Event Photos
|
Sun Modular Datacenter (Sun MD), widely known as Project Blackbox, the world's first virtualized datacenter, is a rapidly deployable, high-density compute platform in an enhanced 20' shipping container that can be used to quickly (re)deploy datacenter capacity virtually anywhere it's needed. Sun MD, another example of Sun innovation that is changing economics of IT, has achieved early successes with units at multiple global customer sites providing flexible, expanded capacity for a range of scientific research (physics), manufacturing, telecommunications and healthcare applications.
Sun's Project Blackbox Tour
Bellevue, WA - 6/26/08Hilton's Bellevue Hotel is just minutes from major businesses and industry, so it was a natural choice for Seattle area professionals to see Sun MD and hear about the latest innovations and open software approach from Sun.  Portland, OR - 6/24/08Portland State University, which was rated as one of America's best colleges 2008, hosted talks and tours of Sun MD for students, faculty, area business leaders, customers and partners.  Prague, Czech Republic - 6/23/08Sun MD travelled to Czech Republic to present talks and tours at Prague's prestigious Zofin Palace, overlooking the most beautiful and historic part of Prague. This very popular event attracted customers, partners, and business leaders from all over Europe and the surrounding area.  NXTcomm08, Las Vegas, NV - 6/16-19/08Las Vegas Convention Center was buzzing with excitement as Scott McNealy delivered his keynote speech to communications industry leaders at NXTcomm08. Sun MD was a clear winner, offering talks and tours of Sun's new virtualized datacenter in a box, and spreading Sun's eco message and vision on the show floor throughout the entire event.  Scottsdale, AZ - 6/12-13/08Championship golf and lush scenery were the backdrop for the EBC at the AAA Four Diamond award-winning Scottsdale Resort & Conference Center. Sun MD was right at home in the high-tech conference space, offering talks and tours of Sun's virtualized datacenter in a box.  Westminster, CO - 6/5/08Gold discovered in the South Platte River Valley brought national attention to Westminster in 1858. Once again Westminster was on the cutting edge and in the news when the Sun MD Event Tour Trailer rolled into town. Talks and tours of Sun MD were on the agenda for the day-long event.  Sweden - 6/4-12/08Sun MD's first visit to Sweden was very popular! It started with a stop at Lindholmens Science Park in Goteborg, moved to the Sun office in Stockhholm, and then visited two nearby customer locations where executives were able to get a closer look at Sun's new virtualized datacenter.  Offutt AFB, Omaha, NE - 6/3/08Offutt Air Force Base, the home of the 55th Wing, the Fightin' Fifty-Fifth, and a variety of other units, hosted Sun Modular Datacenter at it's popular Patriot Club. Each branch of the US military is represented among Offutt's approximately 12,000 military and federal employees, so interest in touring Sun MD was high.  Omaha, NE - 6/2/08The Peter Kiewit Institute, an information science, technology, and engineering college in Omaha, was the site of another great Sun MD university visit. Students, faculty, and local business leaders enjoyed tours of Sun's unique new virtualized datacenter.  Sioux Falls, SD 5/30/08When Sun MD came to Sioux Falls, business leaders, faculty, students, and the community at large all participated in a discussion of the economic benefits delivered through Sun's virtualization components for IT and the enterprise.  Fargo, ND - 5/28/08The NDSU Research and Technology Park is a place where university researchers and private industry combine their talents to develop new technologies, methods and systems. It was the perfect place for Sun MD to demonstrate Sun's desktop to datacenter technology with presentations and tours of Sun Modular Datacenter.  Netherlands - 5/27-28 and 6/18/08Excitement and interest in Sun MD was so high in Netherlands, we visited two popular locations in May, and were asked back to participate in the Datacenter Green IT Conference in June.  Minneapolis, MN - 5/21-22/08Our Sun MD visit to University of St. Thomas was so popular last year, they invited us back again! This time Sun MD was part of an EBC On the Road, where customers experienced the freedom of Sun desktop solutions combined with virtualization technology from Sun's partner, VMWare. The second day of the visit featured a Solaris technology session covering an overview of Sun xVM infrastructure.  Des Moines, IA - 5/20/08From the desktop to the datacenter, Sun Modular Datacenter is an integral part of Sun's vision and strategy. Everyone got to see the future firsthand as they toured Sun MD on the front plaza of the Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines.  United Kingdom - 5/19-22/08Sun Modular Datacenter was met with significant interest as it visited four customer locations and public sites across the UK, including EDS in Lytham St. Annes, Sun offices in Coventry, University of Warwick, BT in Ipswich and finally the National Army Museum in Chelsea.  Overland Park, KS - 5/16/08ECO-Innovation was front and center when Sun Modular Datacenter visited Overland Park, Kansas, near Kansas City. Customers were treated to tours of Sun MD and Sun Storage Technologies talks throughout the entire day. St. Louis, MO - 5/14/08Sun's vision and strategy was on display when Sun MD was part of an EBC On the Road at Sheraton Westport Conference Center. It was a day of discussions and tours, covering everything from Sun Systems, Storage, and Services, to Sun Modular Datacenter.  France 5/13 - 5/15/08Sun MD visited multiple locations in Paris and the surrounding area, including France Telecom / Orange Business Services, the main telecommunications company in France and one of the largest in the world, BNP Paribas, one of the largest banks in Europe, and Societe Generale, one of the main European financial services companies. Following the customer visits, Sun MD was featured at an ECO-Virtualization Event along the Siene in Paris which was attended by over 40 different local companies and numerous members of the press and media who all reported very favorably on Sun MD.  Madison, WI - 5/12/08"Virtualization, Going Beyond the Hype" was the topic for the day when Sun MD visited the Alliant Energy Center. In addition to tours of Sun Modular Datacenter every 15 minutes, a new product, Sun SL300 Modular System was introduced to this marketplace.  Naperville, IL - 5/9/08It was a beautiful day to be outdoors when Sun MD visited Alcatel Lucent, with whom Sun has enjoyed a long-standing partner alliance. There were talks, tours of Sun MD and a great picnic lunch for everyone.  