk and automatically uses it in case of a system failure; disk striping that increases application performance by spreading the I/O load across several disks; and disk concatenation that enables system administrators to easily move large files around the network without interrupting users.

In addition, Solaris 2.0 offers an object-oriented framework, which allows system administrators to easily and intuitively install the network. This framework is extensible, so that new OPEN LOOK applications can be added. Solaris 2.0 also supports the recently introduced ARM and ASET products for increasing network security.

Solaris 2.0 offers international support, enabling software developers to localize their applications in different languages and giving users a familiar desktop metaphor. Solaris SunOS 5.0 provides 8-bit clean characters, international keyboards and local language formatting and messaging. It supports Asian languages, including Japanese, Korean and two Chinese languages, and a host of European languages such as French, German and Swedish.

Solaris SunOS 5.0 complies with all major industry standards and specifications including IEEE POSIX 1003.1X/OPEN Portability Guide (XPG) 3, ISO 9660, AT&T Systems V Interface Definition (SVID) 3 and the SPARC Compliance Definition (SCD) 2.0. Support of SCD 2.0 means that software developers are able to create shrink-wrapped applications that will run on all SPARC-based UNIX systems without modification.

In addition, SunSoft is committed to the UNIX International SVR4 roadmap and will contribute to the implementation of the Atlas distributed computing initiative, announced in June of this year.

Solaris Foundation: ONC -- The Network is the Computer

Solaris 2.0 features new enhancements to the ONC suite of distributed computing services, enabling system administrators, end users and developers to more effectively access, share and control information across worldwide, multivendor networks. Solaris incorporates the new NIS+solution, a flexible and powerful naming service particularly suited for streamlined system and network administration.

Solaris 2.0 takes the industry-standard NFS file system and ONC-based distributed computing mechanisms to the next level of computing with the incorporation of a number of technologies, such as multithreading and support for new authentication forms and encryption technologies.

These additions enable NFS to create a faster, more secure distributed file system for application, file print and resource sharing. NFS now supports the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Kerberos network authentication technology. In addition, SunSoft signed an agreement with RSA Data Security Inc., to incorporate its data encryption technology into Solaris ONC, further strengthening security across large networks.

With an installed base of more than 1.3 million systems, ONC is the industry standard for enterprise multivendor networks. More than 300 companies have licensed ONC, including IBM, Apple, DEC, HP and Novell.

ONC implementations provide interoperability across all major types of computers from PCs to mainframes and across all major operating systems including MS-DOS, MacOS, UNIX, MVS and VMS.

Solaris Developer Environment: OpenWindows -- Tomorrow's Applications Today
The Solaris 2.0 developer environment features an upgraded version of SunSoft's popular OpenWindows application development platform, called OpenWindows Version 3 (OWV3). OWV3 provides application developers with the technologies and product to accelerate user interface development and create networked applications that are easier to user and adapted for the international market.

Solaris 2.0 builds on X11, the industry's most widely adopted network-based windowing technology, by integrating it with SunSoft's PostScript-based imaging model NeWS, to generate a powerful new X11-NeWS core. This allows developers to create WYSIWYG -- what you see is what you get -- applications across the network.

A key feature in OWV3 it ToolTalk, the interapplications communications solution that allows applications to exchange information and automatically update one another using procedural multicast or object-based messaging technology.

An important product that supports the Solaris developer environment is the new OpenWindows Developer's Guide Version 3 user interface builder, which significantly reduces development time and costs. Devguide allows software developers to build and test interfaces using icons without writing a single line of programming code. Instead, Devguide takes the writer's input and automatically generates code for one of the three toolkits supported in OWV3.

These three toolkits provide a strong foundation for building applications. The OPEN LOOK Intrinsics Toolkit (OLIT) offers a programming interface based on the MIT X intrinsics definition. The NeWS Toolkit offers tightly integrated PostScript-based imaging and a powerful object-oriented application environment.

The XView Toolkit allows applications to move from the SunView interface to OPEN LOOK. All the toolkits provide multilanguage support.

OWV3 also supports two graphics libraries that produce true-color applications. The XGL performance library is fine-tuned for the SPARC platform and the PHIGS portability library is optimized to move to different platforms with low performance degradation. In addition, SunSoft has been selected by MIT to develop the future 3-D extensions to the PHIGS implementation.

SunSoft has worked closely with SunPro, a Sun Microsystems Inc. business, to offer its family of SPARCompilers to Solaris 2.0 to speed up software development. These include ANSI C, C++, Fortran, COBOL, Pascal and Ada. In addition, SunSoft is porting SunPro's SPARCworks family of development tools to Solaris 2.0.

The Solaris 2.0 user experience is defined by DeskSet Version 3, a full range of 15 productivity applications and utilities based on the OPEN LOOK graphical user interface. Many of the new and enhanced applications in DeskSet for Solaris 2.0 allow users to work in teams, collaborating on the same project while using different applications.

They also let users exchange information between applications through "drag and drop." For instance, to print a file anywhere on the network, a user simply points, clicks and drags the file from an application and drops it onto the Print Tool.

These new and enhanced applications include Workgroup Calendar Manager, Multimedia Mail, Audio Tool, Network File Manager and Magnified Help. The Workgroup Calendar Manager enables users to schedule their own appointments as well as access colleagues' calendars across the world to schedule times with them.

Multimedia Mail offers users the ability to attach text, graphics, sound and video to mail messages and send them across networks. The new Audio Tool enables users to record and play back sounds, as well as make, edit and listen to voice messages sent through Multimedia Mail.

The new Network File Manager in Solaris 2.0 features an easy-to-use and consistent graphical front end, allowing users to represent files on the screen and access them anywhere on the network with a simple point and click of the mouse.

Magnified Help provides users with immediate help on the screen. Users need only click on a specific icon to get a brief message. For more help, users can access the help handbooks that provide on-line detailed help on the use of a specific icon or application.

In addition, users can access a hypertext-based on-line tutorial to walk through the Solaris environment. These help features are powered by SunSoft's Doc-Viewer technology, giving users help at their fingertips at any time.

DeskSet offers icons that are internationally understood by users worldwide, crucial for conducting business in the worldwide commercial markets. Solaris 2.0 also enables users in other countries to tailor their desktops with date and time formats and local language messages, enabling them to use the simple desktop metaphor within a local context.

Solaris 2.0 is source compatible with Solaris 1.0, allowing software developers to easily migrate their applications. Furthermore, applications that are SCD compliant are binary compatible with Solaris 2.0.
As stated earlier, Solaris 2.0 is also source code compatible on the SPARC and Intel platforms. Application writers need only create one application that runs on all environments.

SunSoft is offering software developers several programs to allow them to take advantage of the new features found in Solaris 2.0, including a SVR4 migration package and a Solaris 2.0 Early Access Program.

SunSoft is also providing the new OpenWindows Version 3 and OpenWindows Developers Guide Version 3 on Solaris 1.0 to allow developers to create user interfaces and integrated applications today that will run unmodified in the Solaris 2.0 environment.

Developer copies of Solaris 2.0 are available immediately. An early access release of Solaris on both SPARC and Intel will be available by early 1992. Solaris 2.0 will be shipped in volume for both the SPARC and Intel platforms in the first half of 1992.

The new OpenWindows Version 3 upgrade for Solaris 1.0 and OpenWindows Developers Guide Version 3 will be available in the fourth quarter of calendar year 1991. Pricing and distribution will be announced at that time.

Solaris 1.0 is available immediately for all SPARC vendors in a shrink-wrapped package that includes a compact disc and documentation. It has a suggested retail price of $1,395 for traditionally configured workstations and a price of $795 for low-cost commercial systems, such as laptops. Solaris 1.0 is available through SunSoft and major computer system manufacturers worldwide.

Sun launches first interactive World Wide Web site; powered by Java; shop talk on "Sun on the Net"

Business Wire
May 23, 1995
Mountain View, CA

Sun Microsystems Inc. today unveiled a newly redesigned World Wide Web site, incorporating the Java programming language to deliver customized interactive content, the ability to launch sounds and animation, and frequently updated information on Internet issues.

With a provocatively designed, magazine-style format, the new, interactive Web site goes beyond providing the company information that is a feature of most home pages to offer interviews, commentary on industry issues, and a broad variety of content that is of interest to Web "surfers."

"We're moving beyond legacy browsers and traditional home pages to pioneer one of the industry's first truly interactive Web sites," said Scott McNealy, chairman and CEO, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "The Java language and the HotJava browser give us the ability to incorporate video, audio and animation into our pages, and new dynamic server features will let us customize each reader's experience with the page, based on their interests."

The redesigned site's masthead carries a monthly date and features a prominent "What's Happening" icon, which will be updated on a weekly, or even a daily basis. Visitors to the site can get updates on what's new at Sun, on the Internet and in the world of technology at large.

The June 1995 "What's Happening" icon points visitors to news on the products announced at the Netropolis press event on May 23 as well as an interview with the creators of Yahoo.

A Sun on the Net icon offers nuts and bolts information on how Sun's site is designed and maintained, offering shop talk for Internet engineers and business advice for companies who are looking at building their own Web sites. The new site also includes instructions for downloading the HotJava browser.
According to Brian Pinkerton's "Webcrawler" in January 1995, Sun is the 12th most visited Web site in the United States. And in April 1995, Interactive Age named www.sun.com the 9th best page on the World Wide Web.

With revenues in excess of $ 5 billion, Sun Microsystems, Inc., is a world leader in the design, manufacture and sale of open network computing products and services, including workstations and servers, microprocessor and application-specific IC design, system software, networking products, professional service and support and aftermarketing services. The company's SPARC workstations, multiprocessing servers, SPARC microprocessors, Solaris operating software and UNIX service organization each rank No. 1 in the UNIX industry. Founded in 1982, Sun is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and employs more than 13,000 employees in 32 offices worldwide.

Sun Brings True Interactivity to the World Wide Web; Java Programming Language gives Internet CD-ROM Functionality, Augmenting Sun's Web Publishing Offerings

Business Wire
May 23, 1995
Mountain View, CA

Sun Microsystems Inc. today announced the Java language, a revolutionary new object-oriented programming environment for the Internet, and the HotJava browser, a dynamic World Wide Web tool based on the Java language that gives users the responsiveness and rich media of a CD-ROM and the infinite extensibility and reach of the Internet.

The technologies are aimed at programmers who wish to develop new publishing and interactive multi-media applications for the Internet. Rounding out Sun's Web publishing offerings are a series of server products, including the Netra i 2.0 server.

The Java language, the result of several years of research and development at Sun Microsystems, is the first language to provide a comprehensive solution to the challenges of programming for the Internet, providing portability, security, advanced networking and robustness without compromising performance.

The HotJava browser uses the Java language to expand the capabilities of current browsers by allowing the downloading of small software programs. Instead of simply reading pages, HotJava browser users execute computer applications on their screens, so they can interact with multimedia applications in real-time.

A number of companies have announced plans to integrate the Java technology and HotJava dynamic browser into new applications they will develop for the Internet.

Using the Java language, developers can create dynamic Web browsers or extend current Web browsers to include such applications as interactive 3-D product demonstrations, live stock portfolio management, multiuser games and up-to-the-second sports information.

Toshiba's Advanced Technology Division, based in Tokyo, is working with the Java language for online interactive publishing applications. "I think that Java is poised to deliver the necessary tools for next-generation electronic publishing," said Dr. Nakamura Kawada, general manager of the division. "This promising technology will enable active document delivery over the Internet and is a major leap forward from HTML and the World Wide Web."