Champaign, IL - 5/8/08University of Illinois is one of the nations best public research universities, so it only seemed natural for it to be part of the Sun MD tour. Students were able to explore the new technology as they toured Sun MD, and had their questions answered by Sun experts.  Indianapolis, IN - 5/7/08Sun MD visited the Sun office in Indianapolis where, among others, customers from Eli Lilly, a global pharmaceutical company and one of the world's largest corporations, enjoyed special talks and tours of Sun MD, the world's first virtualized datacenter in a box.  Milan, Italy - 5/5-7/08Sun MD was the center of attention at Il Futuro Dei Data Center in the center of Milan, one of the largest cities in Italy. Customers, partners and press enjoyed three days of talks and tours of Sun MD, the world's first virtualized datacenter.  Louisville, KY - 5/5/08Named after the popular Louisville Slugger baseball bat, Slugger Field, home of the Louisville Bats, played host to Sun MD. Customers were treated to tours of Sun MD at a Sun Technology Fair.  Nashville, TN, Columbus, IN - 5/2 and 5/6/08Cummins Diesel hosted talks and tours of Sun MD at two of its main locations so key people could "see the future firsthand". Cummins Inc., a global power leader, is a corporation of complementary business units that design, manufacture, distribute and service engines and related technologies.  Covington, KY - 4/30/08EBC on the Road and Sun MD recently told the story of Sun's vision and strategy at Northern Kentucky Convention Center, along the banks of the Ohio River near Cincinatti.  Dayton, OH - 4/29/08Sun MD and several partners joined forces to bring the world's first "Datacenter in a Box" to the military personnel at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, "the birthplace, home and future of aerospace".  Columbus, OH - 4/28/08Tech Columbus, where their motto is "Accelerating the Business of Technology", was the location for a Sun Technology Fair, offering hands-on demos of Sun's latest products, and tours of Sun MD.  Cleveland, OH - 4/23/08Sun MD pulled into Cleveland and look what we found a city as eco conscious as Sun is! And just to prove it, twice the number of customers toured Sun MD, as had been registered.  Madrid, Spain - 4/22-25/08Sun MD made its Iberian debut at the big exhibition hall, Feria de Madrid. Customers, visitors and press from all over Spain and Portugal were welcomed with great presentations of Sun's Systems Practice Solution Portfolio, and guided tours of the Sun MD unit.  Pittsburgh, PA - 4/21/08EBC On the Road and tours of Sun MD were the hit of the day at Pittsburgh Technology, an Industry Association providing business related information and services, such as training, knowledge-sharing forums, and networking opportunities. A Wilkes Barre high school student got his mom to drive him and his two buddies five hours to see Sun MD after finding the tour stop information on Sun's website. Future Sun customers!  New York City, New York - 4/7-9/08It was an exciting week in The Big Apple! Sun MD was the toast of Broadway right outside the Millennium Broadway Hotel in the middle of Times Square! Customers and curious onlookers toured Sun MD to learn more about Sun's committment to eco issues, and there was even a Sun launch of the new Sun SPARC Enterprise Systems on the 9th.  Munich, Germany - 4/7-11/08Sun MD was at the Sun Munich office for a week, as part of Sun's Solution Center. Customers from all over Europe, and even some from the middle east, came to hear the presentations, and see the new technology for themselves.  Somerset, New Jersey - 4/3/08Sun, and partners Symantec, Continental Resources, Agilysys, and Emulex, hosted a technology fair for customers. Both morning and afternoon sessions featured a Sun MD presentation and tours so customers could see the future firsthand.  King of Prussia, PA - 4/1/08Tours of Sun Modular Datacenter were an important part of the recent EBC On the Road. Executives from some of our top accounts were on hand to learn more about Sun's eco story, and how Sun MD fits into Sun's eco vision for the future.  Annapolis Junction, Maryland - 3/28/08Sun MD visited the Sun Annapolis Junction office for the day, hosting tours for area students, partners and customers. Annapolis is the home of the United States Naval Academy which educates and commissions officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps.  Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 2/20-26/08Sun MD debuted first in Sao Paulo, Brazil's major industrial and economic area, and then moved on to Rio de Janeiro, sometimes called "The Marvelous City". Over 400 customers, partners and press from all around Brazil came to tour Sun MD and learn about Sun's new technology.  Sun MD Tour Meets EBC On the Road 2008The Sun MD Tour has been meeting up with the EBC On the Road! Sun MD has been an exciting addition to many EBC On the Road events, as it offers a wonderful opportunity to see the future firsthand. Packed with the latest innovative technologies, Sun MD is a high tech showcase of Sun's strategy and vision. Sun MD gives you a chance to discuss your IT challenges — whether it's maximizing return on your IT assets, or managing the energy efficiency and capacity in your datacenter — with peers, Sun experts, and key partners who can help. Check out the Sun MD Locations and Schedule page, and join us when the EBC On the Road comes to your city. Discover how Sun's end-to-end approach builds more security, efficiency and longevity, while engineering cost and complexity out. Sun's EBC, Executive Briefing Center, is a meeting and demo center at the Sun corporate office in Menlo Park, California, where you can see and hear all about the full line of Sun products and solutions from top level executives. It is so popular, we have taken it "On the Road" this year, to dozens of locations around the globe.  The Pentagon, Washington DC - 3/26/08Here we are in the Pentagon's Center Courtyard! President Bush's motorcade passed within feet of Sun MD as we greeted interested guests and customers from all areas of the government.  Cary, North Carolina - 3/12/08Local customers, businesses and universities welcomed the chance to see Sun MD up close, at Sun's event, hosted by SAS on their campus.  Charlotte, North Carolina - 3/10/08Charlotte's Sun MD visit to the Discovery Place was a welcome opportunity for one local visitor to a previous Sun MD event, to show his manager how Sun MD could be a part of their datacenter solution.  CeBIT Hanover, Germany - 3/3 - 3/9/08
Sun MD gets all set up and ready for the opening of CeBIT 2008. Sun Modular Datacenter is positioned in the Intel booth. We are working together to bring "green" to the world with Sun MD at this exhibition featuring Solar Power. We even added extra Sun servers and blades with Intel Xeon processors onto the truck.
 March 2008Throughout the month of March, Sun MD has travelled from Florida, up the east coast, stopping at US Government entities and suppliers, including several Air Force, Army, and Navy bases.  Dallas, Texas - 2/20/08
Sun's partner, Agilysys, hosted an event for employees and customers to get to know Sun and its products, in an informal setting at Duke's Original Roadhouse in Addison, Texas.  Plano, Texas - 2/19/08The campus at EDS was buzzing with activity, as a constant stream of interested employees from all over EDS came to tour Sun MD...over 526 at the one-day event!  Austin, Texas - 2/14/08
The Sun MD visit to the University of Texas at Austin, hosted by ATI, Austin Technology Incubator, was all about clean energy, and Sun's leadership position in the community.  San Antonio, Texas - 2/13/08
Sun and partner, SIGMA Solutions, hosted customers and local user group communities for some fun outside Dave and Buster's where they were treated to a tour of Sun MD. Mark Monroe was on hand to give a presentation, and speak about Sun's eco message, and how it relates to Sun MD.  Today We Are Announcing........1/29/08
Sun Modular Datacenter S20, widely known as Project Blackbox, the world's first virtualized datacenter, is now available! Previewed a little over a year ago, and available today, Sun Modular Datacenter (Sun MD) hit the market with broad global customer demand that spans industry, geography and application segments, including healthcare, manufacturing, telecommunications and HPC. Sun MD provides a whole new alternative for quickly adding heterogeneous datacenter capacity, with the flexibility to move it as business needs change.  California - 1/22-23/08
Sun's Executive Briefing Center went "on the road" with exciting events in Irvine and San Diego, California in January. Applied Computer Solutions partnered with Sun on these events, so Project Blackbox, soon to be called Sun MD, was accompanied by the Sun / ACS Nascar racing car, as it zoomed into the first cities on the 2008 tour.
 Australia - 12/17-20/07
Project Blackbox became part of the Christmas festivities in two locations in Australia this holiday season. Decked out with a giant green bow, it was the "biggest little gift box" in the holiday plaza at Darling Harbour in Sydney for two days. And after leaving there, it added to the excitement of the season at the entrance to the Old Parliament House in Canberra. Over 700 customers, partners, and press from all across Australia were able to step into the future and view the product with tours and presentations.  Mexico - 12/3-10/07
In December, Project Blackbox added Mexico to its worldwide tour! Over 300 customers, partners and press were on hand to welcome Project Blackbox to the Central Banamex in Mexico City for three days of tours, presentations, and events.
 Seoul, Korea - 11/20-22/07
The shivering cold, below freezing weather in Seoul didn't dampen the excitement surrounding the Project Blackbox events. It was a very cold day for those attending, but it turned out to be a good "proof of concept" example for running Project Blackbox under adverse weather conditions. Customers turned out for the event, despite the weather, and in the open showcase, visitors took photos and toured the inside of the Project Blackbox unit. Someone suggested a new name for Project Blackbox should be "Sun's Ubiquitous Datacenter", aka U-Datacenter.
 Reno, Nevada - 11/10-13/07
Project Blackbox was a popular exhibit at the HPC Symposium in Reno, and again at SuperComputing SC07. Sun had many experts on hand to explain how Project Blackbox can maximize savings and provide operational flexibility. Customers learned about the latest innovations and open software approach from Sun and its partners.  Canada - 11/1/07 and 11/20/07
Project Blackbox visited Canada, and stopped in Calgary on November 1, 2007, and in Vancouver on November 20, 2007. Both were exciting events, with customers, press, analysts, partners and Sun employees all getting a chance to preview the world's first datacenter in a box. Sun experts gave tours and answered questions about Project Blackbox and other innovations from Sun.  Beijing, China - 10/22-24/07
"This thing is really working!" Sun unveiled Project Blackbox in Beijing on October 22nd, to a full house of customers, partners and press. "Sun is great in innovation", they exclaimed, as China web media, 51cto.com, broadcast the main event live. Several special sessions were set up for individual accounts, and more than 450 people were able to view Sun's Project Blackbox over the three days of exciting events. They heard presentations, walked through the product, asked questions and gave encouraging praise....."This Project Blackbox opens up many possible application areas!"  San Antonio, TX - 10/22-24/07
Geospatial Intelligence conference (GEOINT 2007) -- Project Blackbox was on display to the Intelligence Community at a government conference in San Antonio, Texas the week of October 21. Attendees were treated to tours and presentations of Sun's latest innovative product by Sun's Project Blackbox experts and their partners for the project, Boeing.  Colorado Springs, CO, SAIC Tour Stop - 10/16-17/07
Top government officials from nearby army posts and air bases were treated to one on one meetings and tours of Project Blackbox, when the Project Blackbox Worldwide Tour stopped at one of Sun's System Integrators, SAIC on October 16 and 17.  Tokyo, Japan - 10/11-13/07
Beautiful autumn weather added to the enjoyment, as attendees were treated to a tour of Project Blackbox in Tokyo. Special sessions were held for individual customers, partners, press and analysts, with over 300 people in attendance. TV Tokyo was on hand to interview President Tom Suetsugu of Sun Japan who answered questions about Sun's innovative new datacenter in a box, Project Blackbox. The segment aired on TV Tokyo's business news program, "World Business Satellite", October 11.  Las Vegas, Customer Engineering Conference (CEC 2007) - 10/8-9/07
More than 3,600 worldwide Customer Engineering Staff and partners attended Sun's internal Customer Engineering Conference in Las Vegas during the week of October 8. On a walk-through, Sun technical employees learned more about Project Blackbox, Sun's latest innovative product. The display also featured a hands-on working session and live demo.  Singapore - 10/2-4/07
Nothing beats seeing the real thing! Project Blackbox arrived in Singapore for its Asian tour debut, and was unveiled at a celebration commemorating 25 years of innovation. During the 3-day event, Project Blackbox was visited by hundreds of key customers, technology partners, and analysts. Televised executive interviews and broad media coverage throughout the region introduced Project Blackbox to the public, and a customer appreciation cocktail party added to the excitement. "It was a great event, and a wonderful opportunity to see the self-contained datacenter of the future the world has been talking about."  Helsinki, Finland - 07/10/07