Starwave Inc. of Seattle, is currently developing on-line services using the technology. "Java will allow Starwave to give consumers dynamic online applications that are not limited to just text, low-quality audio, video or illustrations," said Patrick Naughton, vice president of technology. "We will be able to continually set exciting standards of interactivity and diverse quality content with our services."

The Java language gives HotJava users the power to develop small, specialized software applications, or "applets," to distribute over the Internet with the click of a button. Instead of simply downloading text and images, the HotJava browser downloads Java applets, which run on the user's machine. The HotJava environment is infused with multiple layers of security features that verify information as well as protecting against viruses and tampering. HotJava provides file-access protection to prevent system corruption and ensures that downloaded code can be used only for its stated purpose. Authentication and encryption security features based on public-key encryption will be provided as well.

"HotJava empowers us to create the Internet site our clients have been fantasizing about. It provides integrated sound and animation coupled with the ability to build a truly interactive experience. Hot Java is transforming the Web into an exciting new medium," said Karl Jacob of Dimension X, a company that creates online "virtual worlds" entertainment-based advertising.

Available for free over the Internet

The Java environment and the HotJava browser are free for non-commercial use to end-users. Java and HotJava are available in alpha release for developers and end-users on SunOS, Solaris and Windows NT today on the Internet, and can be downloaded from the HotJava home page at http://java.sun.com. Microsoft Windows 95 and MacOS 7.5 ports will be available in late summer.

The HotJava beta release, available in late summer 1995, will include a bundled WYSI-WYG Web page builder, and integration with third-party authoring tools, making it easy for non-programmers to create compelling, interactive home pages.

Netscape Servers

In addition to HotJava, Sun is offering a series of publishing tools, including a new version of its Netra Internet server. The Netra i 2.0 includes a choice of NCSA and Netscape software, an HTML graphical user interface and other features. Other publishing tools offered by Sun include the Netscape News Server, a commercially supported, high performance, secure news group server; and the Netscape Communications Server, a high performance, commercially supported WWW information server.

With revenues in excess of $ 5 billion, Sun Microsystems Inc., is a world leader in the design, manufacture and sale of open network computing products and services, including workstations and servers, microprocessor and application-specific IC design, system software, networking products, professional service and support and aftermarketing services. The company's SPARC workstations, multiprocessing servers, SPARC microprocessors, Solaris operating software and UNIX service organization each rank No. 1 in the UNIX industry. Founded in 1982, Sun is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and employs more than 13,000 employees in 32 offices worldwide.

Netscape to license Sun's Java programming language

Business Wire
May 23, 1995
Mountain View, CA

Furthering the relationship between two of the most prominent companies supplying tools and solutions for the Internet, Netscape Communications Corporation and Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced today that Netscape intends to license Sun's Java(TM) programming language to implement in the Netscape Navigator browser.

The Java language, the result of several years of research and development at Sun Microsystems, is the first to provide a comprehensive solution to the challenges of programming for the Internet, providing portability, security, advanced networking and reliability without compromising performance. Netscape Navigator will be able to download small Java software programs, called applets, which run on the client system.

Programs that are built with the Java language are transported securely through the network using Netscape's Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) open protocol in a platform-independent format. The Java language supports a complex, networked environment of clients and servers, and can link in new forms of code without requiring anything of the user.

Netscape Navigator, which began shipping in December 1994, is currently ranked as the No. 1 browser on the World Wide Web, with more than 75 percent of the browser market according to independent estimates.

Eric Schmidt,chief technical officer at Sun, envisioned a whole host of services that will be created through the combination of Java and Netscape technologies. "By integrating the Java language into Netscape Navigator, Netscape and Sun will enable a whole new wave of Internet services that we are just beginning to imagine, such as interactive advertising and real-time stock portfolio management. The possibilities are nearly limitless," he said.

Marc Andreessen, vice president of technology at Netscape, said, "Java is a leading-edge development language that provides important characteristics such as portability, security and networking capabilities. We plan to use the Java language to increase the extensibility of Netscape Navigator and to create a whole new class of client/server applications."

Specifically, Netscape intends to license the Java Runtime Interpreter, the Java Foundation Classes and Java Compiler and Development Tools. Netscape plans to integrate the Java language into future versions of Netscape Navigator.

The Java language has been available since April for developers using the Sun Solaris(TM) or SunOS(TM) platforms. Sun also announced today the availability of the language for Microsoft Windows NT and Microsoft Windows 95 operating systems.

Sun and Netscape have maintained a series of collaborations since Netscape was founded in 1994. Sun is already offering Netscape's open software products, including: Netscape Navigator, a powerful commercial network navigator, using principles of point-and-click Internet navigation; and the Netscape server line, which allows companies or individuals to easily set up and maintain servers for publishing information and conducting commercial operations on the Internet or corporate IP networks.
The two companies have also collaborated on various research and development projects aimed at promoting open standards for Internet protocols.

Netscape Communications Corporation is a premier provider of open software to enable people and companies to exchange information and conduct commerce over the Internet and other global networks. The company was founded in April 1994 by Dr. James H. Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics, Inc., a Fortune 500 computer systems company; and Marc Andreessen, creator of the NCSA Mosaic research prototype for the Internet. Privately held, Netscape Communications Corporation is based in Mountain View, California.

With revenues in excess of $ 5 billion, Sun Microsystems, Inc., is a world leader in the design, manufacture and sale of open network computing products and services, including workstations and servers, microprocessor and system application-specific IC design, system software, networking products, professional service and support and aftermarketing services. The company's SPARC(TM) workstations, multiprocessing servers, SPARC microprocessors, Solaris operating software and UNIX(R) service organization each rank No. 1 in the UNIX industry. Founded in 1982, Sun is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and employs more than 13,000 employees in 32 offices worldwide.

Disney's "Toy Story" uses more than 100 Sun Workstations to render images for first all-computer-based movie; Pixar Animation and Sun Microsystems create powerful rendering engine for Disney movie

Business Wire
November 30, 1995
Mountain View, CA

The making of "Toy Story," the stunning new movie from Walt Disney Pictures that is the world's first full-length completely computer-generated animated film, involved the use of more than 100 high-powered computers from Sun Microsystems -- which together comprised one of the most powerful graphics rendering engines ever created.

Pixar Animation Studios, of Point Richmond, Calif., the pioneering digital animation studio that produced "Toy Story" for Disney, selected the Sun systems for their affordability and expandability, as well as for their high quality graphics rendering abilities.

For the movie, Pixar created a networked bank or "cluster" of 117 Sun(TM) SPARCstation(TM) 20 workstations -- each containing at least two microprocessors, and running on Sun's Solaris(TM) operating environment -- to handle the critical task of "rendering" each of the 114,000 frames in the 77-minute movie.

Rendering is the time-and computationally-intensive process in which the correct lighting, textures and shading are applied to 3-D computer models to produce sharp, colorful images with photorealistic detail. To render the startlingly lifelike images in "Toy Story," Pixar used its own Academy Award-winning RenderMan(R) software running on its cluster of networked Sun systems, which was dubbed the "RenderFarm."

The use of multiprocessor, high-speed networked Sun technology answered one of Pixar's key requirements for "Toy Story": an unprecedented amount of sheer computing power. While more films are using digital effects, from "Jurassic Park" to "Forrest Gump," "Toy Story" is the first entirely computer-based animated film, which required a tremendous amount of rendering performance.
Until now, the cost of rendering technology to produce a full-length film has been prohibitive, but Sun's cost-effective, scalable multiprocessor technology promises to revamp the industry by providing these capabilities in a high-speed networked environment using standard systems.

"The production of 'Toy Story' shows that Sun systems can offer the film industry an astonishing level of computing performance at much lower cost than ever before," said Anil Gadre, vice president of marketing at Sun Microsystems Computer Company. "Pixar's use of Sun marks a real change in the way computer animation will be done in the future. Now it will be more affordable for moviemakers to put their vision -- whether or not it exists in reality -- onto the screen."

"Toy Story," which opened nationwide Nov. 22, tells the story of a pair of toys, a cowboy doll named Woody (Tom Hanks supplies the voice) and a space ranger named Buzz Lightyear (voice by Tim Allen). When they get lost, the two must put aside their rivalry and join forces to make it back home.

Pixar's RenderFarm

Sun worked closely with a team from Pixar to create its RenderFarm, which serves as Pixar's central resource of computer processing power. The RenderFarm uses a network computing architecture in which a powerful SPARCserver(TM) 1000 acting as a "texture server" supplies the necessary data to the many rendering client workstations needed to complete the rendering process.

The RenderFarm was assembled by Sun and Pixar engineers in less than a month and drew upon Sun's own experience in setting up "farms" of many systems linked together. Some facts about Pixar's RenderFarm and the computing aspects of "Toy Story":

-- The RenderFarm is one of the most powerful rendering engines ever assembled, comprising 87 dual-processor and 30 four-processor SPARCstation 20s and an 8-processor SPARCserver 1000. The RenderFarm has the aggregate performance of 16 billion instructions per second -- its total of 300 processors represents the equivalent of approximately 300 Cray 1 supercomputers.

-- Each system is the size of a pizza box, and all 117 systems work in a footprint measuring just 19 inches deep by 14 feet long by 8 feet high.

-- Sun is the price/performance leader, in Pixar's own rankings. The SPARCstation 20 HS14MP earned a rating of $ 80 per Rendermark (a Pixar measurement for rendering performance), while the comparable SGI Indigo Extreme came in at approximately $ 150 per Rendermark.

-- Using one single-processor computer to render "Toy Story" would have taken 43 years of nonstop performance.

-- Each of the movie's more than 1,500 shots and 114,000 frames were rendered on the RenderFarm, a task that took 800,000 computer hours to produce the final cut. Each frame used up 300 megabytes of data -- the capacity of a good-sized PC hard disk -- and required from two to 13 hours for final processing.

-- In addition to the high-resolution final rendering, the RenderFarm was also used to generate the test images animators needed to plan and evaluate lighting, texture mapping and animation. Since fast response is key in doing tests, RenderMan could produce test frames in as little as a few seconds.

-- Scalability is built-in: the RenderFarm can be upgraded (with more processors and disk storage) to a nearly four-foldperformance level, without requiring any additional space. The RenderFarm also integrates seamlessly with Pixar's existing computer network containing different types of machines.

Pixar's future plans include developing a parallelized version of RenderMan to further exploit Sun's SPARC/Solaris multiprocessing and multithreaded architecture. This new software, Parallel RenderMan, will allow multiple processors to work on a single image. Pixar is also using Sun multiprocessing workstations to render images for an upcoming "Toy Story" CD-ROM game.

Pixar digital studios created, directed and produced the world's first fully computer animated feature-length film, which is being distributed by The Walt Disney Company for the 1995 holiday season. Pixar employees have received 12 Academy Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their pioneering work in digital animation, including an Oscar for Best Short Animated Film for "Tin Toy" and a Technical Achievement Award for Pixar's RenderMan(R) software. The company has its headquarters in Point Richmond, Calif., and employs 150 people.

Sun Microsystems Computer Company (SMCC) is a world leader in the design, manufacture and sale of network computing systems and is a division of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Recognized for quality and innovation, the company's SPARC(TM) workstations and multiprocessing servers each hold the No. 1 UNIX(R) marketshare position. These systems are used primarily by businesses, educational institutions and governments worldwide for technical, commercial, industrial, and software development applications. -0-

Note to Editors: Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, The Network is the Computer and Solaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based on an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries exclusively licensed through X/Open Company, Ltd. RenderMan is a registered trademark of Pixar Animation Studios.