Sana levittää paastota kotona Suomi! The Summer holiday season is well underway in Finland, and in spite of that fact, Project Blackbox enjoyed a nice turnout of customers from Nokia, Siemens and Fujitsu, to name just a few. Some attendees even came from as far away as Spain to attend our Helsinki event! The response was so great, as a matter of fact, that Project Blackbox hadn't been in Helsinki for 24 hours when it had already generated no less than six articles in major Finnish publications and web outlets. Kaupalehti, the largest business daily in Finland, was quick to embrace Project Blackbox's potential for extending IT resources in disaster recovery areas. Tietoviikko Online, Finland's largest IT weekly, chose to focus on the eco-friendliness of Project Blackbox, noting that by making the entire datacenter recyclable, Project Blackbox continues Sun's "Green story." For a country with so much land inside the Arctic Circle, we found Finland to be a very warm place!  Netherlands - 07/5-6/07
Dit betekent niet wij de naam veranderen! Stopping in the Netherlands, Project Blackbox played host to over 100 guests from the defense, finance and medical fields, and of course, the press. While the presentations continued to generate a wealth both excitement and new uses for Project Blackbox, one of the biggest twists of the tour so far came via the press. The Netherlands' IT Executive quoted CTO of Market Development Brian Wilson as saying that not only can Project Blackbox be configured to meet the storage and energy needs of any customer, but that it is also available "not just in black, but in any color of the rainbow." For the folks all along the tour who have been asking if Project Blackbox comes in any other colors, there you go. Of course, the color of the box is of no importance if the product inside doesn't excel at what it does, and IT Executive was also quick to point out Project Blackbox's ingenious (their word, not ours!) cooling system, the ability to install Project Blackbox in a state or country where energy costs may be lower, or even to install it in a secret location untraceable by hackers.  Belgium - 07/2-3/07
Belgium knows leadership. It was one of the first nations in the European Union. It is the home of NATO, Godiva Chocolates, and the birthplace of Eddie Merckx. Belgium not only gave the world French fries and waffles, but over 500 different varieties of beer. So if you plan to come here and impress, you'd better be prepared to bring your "A" game. Or just bring Project Blackbox. Over two days in front of the Sun office in Zaventem, we toured a steady stream of enthusiastic customers through Project Blackbox, asking what new uses they might envision for our mobile datacenter. We got some great answers, too...from on-site use at the Olympic Games and Werchter (a massive four day music festival featuring bands like the Beastie Boys, Muse, Peter Gabriel and Metallica) to the Tour de France. Apparently Project Blackbox apparently made quite an impression.  Berlin, Germany - 06/28/07
Our whirlwind tour of Germany continues in Berlin, where we parked Project Blackbox inside the Sony Center at Potsdamer Plotz in central Berlin. Over 70 visitors attended our presentation sessions followed by the very popular tours of Project Blackbox, including representatives of T-Systems, a company considering creating complete disaster recovery solutions based on Project Blackbox. Having a few days off between Berlin and Belgium will give us some time to catch up on our reading, particularly our newest press clippings from PC Professionell and SearchNetworking.de. And with that, we say auf wiedersehen to Germany and continue on our way!  Dresden, Germany - 06/25-27/07
Our two-day stop in Dresden was just as busy as Munich; Dr. Robert Zwickenpflug was kept quite busy, following Andy von Bechtolsheim's keynote address with his Project Blackbox business value presentation to visitors from Dresden University, AMD and Qimonda at the HPC Consortium Meeting on the morning of the 25th. Not one to shy away from work, Robert had double-duty on the three-day stop; he also (repeatedly) gave a technical presentation on Project Blackbox at both the HPC Consortium Meeting and at the International Supercomputing Conference, the leading exhibition in Europe showcasing high performance computing, networking and storage technologies...just a thought, but considering Sun's innovation in all of these areas, maybe they should just call it the "Project Blackbox Expo" from now on!  Munich, Germany - 06/21/07
Hot on the heels of our fantastic success in Austria, the momentum of the Discover Sun Tour continued straight on through Germany! The truck with Project Blackbox arrived from Austria a bit early, giving us the opportunity to unveil the container first to our own employees. It turned out to be a good thing the truck arrived early as the demand to view Project Blackbox was so strong that we toured non-stop from 10am until 4pm, and this was on a day reserved for employees only! We did have a few customers that came by and snuck advance tours, including BMW, the Bavarian Department of Justice, and the head of the central datacenter and IT-provider for the universities in southern Germany. Our first scheduled tour stop was in front of the IT and Mathematics Department of the University of Technology in Munich, where the demand to see Project Blackbox stayed strong as almost 300 students and customers toured Project Blackbox non-stop from 9:30am to 3pm, when we finally had to stop the tours so that we could hold a press conference for Project Blackbox.  Vienna, Austria - 06/18/07 (right photo)
The home of Mozart, the Lippizaner stallions, and the most famous boys choir on the planet played host over two days to another one-of-a-kind world's best, Project Blackbox. We decided to unveil Project Blackbox at the Museumsquartier, the eighth largest cultural area in the world, consisting of a wide variety of baroque and modern architecture housing museums, stables, and a number of festivals throughout the year. We knew when we were planning it that this event would be a showstopper, but even we were surprised by the amazing success of the program — never before had more customers and partners attended a local Sun event! Over 250 visitors (as well as 15 members of the press) attended, and after an opening press conference, every single one of them toured Project Blackbox. Demand was so strong that tours lasted until 9pm! Once the tours were complete, visitors were treated to a "25 Years of Innovation" party, closing out what was definitely the event of the year for us here in Vienna. Graz, Austria - 06/12/07 (left photo)
Grüße von reizendem Österreich! Our first stop in Austria was at the ACP Forum Partner Event, an annual conference focusing on IT updates available to the local markets which drew over 500 attendees this year. While Sun shared co-sponsorship duties with a number of hard-hitters in the IT industry (including IBM), nobody was able to generate the level of excitement and interest like Project Blackbox. As a matter of fact, following the official program, the majority of attendees gathered by the truck, where the buzzwords "innovation" and "Sun" dominated conversation. The presence of Project Blackbox was such a focal point that even the marketing manager of ACP noted at one point, "most of the visitors thought this was not an ACP event, but rather a Sun Microsystems event."  Geneva, Switzerland - 06/07/07
Our second stop in Switzerland, Geneva was also a very successful stop on the tour, with over 75 attendees from IT, banking and finance and even packaging equipment manufacturers. Between both of our Swiss stops, Project Blackbox has generated a very high level of interest in the IT community and in the press; IT Reseller noted that Project Blackbox is the perfect solution to two of the biggest problem areas in IT-rising energy costs and scarceness of space. Computerworld magazine not only praised the innovation in Project Blackbox (as did Neues Büladjer Tagblatt), but they also made note of the twenty year anniversary just celebrated at our FIFA head office, having grown from a one-man shop twenty years ago to over 325 employees today. This success would not have been possible without the hard work of our Swiss employees and partners, and to them we would like to say danke sehr, sehr viel.  Zurich, Switzerland - 06/05/07
There was nothing neutral about the response to Project Blackbox when we pulled into Switzerland-the reaction is purely positive and the press is a-buzz! Zurich gave us picture perfect summer weather as Project Blackbox played host to over 110 attendees, including visitors from the Telecom, mobile applications provider and financial application provider segments. As day turned to evening, we wrapped up our tours and presentations and turned our attentions to throwing a party with some of our Swiss employees and partners to celebrate a quarter century of innovation for Sun. A quarter century that, as Project Blackbox clearly shows, is only the beginning!  Paris, France - 05/21/07 - 06/01/07
Bonjour de la ville célèbre du monde des lumières! How could you possibly improve on Paris as a fantastic location for the unveiling of Project Blackbox? How about by having Project Blackbox on the quay of the River Seine, and the hosting event on a fly boat on the river? It worked for us, and it seemed to work for our customers, too! Over 100 customers, partner and press joined us over three days for a long-awaited firsthand view of Project Blackbox. All in all, it was a great stop; we came up with even more new uses for Project Blackbox (the Worldwide Football Cup), garnered some nice press (including a write-up with lots of pictures online at Le Journal du Net), and to top it all off, nobody fell into the River Seine by accident! Au revoir Paris, et mercis de nous avoir!  Rome, Italy - 05/22-25/07
Ciao dall'Italia bella! We've made it to Italy, where Project Blackbox is taking part in Forum PA, an annual forum dedicated to Public Administration and the processes of innovation in order to improve the quality of services to citizens and enterprises. Opening our doors to over 220 guests from Telco, manufacturing, finance and a variety of Ministries of the Italian Government (including the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Innovation!), it was quickly apparent that Project Blackbox is causing quite a stir and radically changing how government and industry view data storage and management. After the wonderful response we got from the press in England, our scrapbook will be even thicker upon leaving Rome; Project Blackbox has garnered over 14 articles already in top business and technical publications, including "Il Mondo" and "La Repubblica - Affari & Finanza," as well as hosting interviews with even more national and local television outlets and technical and business publications.  Montreal, Canada - 05/18/07
Since we've introduced Project Blackbox, we've been showing it in remote or industrial locations around the world, often surrounded by miles of water, dirt or nothingness. Now we're plopping Project Blackbox down into...a cool blue light surrounded by warriors and superheroes?! While Project Blackbox was hosting over 130 attendees at our Montreal event, our very own Mario Massicotte, Sun's Vice President of Sales for Eastern Canada, was interviewed live on the M:net program, a cool show dedicated to gaming and gaming related technology, on Musique Plus, Montreal's version of MuchMusic (if you're in the U.S., think Fuse TV). Featuring some tech talk and a few glamour shots of our favorite virtual datacenter, the show was definitely a high point of our Canadian media coverage to date!  London, England - 05/17-18/07
"We have been crying out for this for years!" With those words, Project Blackbox has officially landed in London, England, and what a welcome we received! Over two days in two locations, Project Blackbox literally wowed almost 150 analysts, customers, partners and press. Friday's event at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, which started with a "Sustainability" Breakfast Briefing hosted by Trudy Norris-Grey, President and Managing Director, Sun UK and Richard Barrington, Head of Public Policy, Sun UK, drew a wide range of customers, including BP, JP Morgan Chase and Vodafone, and also saw a strong press presence. As a matter of fact, within three days of the event, Project Blackbox received coverage in three tier-one IT trade pubs: IT Week, Silicon and ZD Net! Oh, and that quote at the beginning of this entry? That was from the analysts at Gartner and IDC, who had been openly skeptical that Project Blackbox was merely a marketing ploy until they actually saw it with their own eyes and made a complete reversal in their thinking.  Ottawa, Canada - 05/17/07
Sometimes referred to as "Silicon Valley North," Ottawa makes a perfect stop on our Canadian Discover Sun Tour. Ottawa, Canada's capitol city, is home to a significant number of major players in the high-tech industry and the 2007 NHL Eastern Conference Champion Senators, but our focus today is not hockey. We'd prefer instead to talk about the over 150 guests from government, Securities & Exchange, education and the press who witnessed the latest leap in high-tech: Project Blackbox. An event shared with countless other Ottawans as Project Blackbox was featured in the "Tech Now" technology segment of the evening news on local CTV Ottawa affiliate CJOH. It seems that Canada is embracing the idea of the equivalent of a 3,500 square foot datacenter in a box that is only 6 meters long and 2.5 meters wide!  Toronto, Canada - 05/15-16/07
"The largest datacenter to ever cross the Canadian border." That's how ITBusiness Canada described Project Blackbox as it made its inaugural stop on the Canadian leg of the Discover Sun Tour. Over two days in Toronto, Project Blackbox played host to over 160 attendees from Banking and Finance, Telecommunications, research groups, and the newest folks to hop on the Project Blackbox bandwagon, the press. In addition to the great article from the folks at CBC, we also received lengthy print articles like the aforementioned ITBusiness piece as well as ITWorld and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's web site. Not to be outdone by the printed word, television media also stepped up, featuring Project Blackbox in two different broadcasts, one on CityTV, and the other on Canada's national cable channel, Canadian Learning Television (CLT).  JavaOne, San Francisco, CA - 05/8-11/07