Press announcements and other information about Sun Microsystems are available on the Internet via the World Wide Web using a tool such as Netscape or NCSA Mosaic. Type http://www.sun.com at the URL prompt.

Sun eclipses competition with mainframe-class server for corporate data centers

M2 PRESSWIRE
January 23, 1997

HIGHLIGHT: Large SMP enables rapid deployment of packaged applications for year 2000
Sun Microsystems, Inc. today unveiled Starfire (the Ultra Enterprise 10000 server), a new class of SMP server for the data center that combines mainframe performance and functionality with unprecedented scalability and the benefits of network computing. The Starfire system extends Sun into the very high end of the computing landscape, positioned against incumbent data center vendors IBM and HP. It offers up to four times the performance at half the cost of IBM's CMOS mainframe and HP's T series servers. The introduction of the Starfire server enables customers to run the most demanding, multi-terabyte applications for data warehousing, decision support, on-line transaction processing and data analytics on a single scalable server. The system hosts leading applications including Baan, Computer Associates, Informix, Oracle, SAP, Sybase and others, in addition to the more than 12,000 Solaris applications.

"The Starfire server revolutionizes SMP performance and scalability," said John Shoemaker, vice president and general manager of Sun Microsystems Computer Company's Enterprise Server and Storage Group. "We're forcing the industry to re-examine what SMP-based systems are capable of doing."

"Companies can now run their existing applications on an unprecedented scale across the enterprise - with levels of reliability, high availability and serviceability not found on any other high-end UNIX server in this class," he explained. "The Starfire server demonstrates that Sun's proven architecture can truly meet the needs of companies ready to rely on network computing to move beyond legacy systems."

The Starfire system is complemented by a new set of global, mission- critical services available through SunService, ranging from IT architecture consulting to professional services, training and education.

Unmatched Technology Innovation The Starfire server includes several performance innovations new to this caliber of system. Its support of up to 64 UltraSPARC II processors (more than twice as many CPUs found in any other Sun or competing UNIX server on the market) demonstrates the true scalability of Sun's SMP SPARC Solaris architecture. The interconnect design encompasses ground-breaking performance enhancements with the Gigaplane-XB, the industry's first supercomputer-class interconnect for commercial servers. The enhanced interconnect vastly speeds internal data handling, resulting in higher performance.

Extending into mainframe-class functionality, the Starfire system can be dynamically partitioned while maintaining a full production environment. This feature, known as Dynamic System Domains, makes Starfire the premier platform for server consolidation or deploying multi-tiered applications on a single server, greatly reducing management complexity and overall cost of ownership. The system also features a mainframe-class service processor/console for system monitoring and management.

"Starfire's design encompasses the principles of high-performance computing and applies them to a very safe technology path," said Clark Masters, vice president and general manager of the Business Systems Division, part of Sun's Enterprise Server and Storage Group. "This allows users to slash pilot-to-production time scales, accommodate unpredictable growth requirements and take advantage of a large set of pre-optimized application software."

System Snapshot The Starfire server is a symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) server scalable to 64 (250 MHz) UltraSPARC II processors, 64 GB (gigabytes) of memory with 64 I/O channels supporting over 20 TB (terabytes) of on-line storage. It runs the Solaris 2.5 operating environment and maintains binary compatibility with the largest base of UNIX applications for proven robustness.

This mainframe-caliber server is a high-end extension to the Ultra Enterprise server family introduced last April and adheres to the Ultra Port Architecture specifications implemented throughout the product line. Extensions include built-in RAS features, dynamic system domains, and the industry leading system interconnect: Gigaplane-XB.

The system introduces SunTrust, a new set of reliability, availability, serviceability (RAS) features that include full software support for hot-swap of system boards, power supplies and cooling fans; fault-tolerant power sourcing and distribution; multiple operator consoles with fail-over support; full remote diagnostics; automatic reboot and fault isolation; and dynamic reconfiguration. The system can be configured to provide up to 99.99 percent availability.

Gigaplane-XB is a crossbar interconnect with industry-leading memory bandwidth of 12.8 GB/s, 6.4 GB/s of aggregate I/O bandwidth, and constant low-latency access to all system resources regardless of the number of processors. The unique design of the Gigaplane-XB interconnect includes error correction logic along all data paths within the system. It is a point-to-point interconnect, implemented to provide complete redundancy for maximum resiliency.

Dynamic system domains allow dynamic creation, modification, or re- sizing of multiple servers in a single system. Each domain can run its own instance of the Solaris operating environment. Domains are useful for installation of new versions of software, testing environments - including Year 2000 testing, server consolidation and maintaining high system utilization by adapting system resources to varying application loads.

Pricing and Availability Entry-level configurations begin at 16 processors and scale to 64-way configurations. Pricing for an entry-level system starts around $870,000 (U.S.), which includes 16 processors and 2 GB of memory. The system is available today with worldwide volume shipments in March 1997.

Sun unveils high-end data center solution for the network age

M2 PRESSWIRE
January 23, 1997

HIGHLIGHT: Merges the benefits of mainframe computing, network computing

... Dramatically outperforms IBM, EMC solutions

In one of the most important product launches in the company's 15-year history, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today introduced a new product line targeted squarely at the high-end data center, a market long dominated by proprietary mainframe vendors and storage system specialists.
Sun's open data center solution features Starfire - the world's most powerful single system server and the first to rival the mainframe in functionality, as well as the industry's most scalable and cost-effective line of data storage systems, enterprise-class data management software, expanded mission-critical services, and new alliances focusing on data center applications and systems integration. For the first time, Sun can now compete at the very high end of the market, where systems cost between $500,000 and $2 million.

Sun's new data center solution merges the best attributes from the mainframe and network computing worlds, by combining the open connectivity, scalability and distributed access of enterprise network computing with the power, systems manageability and availability of mainframe computing. This approach does not require the replacement of legacy mainframe systems, but adds value by bringing important new capabilities to customers.

For example, Sun's solution allows packaged OLTP applications to be deployed quickly to tens of thousands of users, and it enables companies to run both OLTP and decision-support applications equally well across a single platform for the first time. Sun's high-end data center solutions also meet the most stringent requirements for manageability, access, integration, availability, scalability, and data integrity - all on an enterprise scale. In effect, it gives mainframe customers a cost-efficient way to transition to the network age.

"We are bringing the benefits of open, scalable network computing up into the heart of mainframe territory," said Ed Zander, president of Sun Microsystems Computer Company. "We're the new players in a $50 billion high-end marketplace and we believe that merging scalable, network-centric computing with mainframe disciplines will allow us to gain significant segments of this huge market." Early applications for Sun's high-end data center solutions include advanced data warehousing for a leading telecommunications carrier managing 5 TB of information initially and general purpose parallel processing for BSH, a German government maritime traffic agency. Customers such as HCIA, a leading healthcare information services provider, and Kelly Services, a $3 billion global provider of staffing services, have chosen Sun's new enterprise storage systems to support their high-volume data warehousing requirements.

Starfire: The World's Most Powerful Single System Server

Starfire, or the Ultra Enterprise 10000, will allow Sun to address the largest, most complex data warehousing or OLTP applications, which previously required expensive, customized environments that are inherently more difficult to manage than a single, powerful system.

The Starfire system, powered by up to 64 250MHz UltraSPARC processors, combines up to 4X mainframe-class performance, unique manageability, and exceptional new RAS (reliability, availability, serviceability) features in a flexible architecture that interoperates with existing mainframe environments. It features several unique technologies that are key to the breakthrough power and reliability achieved in this system:

Gigaplane-XB interconnect - Industry's highest performing crossbar switch interconnect, which enables customers to deploy maximum memory, disk and processors all at the same time in order to run existing software extremely fast and supports thousands of on-line users simultaneously.

Dynamic system domains (patent pending) - Once the exclusive domain of mainframes, this innovative feature allows resources such as CPUs, operating systems, memory, I/O, and interconnects to be partitioned into domains without rebooting the system. Domains can be isolated, resized and managed separately in order to dynamically modify and streamline application deployment, cut administration costs and eliminate idle or underutilized resources.

SunTrust - New RAS features such as complete hardware redundancy, fault-tolerant power sourcing and distribution, and hot-swappable system boards to provide up to 99.99 percent availability.
For all of its innovations, Starfire also remains binary compatible with the entire Sun Ultra Enterprise business server line and it runs all 12,000 existing packaged Solaris applications seamlessly.

Starfire Performance The Ultra Enterprise 10000 shattered the Transaction Performance Council Benchmark D (TPC-D) at 300 gigabytes (SF300), using Oracle 7.3 - debunking the myth that MPP (massively parallel processing) systems are required for high-end data center performance.

Sun Storage Solutions Sun is one of the largest providers of enterprise storage solutions, with more than 1.5 petabytes (1500 terabytes) of high-end RAID installed. The company has made significant long-term investments to build a broad, integrated family of open enterprise storage systems spanning the desktop to the data center. Sun's new line of storage solutions will broadly expand its presence and success in the multi-user storage market - expected by analysts to reach $35 billion by the year 2000 - because it provides superior scalability, industry-leading reliability and unmatched management capabilities while outperforming existing alternatives at a lower price point. For example, Sun's new high-end RAID solution offers better performance than EMC's 3430 subsystem announced last week, at one-quarter the price per gigabyte. Sun already installs more than 3 terabytes of high-end RAID capacity daily.

Sun's new line of storage solutions encompass the three most critical areas for today's enterprise storage customers: high-end RAID, multi-terabyte tape libraries and data center class storage management software.

Sun RSM Array 2000 - The first storage array to be supported on heterogeneous servers. It is a high-end, fully redundant hardware-based RAID solution for the enterprise that features the best price/performance on the market.

The Sun Enterprise Tape Library (ETL) 4/1000 - The first in a new family of multi-terabyte tape libraries that delivers the high capacity, high performance, and high reliability required by large data center environments.

Sun Enterprise Storage Manager Software - A complete line of integrated tools that deliver the scalable, robust enterprise storage management required in a heterogeneous, geographically dispersed data center - all through a single console.

"HCIA is pleased to see Sun's movement into the enterprise data center. We have been a Sun shop for the past five years due in part to Sun's ability to grow with us as a company," said Pete Wagner, director of systems and networking at HCIA. "The introduction of the Sun RSM Array 2000, which offers innovative data security features, outstanding price performance and a clear migration path, gives us an even stronger reason to continue our successful relationship with Sun."

Expanded Mission-Critical Services Recognizing the uniquely rigorous requirements of the high-end data center, Sun has developed a comprehensive array of mission-critical services to help customers achieve the most benefit, including:

- 7x24 proactive systems support services to keep critical data center environments up and running at all times (bundled with the Ultra Enterprise 10000 server).
- Professional services, a single source of expert solutions for planning, implementing, and managing high-end data center environments. Enterprise educational services to build competence in high-end computing and help maximize the customer's skill levels in a UNIX environment.

Sun has also established competency centers around the world to drive total solutions. The company's multi-million dollar investment in its Enterprise Technology Center in Mountain View, Calif., for example, enables customers to test very large configurations at the high end before these solutions are put into production environments. In addition, Sun recently opened a Large-Scale Computing Center in Beaverton, Ore., where customers can pilot and test large high-end data center solutions.