Moscone Center, the home of JavaOne, is a large place. Large enough to drive a truck into, even. And that's exactly what we did. Making our final stop of the U.S. portion of the Discover Sun Tour, Project Blackbox caused a bit of a stir amid the other kiosks of developers, partners and assorted vendors. A large portion of our visitors had no previous knowledge of Project Blackbox, but were instead lured by the curiosity of knowing what's in the big black box. One visitor noted that he wished they had a Project Blackbox when he worked for a web hosting company, pointing out that the purchase or lease cost of Project Blackbox would constitute a major cost savings over the $25,000 per month co-location fee they were paying. One of Intel's software engineers found Project Blackbox to be a prime solution for quickly bringing infrastructure back to areas devastated by natural or man-made disaster. Our favorite quote, however, comes from Trevor Thompson, a Computer Science student from the University of Nebraska, who noted that the compact, portable nature of Project Blackbox shows great potential as "the future of datacenters." Thank you Trevor, we couldn't have said it better ourselves.  Conway, AR - 04/25/07
Today finds Project Blackbox in Conway, Arkansas, at the campus of Acxiom Corporation. Axciom knows a thing or two about both data management and security, so we were very much looking forward to getting their take on Project Blackbox. Following a formal presentation by our very own Michael Bohlig, we toured over 135 Acxiom employees, including the CTO of Security and 8 executive leaders. Acxiom had known about Project Blackbox before our stop, and they weren't shy about sharing their interest - they invited a number of guests from Blue Cross Blue Shield, a local utility company, and some thought leadership folks from the local universities. After touring over 150 people in all, we're guessing that they were indeed impressed by Project Blackbox, what with Acxiom leaders having expressed an interest in the possibility of a Project Blackbox of their very own.  St. Louis, MO - 04/24/07
Being back in Menlo Park was nice, but our St. Louis office recently transitioned into a new space, and what better excuse to show it off than to drop a Project Blackbox into the parking lot? Speaking to almost 70 guests from a number of world leading companies including AT&T, Boeing, IBM, Master Card and A.G. Edwards, as well as a number of universities and other technology groups, Mark Monroe, Director of Sun Labs Sustainable Computing, kicked off the presentation with a standing-room-only insider's view into the conceptualization and development of the Project Blackbox concept. While many of the innovations inside Project Blackbox were discussed, one of the simplest received special attention; an engineer from Savvis noted the specially designed tool for moving the racks and noted that he "would like to see similar components applied to a standard datacenter." It just goes to show that, while our approach to innovation can yield wonderfully unique concepts like Project Blackbox and the Sun SPOTs, some ideas can be revolutionary outside of the projects that spawned them.  Menlo Park, CA - 04/17-18/07
This place looks...familiar. The Discover Sun Tour has officially crossed the United States, returning today from whence we came; Sun's Menlo Park campus. But this isn't a homecoming, just another stop on the tour. Microsoft came to visit and tour Project Blackbox, as did an expert in that other kind of networking, LinkedIn. So what's next? Well, we're ramping up for JavaOne and then we're off to visit our neighbors to the north in Canada. We also have a second Project Blackbox currently en-route to Europe, ready to give the Discover Sun Tour some international flavor (watch these pages for updates from Europe starting in mid-May). In the spirit of milestones, we thought we'd share the digits from the U.S. leg of the tour... In 80 days on the road, we have visited 36 cities, logged approximately 10, 232 miles and toured almost 3,000 people through Project Blackbox (we can't even begin to count the number of interested passers-by who did not tour, due in large part to our stops at Grand Central Station, the University of Washington, the University of Wisconsin Lubar School of Business and the Pistons game). We've seen the Statue of Liberty, a Space Shuttle, a movie studio, the Rocky Mountains and the White House, been through sun, snow, rain and sleet, and we've loved every minute of it. Thanks to everyone who came out across the U.S. to make the tour a success and share our passion for, and spirit of, innovation.  Redwood City, CA - 04/16/07
We thought it might be nice to visit some friends on our way home, so the day before returning to our Menlo Park campus, we had a quick pit stop at Oracle's campus in Redwood Shores. We were pleased to host over 75 Oracle employees on their home turf, giving them a tour of Project Blackbox and exploring our shared passions for innovation. In addition to rubbing elbows with a number of Oracle's Directors, Vice Presidents, Senior Managers and software engineers, Project Blackbox also played host to a curious couple that happened to be walking on one of the nature trails near Oracle's offices. While it's always nice to see friends, after two and a half months on the road, we're looking forward to getting home tomorrow.  Houston, TX - 04/16/07
Today finds us in an expected place...the infield of the track at Sam Houston Race Park, the first Class 1 horseracing track in Texas. But we're not here to watch the ponies, we're here to "win, place and show" Project Blackbox. Presenting to a veritable "who's who" of industry leaders, including JP Morgan Chase, Shell, Guggenheim Partners, Apache, CGG-Veritas, Oracle, NEC, Deloitte, Hitachi Data Systems and more, Project Blackbox didn't fail to dazzle, generating 16 inquiries for further purchase information in a single afternoon! Next up, we have a stop at the DoDIIS Conference in Chicago and then we're off to JavaOne in San Francisco. If you haven't seen Project Blackbox live and in person, JavaOne is your last opportunity before we leave for Canada!  Denver, CO - 04/12-13/07
You may have read about how awful the weather was while we were in Denver. Bob Wienzten, Sun Public Relations guru, even noted that he was told after two separate PR broadcasts that the news agencies were readying remote crews to dispatch the following day up to the mountains to get footage of late spring snow and its effect on both kids and auto collisions. Well, fear not for Project Blackbox, we're fine. Despite the predictions of what seemed like the end of the world from the local meteorologists, the storm blew south and missed us entirely. Good thing, too, since we welcomed a wide variety of customers from aeronautics and aerospace, global communications, analysts and strategic thinkers. Mark Monroe, Director of Sun Labs Sustainable Computing and Kevin Coyne, Sun VP of Services Product Management, gave great presentations introducing Project Blackbox, the world's first virtualized data center and showing innovation at work, before leading the much anticipated tours of Project Blackbox. We'd like to extend a special thank you to the almost 150 people who attended despite the vastly overstated and entirely erroneous reports of horrible weather provided by the Denver press; you folks are definitely not "weather wimps!"  Phoenix, AZ - 04/09-10/07
In ancient Egyptian mythology, the phoenix was a beautiful bird with gold and red plumage that, at the end of its very long life (phoenix were said to live for hundreds of years), would build a nest from cinnamon twigs, which it would then ignite. The nest and the bird would both burn furiously down to a pile of ashes, from which the phoenix would rise anew to live another long life. As we are all too aware, however, data is not like a phoenix - when it goes up in flames, it's gone forever. Project Blackbox can be equipped with a halon based fire suppression system, so that if a fire does break out inside the container, it can be put down as quickly as possible, minimizing the loss or damage to your data and equipment. Systems like this, as well as using our Sun SPOT sensors to monitor other aspects of your data's safety within the container, are just another product of Sun's commitment to make your data management needs as efficient, safe and secure as possible. Because you shouldn't have to hope your business can rise like a phoenix from the ashes.  Hollywood, CA - 04/06/07
Talk about star treatment! It's Friday and Project Blackbox is holding court on the lot at Paramount Studios (no autographs, please). Among the usual crowd of IT, financial and other customers, we also had some movers and shakers in the form of directors and producers from some of the biggest names in digital content creation. In addition to the usual business we like to conduct on this tour (the presentations, questions, what can Project Blackbox do for you), we were able to expose our playful sides as well. For starters, each presentation was preceded by a video detailing how Sun helped Paramount cut their costs and shorten render times by an average of 75% on Paramount Pictures' animated feature Barnyard. After the presentations, we had an "egg hunt" for the Sun SPOTs on Project Blackbox during tours. Of course, fun stuff aside, there's still a serious need for data solutions in Hollywood, and we're proud to say that all of our customers were very impressed by both Project Blackbox and Sun's innovation, with one well known production company already seeking quotes to get a Project Blackbox of their own.  Seattle, WA - 04/02/07
The Sun Discover Tour has now officially traveled coast-to-coast, with no signs of slowing down! Our stop at the University of Washington (go Huskies) saw Project Blackbox playing host to a variety of customers from education, Telco, medical, aeronautics, microchips, even vacation providers! Since Seattle is known for rain, it's not surprising that most of the conversation was focused around the environmental conditions that Project Blackbox is able to operate in. For example, a few of the service engineers noted the need for some type of audible alarm that could alert them if ambient temperatures got too hot while working with the doors open (just the type of problem that Sun SPOTs were designed for). Other customers asked about heavy storm areas and areas of extreme cold or heat. When we designed Project Blackbox, we didn't just design it to be quickly deployable, we designed it to be deployable in a wide range of environments; some quite comfortable, some quite extreme.  Minneapolis, MN - 03/27/07
Since we announced Project Blackbox, we've been telling you about how much faster it is to deploy than a standard brick-and-mortar datacenter, and how easy it is to set it up on-site and then move it to a remote location for disaster recovery. We've proven both these facts as we've toured Project Blackbox across the country. To date, we've visited 23 cities across the U.S. with a fully loaded and fully functional datacenter. The initial set-up of the touring Project Blackbox took about a week and a half for our engineers to load the servers and storage racks and get everything wired up. We get the container up-and-running at every city we visit in about an hour. A week and half to set up, an hour to get it up and running following a move (made better by just how easy it is to transport), all at a fraction of the cost...compare that to your last datacenter or disaster recovery solution. When you're done, call us, we have a Project Blackbox with your name on it!  Milwaukee, WI - 03/26/07
Today is all about visibility! First, we have a beautiful day in the high 70s with a sunny sky (nicest weather on the tour so far). Then, our very own Chris Hawver was interviewed about Project Blackbox for local CBS affiliate WDJT-TV and by the local newspaper. Finally, our stop was at the University of Wisconsin Lubar School of Business, where Project Blackbox was strategically placed so that every student had to walk past it to get to their classes. This placement was quite beneficial, as a number of students actually stopped and asked for tours between classes. Our scheduled tours included the Dean of the business school, two classes with a focus on technology in business, and a number of our partners who had gathered for our quarterly "Partners in Profit" meeting. All in all, a great day to see and be seen!  Chicago, IL - 03/22/07
There's the Chicago we all know - the hot dogs, the pizza, and of course, the wind. But there's also a Chicago that many may not know about just yet...the green Chicago. From a promise to obtain 20% of the city's electricity from clean and renewable sources to a push to build the most energy-efficient and environmentally sensitive municipal buildings in the nation, Chicago is a green leader. As a matter of fact, the New York Times has called Chicago a "global model for how a metropolis can pursue environmental goals to achieve economic success." So it only seemed fitting on this day to focus on the same eco-sensibilities of Project Blackbox. Our day-long event at Navy Pier drew the largest one-day crowd of the tour so far (over 200), and was kicked off with excellent keynote speeches on eco-responsibility by Brian Ahern and Mark Monroe. Customers from Telecom, government, banking and finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and more, took part in a multitude of breakout sessions focusing not only on eco-awareness, but on virtualization, high-performance computing and operations management as well. At Sun, we're proud to offer a wide variety of ecologically responsible solutions to our customers, from the totally recyclable Project Blackbox to processors and servers that consume less power while still delivering the performance our customers need. Because at the end of the day, eco-responsible solutions save more than just money.  Detroit, MI - 03/21/07