To complement the offerings of Sun Professional Services, Sun has also teamed with leading systems integrators focused on data center integration such as Andersen Consulting, Price Waterhouse, and KPMG. These systems integrators can provide a wide array of services, from planning and design through installation, integration, testing, and ongoing support.

Pricing and Availability Entry level configurations for the Ultra Enterprise 10000 system begin at 16 processors and scale to 64-way configurations. Pricing for an entry level system starts around $870,000 (U.S.), which includes 16 processors and 2 GB of memory. The system is available today with worldwide volume shipments in March 1997.

The Sun RSM Array 2000 lists at under US $0.50 per MB for a fully configured system. It will begin shipping in February for Solaris servers. Full support for non-Solaris hosts will be announced at a later date. The Sun ETL 4/1000 has an entry price of $85,000 and includes both management and monitoring software. The ETL 4/1000 is available now. Pricing and availability for the Sun Enterprise Storage Manager will be announced at a later date.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc. Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. to its position as a leading provider of hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $7 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.

What Customers and Partners are Saying About the Ultra Enterprise 10000 And RSM Array 2000
"We're very interested in the architecture and scalability of the Ultra Enterprise 10000. The flexibility of defining multiple system domains in a single box would be attractive to us. And the fact that the system can go up to 64 processors means there's a lot of headroom for growth. If the 10000's price/performance is in line with what we have seen from other Sun servers, as we believe it will be, that would also be a key benefit for us." Sam Baty Chief Information Officer Browning-Ferris Industries Houston.

"Our decision to work with Sun was based on the high-end performance and compute power of the Ultra Enterprise 10000, along with Sun's strong commitment to open systems standards." Christoph Brockmann Chief Information Officer BSH Bundesamt fuer Seeschiffahrt und Hydrographie (Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency) Germany.

"Over the years, we have been very successful and happy using Sun products. We have been able to scale the Sun platform right along with the growth of our business. It's very easy to add additional capacity, be it a CPU, memory or storage disk. It is possible that by incorporating Sun's RSM Array 2000 system into our platform, we could achieve better processing and protection of our data, especially through the implementation of the hardware RAID 5 and mirroring options." Pete Wagner Director of Systems and Networks HCIA, Inc. Baltimore.

"Kelly is pleased to see Sun making this strategic move into the high-end data center. This announcement, especially the introduction of the RSM Array 2000, ensures Sun's ability to grow with our company for many years to come. Price/performance and the RAS (reliability, availability, serviceability) features were very compelling reasons to add the Sun RSM Array 2000 into our network. We also valued the fact that Sun is really providing a full-service solution, including leveraging relationships with key ISVs (independent software vendors) and third-party product providers, as well as offering superior service and support." Bill Martin Vice President, Network and Telecommunications Services Kelly Services Troy, Michigan.

"The addition of the Ultra Enterprise 10000 to the Sun/Amdahl arsenal of servers will generate tremendous excitement among those enterprise computing customers who demand high performance. Together with Amdahl enterprise solutions expertise, the 10000 provides the broadest, most powerful range of open systems servers in the industry with recognized support. The 10000 meets the demanding performance and configuration requirements of large commercial customers as a highly-available and powerful database server, a compute server, a file server, a base for on-line transaction processing, and mixed workload applications. This combination of high power and remarkable scope make the Ultra Enterprise 10000 the 'best-of-breed' SPARC/RISC server for the large-scale, mission-critical applications market." Chuck Foley Vice President Server Business Group Amdahl Corporation.

"With this new controller technology, and the hot swappable disk components, redundant power supplies and high availability components of the platform, Andersen Consulting and ServiceNet can now deploy large, mission-critical data stores onto the RSM 2000." Paul Cioni Manager of Client/Server Production Operations ServiceNet Andersen Consulting.

"The combination of the Ultra Enterprise 10000 and CA's Unicenter, the defacto standard in enterprise management, breaks new ground in defining management and reliability for very high-end SMP UNIX environments. This complements CA initiatives in high-availability processing for mission-critical Unix systems." Reuven Battat Senior Vice President of Research and Development Computer Associates.

"With the Ultra Enterprise 10000, Sun has really put in one place a massively powerful symmetric multiprocessor for the first time. When I think about some of the applications, we're really talking about mainframe power in a much smaller package." Allan Frank Chief Technology Officer KPMG Peat Marwick, LLP.

Sun and AMD form Strategic Alliance to Offer Enterprise Customers Extreme Performance at Compelling Prices

Sun to Offer New Family of AMD Opteron[tm] Processor-based Systems with Optimized Solaris, Linux and Java Platforms
November 17, 2003

LAS VEGAS - Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) and AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced a strategic alliance through which Sun will deliver new AMD Opteron[tm] processor-based Sun Fire systems and versions of the Solaris Operating System (OS) and the Java platform as well as Linux OS. The new Sun Fire servers will provide customers with all the benefits of the Solaris OS and the Java Enterprise System running on industry standard x86 architecture with breakthrough AMD Opteron processor performance. The alliance plans to also include long-term joint technology development to create future hardware and software offerings.

"Over the past year we've made a dramatic move in leveraging industry economics to bring customers the enterprise-class benefits of our Solaris OS and Java technology at compelling price points," said Scott McNealy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "This means that Sun customers can now get all the benefits of Solaris OS, Linux and Java technologies running on their choice of UltraSPARC and x86 systems. With the addition of the AMD Opteron processor, we are setting a new industry standard by delivering even more choice and performance to our customers."

By offering both Solaris OS and Linux, Sun customers will have a choice of enterprise operating systems and access to thousands of applications. In addition, Sun's Java Enterprise System will enable Sun's customers with AMD Opteron processor-based systems to develop and deploy applications in a simple, predictable, cost effective manner.

"Today's agreement with Sun is a strong validation of AMD's growing customer acceptance inside the enterprise," said Hector Ruiz, President and CEO of AMD. "The combination of Sun's network computing expertise and the AMD Opteron processor platform will allow IT customers unprecedented flexibility and scalability. Sun's support adds additional momentum to our growing AMD Opteron processor ecosystem."

"In May of this year, Scott and I outlined our vision for a highly scalable but low-cost computing infrastructure," said Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation. "Today, Sun, AMD and Oracle are working together to deliver on that vision. Soon Oracle will run on AMD Opteron under both Solaris and Linux. These new systems offer the rare combination of 64-bit big system performance and a very low price tag."

The strategic alliance between the two companies will include:

A full range of AMD Opteron processor-based Sun Fire systems from Sun: Throughout the course of 2004, Sun will introduce new AMD Opteron processor powered systems. The current roadmap calls for two and four-way servers to be rolled-out within the next calendar year.

Solaris OS and Sun's Java Enterprise System optimization for the AMD Opteron processor: Sun and AMD will collaborate to accelerate the platform development, optimize the performance and increase enterprise adoption for the Solaris OS and Sun's Java Enterprise System running on the AMD Opteron processor. Currently customers can run Solaris software on AMD Opteron in 32-bit mode. Sun plans to make 64-bit Solaris available on the AMD Opteron processor in the first half of 2004.

Future AMD Opteron Processor-based Designs: Sun and AMD will collaborate on a portfolio of future AMD Opteron processor-based systems and scalability beyond 4-way AMD Opteron processor systems. The parties will also collaborate on coherent HyperTransport technology implementations.

Joint ISV Development Program: Sun and AMD will jointly form an iForce Partner Program for ISVs and developers creating and porting applications to the Solaris OS. This new program will include engineering support from both companies, a seed unit program for ISVs as well as a Sun/AMD Developer Resource Kit, which is available for download at www.sun.com/amd or www.amd.com/sun.

Joint Customer Centric Marketing Programs: Sun and AMD will collaborate on worldwide marketing activities including a customer seed unit program; joint sales activities; as well as joint product, ISV, developer and channel marketing programs.
Industry Leaders Endorse Alliance

Key independent software vendors such as BEA Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Inc., Computer Associates, Documentum, MatrixOne, Oracle, SAP AG and Synopsys, Inc., are pledging support for this new standard in network computing.

Sun Lights Up the Sun Grid First Global Compute and Storage Grid for $1/cpu-hr and $1/GB-mo

New Sun Grid Radically Simplifies the Way Sun Customers Select, Acquire and Use Next-Generation IT Infrastructure
February 1, 2005

SANTA CLARA, CA - During its quarterly Network Computing '05(NC05Q1) launch today, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) announced it is radically simplifying the way customers select, acquire and use next-generation IT infrastructure through its new Sun Grid utility offerings. Sun Grid allows customers and partners to derive immediate benefits from an open, grid-based computing infrastructure on a utility basis by giving them more choice and control over how they purchase and leverage IT.

Sun's new utility offerings include the Sun Grid compute utility, a $1 (USD) per CPU per hour pay-per-use offering ($1/cpu-hr), and the Sun Grid storage utility, a $1 (USD) per gigabyte per month offering ($1/GB-mo). In the coming months, Sun will also roll out additional Sun Grid offerings for the desktop and developer communities.

Sun is already working with customers today from numerous industries, including financial services and oil and gas. The company is in the process of rolling out Sun Grid Centers worldwide; initial locations include Virginia, Texas, New Jersey, Canada and Scotland. Sun expects these centers to be fully operational later this year. After successful customer implementation of its compute utility offerings, Sun plans to release a commercial version of the Sun Grid compute utility later this year. The price is expected to be $1/cpu-hr, with a click-through license and a four hour minimum usage requirement.

"There's an industry misunderstanding at the moment it's not computers that are commoditizing, it's computing. What do all commodities have in common? Transparent pricing that can be compared against each other," said Jonathan Schwartz, president and COO at Sun. "Sun is 'lighting up the grid' and unleashing the computing power of the network for the transparent price of a dollar. We encourage all CIOs and CFOs to look into their data centers and ask themselves if they are spending more than $1/cpu-hr, including electricity, HV-AC and labor. We're certain Sun can reduce costs by an order of magnitude, allowing customers to allocate resources toward activities delivering competitive advantage."

"Sun is further bolstering its leadership position in utility computing with Sun Grid," said William P. Hurley, senior analyst, Application Infrastructure at Enterprise Strategy Group. "Today's offerings underscore Sun's commitment to use its innovative technology to make it incredibly simple for its customers to go to one vendor for all their computing needs."

Sun partners are seeing opportunity with Sun Grid. "Our customers are looking for ways to reduce operating costs and reduce complexity in their IT environments," said Mike Thompson, managing partner at ICSynergy, a Sun iForce(SM) Elite software partner. "Sun Grid gives us an opportunity to optimize our customers' computing environments while providing a real solution for addressing their compute intensive business needs. Our customers trust Sun to provide a secure environment with the latest technology. They're looking to ICSynergy to provide applications that are optimized for Sun Grid."

Sun Grid Provides Simplicity and Transparency

Sun Grid enables customers to simply, predictably and reliably deliver the power of multiple systems resources to a single user for a specific purpose��at the transparent price of $1. With Sun Grid, customers and partners have access to Sun's facilities, resources, systems (both SPARC(R) and Sun x86 platforms) and software, with the Solaris(TM) 10 Operating System (OS) at the core. Sun's new utility offerings include:

The Sun Grid compute utility provides customers with fully virtualized cpu memory and high-performance storage connected through a secure networked grid, at a price of $1/cpu-hr. Customers can use it for jobs such as Monte Carlo simulations, protein modeling, reservoir simulations, mechanical CAD simulations and similar non-transactional workloads. The Sun Grid compute utility will deliver a standard computing grid, powered by AMD Opteron(TM) processor-based systems, Solaris 10 OS and N1(TM) Grid Engine, to help provide customers optimal performance, functionality and security. With access to the Sun Grid compute utility, customers will be able to avoid long project lead times by simply plugging into the Sun Grid, radically simplifying how they select, acquire and use next-generation IT infrastructure. By using the Sun Grid, customers can "plug into" a powerful, agile, reliable, cost-effective infrastructure, offloading compute power and applications with optimal security. This pay-per-use model enables customers to move capital expenditures to operational expenditures, allowing for more choice and control in how IT power is purchased and leveraged.

The Sun Grid storage utility supports customers' grid jobs at a price of $1/GB-mo (USD), or can be used independent of the compute utility. This standardized, high-performance pay-per-use storage offering allows customers to access the resources they need, when they need them. As with any true utility, customers won't have to worry about the exact configuration of the hardware, software and services that comprise the storage. Instead, they can focus on selecting the appropriate class of storage and leave the delivery and management to Sun. The Sun Grid storage utility offers safe and secure storage and is designed to help customers meet their off-line storage demands for capacity, for any length of time.

Sun's NC05Q1 Web event is available on the World Wide Web at sun.com/nc/05q1. More information on today's announcements, including full press releases and product details, can be viewed at Sun's online press kit(http://sun.com/aboutsun/media/presskits/networkcomputing05q1/).

Sun Announces Sun Announces Open Source License for Solaris Operating System

Solaris Code to be Available Under the CDDL in Q2 2005
January 25, 2005

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - January 25, 2005 - Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced that the source code for Solaris 10 - the most advanced operating system in the industry - will be made available under the OSI (Open Source Initiative) approved Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL). The company has established a community Web site at opensolaris.org. Buildable source code for Solaris will be available at this site in the second quarter of 2005.

"Sun's heritage has always been deeply rooted in open source and open standards-based software. OpenSolaris(tm) represents a significant milestone in the history of Sun, the Solaris community and larger open source community," said John Loiacono, executive vice president of Software at Sun. "We strongly believe the OpenSolaris community will help foster the innovation and collaboration needed to open up new opportunities for developers, customers and partners."

"Sun has its roots in the BSD UNIX(r) distribution, which I released under the pioneering open source license. I'm glad that the Solaris source code, and its many innovations, are finally going to be more widely available," said Bill Joy, Sun co-founder and current partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

In conjunction with today's announcement, the company is also releasing code - under the CDDL - for its Solaris DTrace technology, one of the most popular features of Solaris 10. DTrace source code is immediately available for download from opensolaris.org.

"As an Independent Software Vendor, OpenSolaris provides a deeper understanding of Solaris and a direct channel of feedback to the engineers. We now have deeper insight into the workings of production systems," said Philip Beevers, a developer at royalblue. "Through the OpenSolaris pilot program, we've been able to do things with DTrace which we couldn't do before. With access to the source code through CDDL, we hope to innovate more with DTrace and improve our own products."

In support of today's announcement, Sun will also establish a Community Advisory Board to help oversee the evolution of OpenSolaris OS technology and the community development efforts. Initially, the advisory board will consist of five members - two will be elected from the OpenSolaris Pilot community, two will be Sun employees, and one member will be selected from the broader open source community. This advisory board will be finalized by March 2005 and will grow and evolve over time to meet the needs of the community.

The CDDL, which was approved by the Open Source Initiative's (OSI) board of directors on January 14, is based on the well-regarded MozillaTM Public License (MPL). Sun, in partnership with members of the open source community, created a license based upon the MPL that is shorter, clearer, has simplified notice requirements, and contains strong protections against patent litigation. The CDDL was also created to be a reusable license that would be attractive to other open source efforts, so that other projects with similar community and licensing goals would not need to create a new license. For more detailed information on the CDDL license, please visit: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/cddl1.php and http://www.sun.com/cddl/

"It was great to work with Sun on the CDDL. They did their homework, were careful in all the details and they privately previewed the license with influential members of the license committee," said Russ Nelson, vice president, OSI. "Sun addressed everyone's concerns and in the end produced a license that is clearly and comfortably open source. The CDDL will help them build the community of developers necessary for any open source project."

Sun Announces Availability of Solaris 10 Operating System; World's Most Advanced OS Available for Free on Sun's Web Site

Momentum Continues with New Services, More Than 400 New ISVs and Expanded Platform Support
February 1, 2005

SANTA CLARA, CA - During its quarterly Network Computing '05(NC05Q1) launch today, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) announced that the highly anticipated Solaris(TM) 10 Operating System (OS) is available for customers to download and deploy, free of charge from Sun's Web site (http://sun.com). Customers will benefit from increased performance as demonstrated through world-record benchmarks, affordable new service and support models and 400 new ISVs supporting Solaris 10. Solaris 10 is a vendor-neutral operating system that is available on more than 340 different hardware platforms from vendors as diverse as Dell, Fujitsu, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, IBM and HP.

"There are already 750,000 installations of Solaris 10 through the Software Express for Solaris program. This strong interest underscores the fact that Solaris 10 is delivering tremendous value to customers, partners and developers," said John Loiacono, executive vice president, Software at Sun. "Coming on the heels of Sun's OpenSolaris announcement last week, the availability of Solaris 10 is the latest in a series of milestones for Sun."

Extreme Performance With Solaris 10

Sun also announced world record 64-bit results for the Java(TM) platform on Sun's one-, two- and four-way servers powered by AMD Opteron(TM) processors for the SPEC JBB2000 benchmark (Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation Java(TM) Business Benchmark). This achievement highlights Sun's unmatched performance and success in delivering high performance systems for 64-bit computing.

The results were achieved on Sun Fire(TM) V20z and Sun Fire V40z servers using the latest AMD64 implementation of the standard Java Platform (Java 2 Platform (J2SE(TM) 5.0), that was compiled with the new Sun(TM) Studio 10 software. Additionally, the two-way result on the Sun Fire V20z server signifies the advantage of running Java technology-based applications on the industry's highest performance operating system, Solaris 10, by surpassing previous high marks achieved on the same server with a Linux OS.

The SPEC JBB2000 benchmark measures the implementation of Java Virtual Machine (JVM) as well as the performance of the underlying operating system, scalability of processors and memory on Shared Memory Processors (SMPs) platforms.

New Services and Support Now Available

The comprehensive set of new services includes flexible subscription-based offerings, migration and education services. Customers and partners can now download Solaris 10 OS free of charge for commercial use. Sun also offers service and support for the Solaris OS that is up to 40 percent less expensive than the leading Linux distribution.

Similar to phone calling plans, the subscription-based Solaris Service Plans provide customers and partners with choice and flexibility to receive the level of support they need. Customers can choose Basic, Standard or Premium Solaris Service Plans, each with scalable and predictable pricing, based on the number of processor sockets. To date, more than 7,200 people have registered for the no-cost Web-based Solaris 10 education preview class, and more than 1,400 people have signed up for Early Advantage classroom courses.

More information about the Solaris 10 Services portfolio is available at http://sun.com/service/solaris10.

Unprecedented Partner Support

Fueling demand for Sun's enterprise-class UNIX(R) OS is unprecedented support from Sun's partner community. Independent hardware vendors, software vendors (ISVs) and OEMs are seeing increased demand and opportunity for Solaris 10. Since November 2004, more than 400 new ISVs, including the leading ISVs from EMEA and APAC, have committed to Solaris 10 through the "Ten Moves Ahead" Partner Initiative which provides technical, marketing and sales benefits to partners developing applications on Solaris 10. Additionally, to help customers and ISVs protect their investment in Solaris, Sun is the only vendor to offer an application guarantee that applies to binaries and source code. With more than 12,000 existing commercial applications today, Solaris has one of the most vibrant ecosystems in the industry. More than 700 business software partners have committed to delivering Solaris 10 applications by the end of this year.

"Strong customer demand has accelerated our support for Solaris 10," said Sean Duclaux, director, Product Management and Infrastructure Management at BMC Software, Inc. "On the heels of Sun's release of Solaris 10 to the public, we intend to extend PATROL's already rich Solaris support to include Solaris 10."

Sun Studio 10 Now Available for Download

Solaris developers can also take full advantage of the Sun Studio 10 development environment, now available for download from the Sun Web site. Sun Studio 10 makes it simple to get outstanding performance when developing C, C++ and FORTRAN applications for Solaris 10. The product provides a comprehensive environment for developing scalable 32- and 64-bit applications on Sun's newest UltraSPARC(R), Intel Xeon and AMD Opteron processor-based systems. Sun Studio 10 software is fully compatible with previous releases, making it easy for users to upgrade.

To fully demonstrate the capability of Sun Studio 10 and Solaris 10 OS, Sun has submitted the new world record SPECompM2001 result in the two-way category. The SPEC OMPM2001 benchmark is a test of the performance of 11 High Performance Computing (HPC) applications. All C and FORTRAN applications in this suite use the OpenMP programming model and were compiled using the latest Sun Studio 10 development environment, which contributed to as much as a 20 percent boost in performance, when compared with previous Linux-based results published by Sun.

The new score also demonstrated that the Sun Fire V20z server eclipsed the recent IBM eServer OpenPower(TM) 710 server result by 14 percent. Not only did the Sun Fire V20z server outperform the Power5-based server running Linux, it also outperformed the server with half the number of parallel threads.

Sun's NC05Q1 Web event is available on the World Wide Web at sun.com/nc/05q1. More information on today's announcements, including full press releases and product details, can be viewed at Sun's online press kit(http://sun.com/aboutsun/media/presskits/networkcomputing05q1/).

Sun Launches Blockbuster Family of Industry-Standard, x64 Enterprise-Class Systems

Code-named 'Galaxy,' Latest Sun Fire x64 Servers are One-and-a-Half Times the Performance, Consume About One-third the Power, Are One-Quarter the Size; New Sun Grid Rack Systems Accelerate Grid Implementation and Deployment Time by Up to 90 Percent
September 12, 2005

NEW YORK - During its quarterly Network Computing '05 (NC05Q3) launch today, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) announced a new family of enterprise-class x64 (x86, 64-bit) multi-core available servers which set new standards for performance, reliability and energy efficiency. Powered by AMD Opteron processors, the highest-performance x64 processors on the market, and running the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS), the new industry-standard servers consume about one-third the power, are one-and-a-half times the performance, and cost half as much as comparably configured 4-way servers from Dell(1).

Additionally, the company announced Sun System Service Plans for Microsoft Windows Server. This new Service offering is backed by Sun's support and engineering groups and provides integrated hardware and Microsoft Windows Server support for the latest Sun Fire x64 servers. These new Service Plans round out Sun's portfolio of heterogeneous services and deliver a number of key benefits to x64 server customers including expanded choice of OS support, a single point of contact for managing heterogeneous OS environments that include Solaris, Linux, and Microsoft Windows Server, and the expertise to seamlessly deploy industry-standard systems on a global 24x7 basis.

The new industry-standard x64 multi-core available server family begins with the Sun Fire X2100, the lowest cost single-socket x64 rack-mount server, starting at $745(USD), and includes the two-socket, 4-way Sun Fire X4100 and Sun Fire X4200 servers. Future servers in this same family are being designed to accommodate up to eight multi-core processors to achieve 16-way mid-range system performance levels, offering customers the ability to standardize x64 servers across their entire IT infrastructure. In addition, the new servers are qualified to work with Sun's comprehensive portfolio of software, storage and network switches.

Early access customers such as Bell South, EDS, Strato, the University of Southern California and others have tested the new Sun Fire x64 servers in their data centers. "The newest Sun Fire x64 servers are the backbone of EDS' Virtual Server Services, a virtualized compute service offering. EDS needs systems that we can depend on to meet our clients' changing business objectives and usage fluctuations. With built-in energy efficiency and reliability features, the Sun Fire X4100 server proved to be the right system to help customers best utilize their compute power," said Larry Lozon, vice president, Hosting Systems, EDS. "The Sun Fire x64 servers scale from 32-bit to 64-bit, allowing customers to leverage their existing x86 infrastructure, while migrating to 64-bit applications."

In addition, Sun has a growing list of partners working to deliver this new x64 family of servers, including industry leaders such as AMD, BEA Systems, Check Point, Computer Associates, mySQL, Oracle, SAP, SunGard, Symantec and VMware. In addition, there are more than 1,600 enterprise applications supported on the Solaris 10 OS for x86/64.

"Today's announcement is an extension of the growing collaboration between Microsoft and Sun, which is helping deliver new choices for customers who want interoperable server products from leading technology vendors," said Chris Phillips, general manager, Windows Server Division, Microsoft Corp. "The move from 32-bit to 64-bit computing offers a dramatic improvement in performance and reliability, enabling people to use computing resources in exciting new ways. The new Sun Fire servers running Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and the wide range of 64-bit applications on the Windows platform help deliver 64-bit computing into the mainstream. We look forward to Sun's new systems earning qualification on Windows Server 2003 and are pleased with Sun Service's offering for Windows support on Sun Fire x64 systems."

Sun also announced new offerings and promotions to help customers accelerate the deployment of high performance computing (HPC) and Web services applications, providing a new way of deploying Grid solutions, one rack at a time. Sun's new factory-integrated and ready-to-deploy x64 Sun Grid Rack Systems integrate the new family of industry-standard Sun Fire x64 servers, networking and software through the Sun(SM) Customer Ready Systems (CRS) Program, and are designed to accelerate Grid implementation and deployment time by up to 90 percent.

Better By Design - Sun Sets New Standards in Performance, Reliability and Energy Efficiency.

The Sun Fire x64 servers are designed to save customers millions of dollars in operational expenses, in areas such as power and cooling when running High

Performance Computing (HPC) and Web-based applications, and are also optimal for databases and server consolidation. The industry-standard Sun Fire x64 servers offer:
Highest performance on many industry-standard benchmarks, based on single- or multi-core AMD Opteron processors. With outstanding world-record results on several industry-standard benchmarks, the new servers have proven to perform at least 28 percent better than any x64 Intel-based server in its class and more than 12 percent faster than competitive systems powered by AMD Opteron processors(2).

Simplified management capabilities and high reliability with built-in hot swap functionality, enabling customers to remove and replace system components while the systems are running. Sun also offers the Sun N1 System Manager software, which extends the powerful capabilities of the Sun Fire x64 servers, offering customers a more efficient way of managing groups of Sun systems.
Complete portfolio of services to support heterogeneous computing, including Service Plans supporting the Solaris OS, Linux, and Windows; remote/heterogeneous support capabilities; Sun Educational Services; and Sun Enterprise Installation Services. With a combined system and Microsoft Windows Server support offering called Sun System Service Plans for Microsoft Windows Server, customers can now develop and deploy Windows-based solutions on the Sun Fire X2100, Sun Fire X4100 and Sun FireX4200 servers backed by Sun Service.

The Sun Fire X4100 and Sun Fire X4200 are the first x64 servers based on designs from the team of one of Sun's founders and legendary computer designers, Andy Bechtolsheim.

"The new Sun Fire X4100 and Sun Fire X4200 servers are designed to deliver the highest CPU performance in an enterprise-class 1U and 2U chassis, with complete remote management capabilities," said Andy Bechtolsheim, chief architect and senior vice president, Network Systems Group, Sun Microsystems. "These systems deliver a combination of performance, features and value to customers that is not available from any other server supplier today."

Sun Fire x64 Servers Shatter the Competition on Performance

The Sun Fire X4000 series has proven to be faster than any 2-socket Xeon-based server, designed in areas such as transaction processing and secure Web serving. The new servers achieved a SPECweb99_SSL world record for 2-core servers. The SPECweb99_SSL benchmark measures the performance of servers conducting secure Web transactions. In this benchmark, the X4100 beats the best HP 2-core Xeon by 21 percent(3).

When equipped with two multi-core AMD Opteron chips, the Sun Fire X4100 server can save customers up to 60 percent in power and cooling costs(4) and deliver up to 2.5 times the computing performance of IBM servers equipped with two Xeon chips(5).

On a variety of workloads ranging from numerically intensive calculations to application intensive business processing tasks such as server-side Java, the Sun Fire X4000 servers have reached high ground on SPECjbb2000 benchmark in the 64-bit JVM, 2 and 4-core category and have outdone the competition by as much as 11 percent on SPECjbb2005 benchmark(6). On SPECfp_rate2000 benchmark, the Sun Fire X4100 server, driven by the Sun Studio 11 software, the latest release of compilers and performance analysis tools optimized for the Solaris 10 OS, has more than 1.7 times the performance of Dell PE 1850 and HP DL360G4 servers and up to 1.68 times the performance of an IBM xSeries 336 server(7). These results highlight the advantages of the AMD Opteron processor design when compared to comparably equipped competing servers that are based on the Intel Xeon processor. More information on the Sun Fire x64 servers performance results can be found at www.sun.com/nc/05q3/benchmarks.html.

Speed Grid Deployments by Up to 90 Percent -- From Rack and Stack to Roll-in and Switch-on

The Sun Grid Rack Systems integrate Sun Fire x64 servers in a rack, including the Sun Fire X2100, Sun Fire X4100 and Sun Fire X4200 servers, the new Sun Secure Application Switch - N1000 Series, the Solaris 10 OS and the Sun N1 System Manager. A Sun Grid Rack System containing 32 Sun Fire X4100 servers, the Solaris 10 OS and the Sun Java System Application Server is 50 percent less expensive than comparable offerings from IBM or HP equipped with Intel Xeon processors(8).

"Sun's new Sun Grid Rack System gives you more compute nodes for less money than other machines. We had run smaller clusters of competitors' machines over the years. They didn't run nearly as fast as the Sun solution," said Dr. Peter Jacobs, senior lecturer in Engineering from the University of Queensland. "The benefits of the new Sun Grid Rack System are two-fold. First, the system takes up about half the physical space of the old system, a fact that the University appreciates at an institution where space is at a premium. Second, the throughput has increased by 20 percent."

Customers have an option of adding Sun's newest networking offering, the Sun Secure Application Switch -- N1000 Series, with the Sun Grid Rack System for Web services applications. The additional networking and security features can help Web-based applications and Web services Grids obtain high system utilization, application provisioning, world-class Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) processing for secure transactions and communications, and filtering of application level attacks. For more information on the Sun Secure Application Switch - N1000 Series, please visit: www.sun.com/products/networking/switches/.

For more information on the new Sun Grid Rack Systems, please visit: www.sun.com/emrkt/x64gridrack/

Simplifying Customers' Business with New x64 Systems Promotions Sun is offering a number of promotional offerings based on the new industry-standard Sun Fire x64 servers and Sun Grid Rack Systems. Sun is offering an aggressive competitive take-out promotion and a new developer promotion, where developers can acquire the Sun Fire X2100 server pre-loaded with software for a promotional price of $40(USD) per month, when purchased with a three-year Sun Service Plan.

Additionally, for a limited time, customers who purchase 20 or more Sun Fire X2100, Sun Fire X4100, and/or Sun Fire X4200 servers integrated in a new alloy Sun Rack cabinet will receive the Sun Rack cabinet for free - up to $5,000(USD) in savings, with additional savings from a discounted price on the Sun Customer Ready Systems (CRS) racking integration fee. Additionally, customers can obtain significant savings on software by purchasing perpetual licenses through a promotional software package that includes the Sun N1 System Manager software, the Sun N1 Service Provisioning System and Sun Java System Application Server Standard Edition v8.1 - savings of $64,000(USD) or more over list prices for individual licenses.

Pricing and Availability The entry-level price for the compact, single rack-unit, up to 2-way Sun Fire X2100 server starts at $745(USD), and includes the Solaris 10 OS, one AMD Opteron processor Model 146 and 512 MB memory. The Sun Fire X4100 entry-level server configuration comes equipped with the Solaris 10 OS, one AMD Opteron processor Model 248, 1 GB memory, one power supply unit and one service processor, priced at $2,195(USD). The Sun Fire X4200 entry-level server configuration comes equipped with the Solaris 10 OS, one AMD Opteron processor Model 248, 1GB memory, one power supply unit and one service processor, priced at $2,595(USD). More information on the Sun Fire x64 servers and the promotions can be found at: www.sun.com/x64.

For more information related to all of Sun's announcements, including benchmark results, go to the NC05Q3 online press kit at www.sun.com/nc.

Sun Pioneers Shift to Free and Open Source Software; Builds on Success of Solaris by Announcing Java Enterprise System, Developer Tools and N1 Software are Available at No Cost

Combines Middleware, Tools and Management Components With Solaris to Create Consolidated, Multi-Platform Software Environment
November 30, 2005

MENLO PARK, CA. - Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today announced two landmark moves in the battle to create the software platform of choice for the next-generation of the Internet. First, having seen tremendous momentum with the Solaris Operating System (OS) as free and open source software, Sun is making the Java Enterprise System, Sun N1 Management software, and Sun developer tools available at no cost for both development and deployment and further, is reaffirming its commitment to open source this software. Second, Sun is announcing that it is integrating all of this software along with the Solaris OS into the Solaris Enterprise System, the only comprehensive and open infrastructure software platform available today.

With this announcement, Sun is creating the no-cost and open alternative to the Windows environment. The Solaris Enterprise System has all of the benefits of an integrated offering while still enabling customers the flexibility to address their requirements by deploying the specific components they need into alternative operating systems. In addition to being combined under a single distribution with the Solaris Enterprise System, the Sun Java Enterprise System and the Sun developer tools can be used at no cost on other existing multi-platform environments including Windows, HP-UX and Linux.

Sun is also demonstrating its commitment to the developer community and to the success of Sun's customers by working with its extensive partner ecosystem to continue to deliver a full-set of advanced and superior support services. The single, no cost distribution allows developers and customers a risk-free way to get unencumbered access to truly business-critical infrastructure software and then engage with Sun at a point in the life-cycle when they need access to development and deployment services. This significantly lowers their risk of adoption and enables a dramatic increase in the number of companies and individuals who can obtain a complete, integrated portfolio of enterprise-class software.

"With more than 3.4M Solaris 10 licenses and nearly one million Java Enterprise System subscribers, customers and developers around the world have asked us to take the next logical step - combining the world's fastest growing open source operating system with the world's most complete and ready to deploy infrastructure software platform," said Jonathan Schwartz, President and COO of Sun. "100% of our customers are deploying web infrastructures and asking for relief from onerous licenses and system integration activity. With our announced intent to open source the entirety of our software offerings, every single developer across the world now has access to the most sophisticated platform available for web 1.0, 2.0 and beyond."

Included at no cost in the new Solaris Enterprise System are:

...The award winning and open sourced Solaris 10 OS, with the recently announced PostgreSQL database;
...The entire Sun Java Enterprise System infrastructure software platform, including the Sun Java Identity Management Suite, Sun Java Integration Suite, Sun Java Communications Suite, Sun Java Application Platform Suite, Sun Java Availability Suite and Sun Java Web Infrastructure Suite;
...The N1 Management Software including the Sun N1 System Manager, the Sun N1 Service Provisioning System, the Sun N1 Grid Engine;
...All tools for C, C++ and Java development, including Sun Studio 11, Sun Java Studio Enterprise 8 and Sun Java Studio Creator;
...SunRay ultra-thin client software;
...Sun Secure Global Desktop Software.

Sun is offering a risk-free opportunity to explore, develop and deploy on Sun's pre-tested and pre-integrated software platform. This is a complete platform which incorporates Sun's existing and recently acquired technology, including its market-leading identity management products, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)-based integration and composite application products from Sun's recent acquisition of SeeBeyond, and the remote secure display capabilities from Sun's acquisition of Tarantella.

Sun is also rolling out a vast number of new, complementary services that span from early developer training and education to sophisticated remote and managed services to automate processes that are currently manually accomplished. Sun's new Customer Network Services can provide administrators and developers with automated support for operations management, including patches, upgrades, updates and warranty, without the high-costs associated with professional services.

Sun has committed to open sourcing its entire software portfolio using industry-standard open source licensing models to allow customers to have easy and broad access to all of its source code. Many of the components of Sun's integrated platform are already available as open source, including the Solaris OS, the Sun Java Application Server, the NetBeans software tools, and several key underlying services like single sign-on capabilities and the ability to connect multiple, independent applications in a standard way. This is a trend where Sun continues to be a pioneer.

For the free download, please visit: www.sun.com/solaris

Sun Microsystems Launches OpenSPARC Project - Ignites New Open Source Community for Breakthrough UltraSPARC T1 Processor

Sun Open Sources Microprocessor Design, Lowering Barriers to Innovation and Application Development for First Purpose-Built Processor for the Next Internet Build-Out
December 6, 2005

New York - Sun Network Computing 2005 Q4 (NC05Q4) - Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today announced the OpenSPARC project to open source its new breakthrough UltraSPARC(R) T1 processor design point. With more than 3.4 million registered licenses of the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS) and 10,000 registered OpenSolaris community members, Sun is building on a long history of sharing source code and creating communities and is the first to create this new 64-bit, 32-thread rich SPARC/Solaris community to spur innovation for massively-threaded systems and "system on a chip" design. The program will be available in the first quarter of 2006.

Today, Sun also announced plans to publish specifications for the UltraSPARC-based chip,including the source of the design expressed in Verilog, a verification suite and simulation models, instruction set architecture specification (UltraSPARC Architecture 2005) and a Solaris OS port. The goal is to enable community members to build on proven technology at a markedly lower cost and to innovate freely. The source code will be released under an Open Source Initiative (OSI)-approved open source license.

With this ground-breaking move to open source the UltraSPARC T1 code, Sun intends to significantly increase participation in processor architecture development and application design and eliminate many of the barriers to the next big build-out of the Internet. The program will yield more collaboration and cooperation around hardware design and is expected to help drive down the costs of implementing the design in different technologies, while enabling bold new products to be brought to market.

"This company was founded on the principles of openness, community and competition. In our 23-year history, we've contributed more code to the open source community than any other organization on earth," said Scott McNealy, chairman and CEO, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "Today, we're breaking new ground by extending the open source movement into the IT hardware business and removing the barriers for adoption. We're throwing open the doors of innovation for everyone to participate, fostering new growth and economic opportunity for Sun and the Internet of the future."

Having launched UltraSPARC 1 almost a decade ago as one of Sun's founders and now a partner with venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Bill Joy likes the idea that the processor code can be available for future innovations. "It's great to see advanced multi-core technology, like OpenSPARC, made available in this way for collaboration, education and research," said Bill Joy.

"The SPARC architecture has a long history of being open. Sun's open-sourcing of a 64-bit SPARC processor implementation opens SPARC in a new and exciting way and paves the way for the next Internet build-out," said Karen Anaya, CEO, SPARC International. "SPARC International is delighted to see the devoted SPARC community expanding to encompass an even broader range of SPARC implementations."

"Sun's move to open up the design of the new UltraSPARC 64-bit chip is a new frontier for open source. We've long understood the benefits of openness and sharing for driving innovation and quality in software development, but it has yet to be tried for hardware design. While no one expects garage hackers doing their own chip fabs, there's no question that hardware designers can learn from each other's work as readily as software designers, and that design elements taken from one chip could more quickly advance the development of others. I'm hopeful that Sun's leadership in this area will encourage similar moves from other players," said Tim O'Reilly, founder and CEO, O'Reilly Media.

"Sun's decision to release Verilog source code for the UltraSPARC hardware design under a free software license is a historic step," said Eben Moglen, founding director of the Software Freedom Law Center. "The future direction of hardware design will be charted through the same principles of deep collaboration and free exchange of ideas that were pioneered by the free software and open source communities. Sun is showing its profound understanding of the forces shaping our technological future in making this decision."

In conjunction with the OpenSolaris project, the OpenSPARC initiative heralds the dawn of a new era of 64-bit industry-standard computing where communities can leverage well-designed building blocks to innovate and add value both at the hardware and software levels. In addition, Sun is actively working with the open source community to bring Linux and FreeBSD to the UltraSPARC T1 platform.

Sun continues to be a pioneer in the trend of open sourcing products and technologies. Sun has committed to open sourcing its entire software portfolio using industry-standard open source licensing models to allow customers to have easy and broad access to all of its source code. Many of the components of Sun's integrated software platform are already available as open source, including the Solaris OS, the Sun Java Application Server, the NetBeans software tools, and several key underlying services like single sign-on capabilities and the ability to connect multiple, independent applications in a standard way.

For more information on OpenSPARC, please go to http://www.opensparc.net/.

For more information related to all of Sun's NC05Q4 announcements, as well as those above, go to Sun's online press kit at http://www.sun.com/presskits/networkcomputing05q4/.

Sun Microsystems Marks New Era in Network Computing with Breakthrough CoolThreads Technology - Unveils High-Performance, Eco-Responsible Server Line

Sun Closes Year of Innovation with Major Global Launch of New Sun Fire Servers Powered by CoolThreads Technology; Unveils Powerful 9.6 GHz, Eight Core Microprocessor Design to Leave Competitors in Dual-Core Dust; Unveils New Purchase Programs and Plans to Open Source Processor Technology to Developer Communities
December 6, 2005

New York - Sun Network Computing 2005 Q4 (NC05Q4) - Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today made several game changing announcements, including the early arrival of its revolutionary new 9.6 GHz-based, high-performance systems, led by the Sun Fire T1000 and T2000 servers with CoolThreads technology. Continuing its commitment to the developer community and to addressing the growing needs of the next-generation Internet, Sun also announced its intent to open source the company's massively-threaded processor technology to further lower the barriers to innovation and application development. As part of this global product roll-out, taking place over the next two weeks in more than 25 countries, Sun will showcase unprecedented support for its new server line and UltraSPARC(R) T1 microprocessor from a wide range of global technology leaders including Oracle, Symantec and BEA.

For more information related to all of Sun's NC05Q4 announcements, go to Sun's online press kit at http://www.sun.com/presskits/networkcomputing05q4/.

Sun's major moves across its software, hardware and services offerings are driving some of the most significant changes the industry has seen in years, forever changing the game for datacenter customers. Setting a new industry standard for performance, space and energy efficiency, powered by the breakthrough technology of the UltraSPARC T1 processor, Sun's new server line beats the competition on performance, slashing energy consumption and reducing costly datacenter space requirements. For example, Sun's new systems are more than three times faster than IBM Xeon systems at nearly half the power and cooling costs and with 4.2 times better performance per watt(1). CoolThreads servers also have nearly seven times greater performance than Dell Xeon systems(2) and have 76 percent more performance at 2.3 times lower power consumption than an IBM 4-way Power 5+ system, while costing nearly half as much(3). This new server announcement, along with previous x64 and UltraSPARC IV+ server announcements, make Sun's server line-up the most compelling offering for customers looking to turbocharge their datacenter for the next wave of the Internet.

Changing the Game - New Products and Offerings from Sun - NC05Q4

Sun Fire T1000/T2000 servers - Toppling a series of world-record benchmarks to claim its leading position for price/performance, Sun announced today the release of the Sun Fire T1000 and T2000 servers featuring patented CoolThreads technology. A major advancement that leverages the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS), the new server line is based on the recently announced, massively-threaded UltraSPARC T1 processor and offers industry leading, world record price/performance for web, database and application processing. The new system is designed to save customers millions in power, cooling and space costs. The new Sun Fire T2000 server is available immediately, and the Sun Fire T1000 can be ordered now for delivery in March 2006. Both servers include a host of new integrated offers designed to stimulate rapid adoption.

OpenSPARC Project - Sun announced its intent to open source its UltraSPARC processor technology and publish certain specifications for the UltraSPARC-based chip including the source of the design expressed in Verilog, a verification suite and simulation models, instruction set architecture specification (UltraSPARC Architecture 2005) and a Solaris OS port.

Try It Before You Buy It - Given the high level of interest in these new breakthrough systems, Sun is now offering the industry's largest "Try and Buy" program that enables customers and ISV partners to test out a new Sun Fire T1000 or T2000 server running the highly threaded UltraSPARC T1 processor free of charge for 90 days, with the option to purchase the system at the end. For more information, please go to: www.sun.com/emrkt/trycoolthreads.

Space, Wattage and Performance (SWaP) Metric - Sun is also announcing an important new metric for customers to use as they evaluate their datacenter efficiencies and systems performance. It is the big picture for datacenter managers - it measures Space, Wattage and Performance (SWaP). The new SWaP metric is the only true measure of industry-standard server efficiency: performance / (space x power).

Full Protection Plans - Sun also announced two new Full Protection Plans, integrated system and services programs that offer customers low total cost of ownership, reduced budgetary risk and increased system availability. When customers choose the Sun Fire T1000 or T2000 system, they get more than just a server; they receive the world's most powerful operating system, Solaris 10, and the option to purchase a Full Protection Plan that goes far beyond basic break/fix warranty programs. Sun's Full Protection Plans are simple to purchase, include the essential, recommended services and offer transparent three-year pricing that enables customers to predict and better manage their IT budgets.

CoolThreads Prize For Innovation - Sun launched its CoolThreads competition to inspire new software development for its breakthrough Sun Fire T1000 and T2000 server line. In this competition, developers and ISVs have the opportunity to win $50,000 in cash by developing ground-breaking applications or improving on existing applications, within the next six months, for optimal throughput performance and scaling. For further details about the CoolThreads Developer Contest and full contest rules, please visit https://coolthreads.dev.java.net.

Sun N1 System Management software - Sun N1 System Manager v1.2 now includes support for the Sun Fire T1000 and T2000 servers. This integrated solution allows customers to perform operating system provisioning and system management of the Sun Fire servers announced today and Sun's x64 industry-standard systems announced in September. Sun Management Console 3.6 adds support for several Solaris 10 features including Dynamic Tracing, Predictive Self-Healing and Solaris Containers. The Sun N1 Management portfolio includes Sun N1 System Manager, Sun Management Center, N1 Service Provisioning System and the Sun N1 Grid Engine. These products help enterprises lower operational costs and improve business efficiency by simplifying the management of systems and services in customers' heterogeneous datacenters.

Today's announcements follow on the heels of major product developments announced by Sun throughout the quarter, including:

Solaris Enterprise System - On Nov. 30, Sun announced plans to make the Java Enterprise System, Sun N1 Management software and Sun Studio Developer tools available at no cost for both development and deployment. All of this software, along with the Solaris OS, will be integrated into the Solaris Enterprise System making it the the only comprehensive and open infrastructure software platform available today.

Solaris 10 Operating System - On Nov. 17, Sun expanded its commitment to delivering and supporting powerful open source solutions for the enterprise and announced: that it will distribute and support the Postgres database with the Solaris OS; new features in OpenSolaris including Solaris Containers for Linux Applications; availability of the source code for Solaris ZFS, a revolutionary new 128-bit file system with unprecedented error detection and correction capabilities and participation in the Xen open source project. Solaris 10, the most advanced operating system on the planet, is available for both UltraSPARC and industry standard x86/x64 systems. The Solaris OS is the only operating system that guarantees binary compatibility on supported platforms and source code compatibility between UltraSPARC and x64 platforms ensuring that applications written for Sun's UltraSPARC platform run unmodified on Sun's new Sun Fire systems. The Solaris 10 OS includes innovative features not available on other platforms, such as DTrace, Predictive Self Healing and Containers, to provide the highest levels of application performance, availability, security and consolidation.

Sun Summit on 21st Century Eco-Responsibility - On Nov. 14 at its first ever Sun Summit on 21st Century Eco-Responsibility, Sun discussed how its approach to eco-responsible computing is good for the IT industry and detailed how it is marrying eco-friendly product design with high performance technologies. Sun's McNealy was joined by Sun CTO Greg Papadopoulos and a panel of environmental thought leaders to discuss how eco-responsibility can minimize harm to the planet and benefit business. For more information or to view the webcast, go to: http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/environment/index.jsp

UltraSPARC T1 processors with CoolThreads technology - On Nov. 14 Sun introduced the UltraSPARC T1 , code named "Niagara", as the world's first high-performance, energy-efficient processor. Using patented CoolThreads chip multi-threading technology that leverages the threaded nature of the Solaris 10 OS, the breakthrough chip is the world's first eco-responsible processor. In an era in which most processors use at least 40 watts/thread, each SPARC-based CoolThreads processor uses five percent the energy per thread of Intel Xeon or IBM Power processors at just two watts per thread. Sun's new processor offers unparalleled transactional throughput and is designed to save customers millions of dollars on rising datacenter power, cooling and space costs.

Storage Titanium Tape Drive T10000 - On Nov. 3, Sun introduced the T10000 enterprise tape drive, extending the value and performance delivered via StorageTek's earlier T-Series drives, to provide businesses with fast access to large volumes of information at an attractive price per gigabyte. Delivering the industry's highest native tape drive throughput rate (120 megabytes/second), capacity of up to 500 gigabytes uncompressed - or a terabyte of compressed data on a single cartridge - and Fibre Channel and FICON dual-port connectivity, the T10000 delivers a 250 percent increase in density and 400 percent increase in throughput speeds over the earlier StorageTek T9940B drive.

Developer Community - On Oct. 26, Sun launched its latest release of Sun Studio 11 with enhancements designed to simplify the development process and deliver the highest optimization and best performance for the development of scalable 32-bit and 64-bit applications on multi-core and multi-threaded systems. This results in an increase in developer productivity while requiring less hardware, electricity and footprint when deploying these demanding applications into production. Sun Studio software has contributed to 13 performance world records announced in 2005, with five recorded on this latest product release.

UltraSPARC IV+ Processor - On Sept. 20, Sun announced the release of Sun Fire servers powered by new UltraSPARC IV+ processors. The new systems offer customers up to a fivefold increase in performance over previous UltraSPARC processor generations. These recently announced systems deliver the industry's only "on the fly" upgrade path that allows customers to protect their investments in existing applications and infrastructure by leveraging the binary compatibility of the UltraSPARC processor and the Solaris OS to quickly and easily take advantage of the latest server technology.

Sun Microsystems Takes a Leap into Virtual World Second Life

Second Life's First Fortune 500 Press Conference, Hosted by Sun Chief Researcher John Gage
October 10, 2006

SANTA CLARA, CA - Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: SUNW), global technology leader and creator of the Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS), today launched its presence in the virtual world Second Life, becoming the first Fortune 500 firm to hold an 'in-world' press conference at the opening of the company's new virtual Sun Pavilion. The event was hosted by Sun Chief Researcher John Gage, the well-known pioneer of online education and a leader in science and technical policy. Second Life is a key example of what Sun is calling the Participation Age, and the next evolution of the network as the computer.

Gage, appearing in avatar form, discussed the purpose and goals of Sun's foray into Second Life. He pointed to the opportunities for experimentation with new forms of communication, collaboration and economic activity in the virtual world as a driver behind the creation of Sun's new facility. Chris Melissinos, Sun's chief gaming officer, also spoke during the event. Afterwards, attendees were able to tour the Sun Pavilion, which includes an outdoor theater, meeting spaces, and kiosks that exhibit videos highlighting recent Sun innovations, events and Sun customer projects.

"Second Life is creating new possibilities for communication, sharing and community-building - all principles which have guided Sun since our founding," said Gage. "I see virtual worlds like this one as the next evolution of 'The Network is The Computer.' Second Life is a community built entirely on participation, and while this is still an experiment for us, we're jumping into Second Life with both feet because we see the online world's unlimited potential for collaboration on everything from social issues to Java technology development."

Philip Linden, the avatar of Philip Rosedale, CEO of Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life, joined Gage and Melissinos on stage during their talk.

"Given the range of Sun's initiatives and the diversity of its audiences, Second Life is an ideal platform," said Philip Rosedale, CEO of Linden Lab. "Whether it's reaching out to Java technology developers or teaching engineers and technical staffs about Sun's products, Sun's new home in Second Life provides an forum unbounded by geography."

To attend the press conference in beginning at 10:00am Pacific Time, become a member of Second Life for free at: https://secondlife.com/join
To go directly to the Sun Pavilion, paste the following URL into a web browser or simply click on the link: http://tinyurl.com/m338r

Sun Unveils The Future of Virtualized Datacenters - Project Blackbox

Container-Based Solution Offers Extraordinary Price/Performance, Enabling Rapid Deployment of High-Scale, Extreme Efficiency Environments -- From Web 2.0 Build-Outs to Datacenter Expansion; Emergency Response to Localized High Performance Computing; Sun Previews the World's Most Innovative, Virtualized Datacenter
October 17, 2006

MENLO PARK, CA - Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today unveiled Project Blackbox, a systems innovation designed to reset datacenter economics. Project Blackbox applies Sun's trademark innovation and network computing expertise to provide a simple, "instant-on"modular datacenter targeting companies seeking rapid and highly efficient deployment of lights-out infrastructure. Project Blackbox packages compute, storage and network infrastructure, along with high-efficiency power and cooling into modular units based on standard shipping containers. The Project Blackbox prototype is designed to be rapidly and flexibly deployed anytime, anywhere.

"Just about every CIO and startup I meet says they're crippled by datacenter energy and space constraints -- today's solutions are clearly failing to meet the needs of Web 2.0," said Jonathan Schwartz, CEO and president, Sun Microsystems. "Rather than trying to improve upon today's datacenter, designed for people babysitting computers, Project Blackbox starts from the world's most broadly adopted industry standard, the shipping container, and asks -- how can we most efficiently create modular, lights-out datacenters from this base? The answer? With one-hundredth of the initial cost, one-fifth the cost per square foot, and with 20 percent more power efficiency, we can deliver an immense multiple of capacity and capability -- anywhere on earth."

The Solaris 10 Operating System (OS) is at the core of Sun's virtualized infrastructure -- from one-way servers to high performance computing environments delivering hundreds of Teraflops. Harnessing the power of the Solaris 10 OS coupled with Sun server and storage technologies, one Blackbox could hold 250 Sun Fire servers, provide two petabytes of storage, or provide seven Terabytes of memory.

Project Blackbox, as envisioned and engineered today, is a pre-configured, fully contained datacenter, optimized for maximum density, performance and efficiency, as well as complete recyclability. The form factor and underlying technologies offer a range of potential new uses, including:

...Quick Web 2.0 build-outs - brings computing resources to Web 2.0 companies that have an ongoing need for datacenter space, yet don't have the time to design or build it
...Advanced military applications - enables deployments anytime, anywhere
...Developing nations - brings instant-on computing facilities to locations that lack the power and networking infrastructure to support a traditional datacenter
... Oil exploration and seismic modeling - brings high performance computing to virtually any location, from offshore oil rigs to underdeveloped regions of the world
...Leveraging alternative energy sources - gives companies the flexibility to locate datacenters to take better advantage of alternative energy sources and rates

Project Blackbox is currently in the late prototype phase. Sun has begun working with early customers, with early commercial availability slated for mid-2007. More information on Project Blackbox is available at: http://sun.com/blackbox.

Sun Surpasses 6 Million Solaris 10 Operating System Licenses

Solaris 10 OS Gains Momentum As The Platform of Choice For Enterprises and Application Vendors
October 30, 2006

SANTA CLARA, CA - Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today announced that it has delivered over 6 million licenses for the free and open Solaris 10 Operating System (OS), the most advanced operating system on the planet, since its release in January 2005. This represents more than the combined shipments of all Red Hat Enterprise Linux, IBM AIX and Hewlett Packard HP-UX releases over the same period, and with 97 of the Fortune 100 and 85% of the Fortune 500 companies using Solaris 10 today, it has become the platform of choice for enterprises everywhere.

The increase in enterprise deployments of Solaris 10 has also resulted in significant increases in third party application availability. No comparable operating system from Red Hat, HP, or IBM surpasses the Solaris 10 OS catalogue of third party applications.

This massive momentum combined with the fact that Solaris 10 has delivered 125 price/performance world records and is fully supported on more than 785 systems, including over 710 x64/x86-based systems from top manufacturers including Sun, Dell, HP and IBM, has helped Sun claim more than half of current worldwide UNIX server unit shipments.

"The Solaris 10 OS is increasingly seen as the strategic choice for enterprises and application developers," said Tom Goguen, vice president of Solaris Marketing for Sun Microsystems. "The continuing growth in Solaris 10 OS momentum has driven additional growth in other parts of our business such as the Sun Cluster business continuity software and N1 management tools, both of which have recently experienced over 100% growth in support from third party application developers."

The Solaris 10 OS is increasingly recognized for unique innovations and features such as Dynamic Tracing, Solaris Containers, Predictive Self-Healing and Solaris ZFS. Recently, Dynamic Tracing (DTrace), a key feature in Solaris 10, was honored with the top prize in the Wall Street Journal's 2006 Technology Innovation Awards.

One of the major strategic advantages that Solaris offers Sun customers is that it is both freely available through a no cost licensing policy and completely open-source through the OpenSolaris community. Today there are over 16,400 registered members of OpenSolaris.org, and there have been over 33,800 recorded OpenSolaris downloads. There are 38 registered OpenSolaris user groups, and the OpenSolaris community has made some 220 code contributions to date.

To download Solaris at no cost go to http://sun.com/solaris.