Project Blackbox isn't the only new Sun innovation snaking it's way across the country on the back of the Discover Sun Tour truck. We also have a dozen wireless Sun SPOT (Small Programmable Object Technology) sensors in place throughout the traveling Project Blackbox, monitoring levels of movement, humidity, temperature, light, location and more. Should the vibration, temperature, barometric pressure or humidity rise beyond acceptable levels, alarms will sound, alerting the Project Blackbox team, so that immediate action can be taken to restore the container to acceptable levels (no alarms yet, in spite of the pouring rain here in Lansing). The Sun SPOT platform is so flexible that it only took a few short weeks to develop, prototype, test and deploy the Sun SPOT sensors for the tour! If you're coming to a future stop, make sure you see SPOTs!  Detroit, MI - 03/20/07
Detroit offered us the opportunity to unveil Project Blackbox to the largest audience on our tour since New York City. Starting with a stop in Southfield, and spending the day with over 110 attendees, we continued to add to the list of ways that Project Blackbox can provide rapid datacenter solutions to meet almost every need. After Southfield, we headed to The Palace, the home of the Detroit Pistons, who were squaring off that evening with the Philadelphia 76ers. Incidentally, these games have been sold out for the last six years, so by game time, over 22,000 excited fans had made their way past Project Blackbox. The final score for the night? Pistons 96, Sixers 75. Project Blackbox: it's not just a great datacenter solution, it's good luck, too!  Indianapolis, IN - 03/19/07
Today finds us at the Columbia Club on Monument Circle, home of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, the first monument in the nation dedicated to the common soldier. The afternoon focused on an exclusive, invite-only luncheon seminar with about 25 customers and partners, with a fair amount of talk about virtualization (an ongoing topic along the entire tour). After the seminar, we opened up Project Blackbox for tours for other customers and passers-by. All in all, it was a leisurely, but informative, day.  Columbus, OH - 03/16/07
Despite frigid temperatures and the NCAA March Madness games, we still welcomed over 60 attendees in front of the Center for Science and Industry (COSI). COSI is dedicated to fostering a better understanding of science and industry, and in doing so, inspiring future inventors and innovations, so it was a fitting location to unveil Project Blackbox to the Midwest. We take pride in presenting Project Blackbox, not just as a giant leap forward in datacenter technology, but as a symbol of Sun's commitment to constant innovation and our commitment to our customers. A commitment to help them solve their problems so that they don't just survive; they profit, grow and, ultimately, thrive. Now that we've officially reached the halfway point of our tour, we'd like to thank all of our customers who have come out so far, braving the cold and fighting the traffic, to share in this commitment.  Burlington, MA - 03/12/07
There are a lot of preconceived notions that have been getting shattered as we've been making our way across the country with Project Blackbox. One of the biggest is that accessing the equipment in the racks must be difficult. It's not. We've designed a tool that allows anyone (and we mean anyone) to quickly and easily flip a lever, lift an entire rack (fully loaded, approximately 1,000 pounds) and pull it into the corridor for easy access. And it's not a hard tool to learn - give it about 45 seconds and you'll be an expert user. We've been showing it in use at every stop on the tour, but in Burlington we gave that 45-second lesson to a customer on each tour and had /them/ pull the rack into the corridor. Don't believe it could be so easy? If you're planning to attend one of our future stops, feel free to volunteer when the tool comes out!.  Hartford, CT - 03/09/07
We've had another running theme on this tour so far...cold weather. Ironically, because of the weather, one of Project Blackbox's most innovative features can often go unnoticed; its cooling ability. Because Project Blackbox has a closed loop cooling cycle, it's much more efficient than a hot aisle/cold aisle cooling space. As a matter of fact, Project Blackbox's airflow is so innovative, it's patented. How much more efficient is Project Blackbox than the typical datacenter? How about allowing five times the power density per compute rack? That's right, Project Blackbox can manage power densities up to 25 kw per compute rack, compared to 4 - 5 kw per compute rack in a traditional datacenter (and that's with the requirement of a blank tile next to the rack)! Thinking about it now, maybe the reason it's been so cold everywhere we go is because of Project Blackbox!  Wayne, PA - 03/08/07
Wayne actually proved to be two stops in one as we decided to stop in Morristown, New Jersey on our way to Massachusetts. In Wayne, we met with some partners who wanted to start the groundwork of bundling their services with Project Blackbox and selling them to their own customers as complete solutions for a variety of datacenter needs. And in Morristown, as over 100 customers toured the container, we asked all of them "how would you use Project Blackbox in your business?" We were met with a wide range of answers, some that we had never considered ourselves. Both stops did a great job of showing that Project Blackbox isn't just an innovation, it's an inspiration. If you're planning to attend an upcoming stop, please tell us how you would use Project Blackbox. You never know, you may end up seeing it here!  San Diego, CA - 03/05/07
Ah, the sunshine! Our stop in San Diego wasn't just great because of the year round summer weather. We also mined more customer uses for Project Blackbox (with the ideas coming from our customers themselves) than we have at most previous stops. Some of our favorites included business intelligence data warehousing, using Project Blackbox at live events such as concerts for streaming, making it the world's biggest TiVo, and of course, a mobile wine cellar (not a lot of data usage on that last one, but this is California after all). But the most important needs our customers have are the real problems they are experiencing right now, like those of Senior Systems Programmer Winston Yang, who said, "we ran out of power in our Corona [California] facility because we have too many IBM servers and they run too hot...we're excited about this "cool" technology that will really help us out." Winston's company actually needed an additional power generator just to cool their datacenter, but with the efficiency of Sun servers, and the patented cooling system of Project Blackbox, Winston's problems will soon be a thing of the past!  New York City - 03/05/07
In a city as larger-than-life as The Big Apple, what's the best way to attract attention to a black container that's only twenty feet long? Park it in front of the main entrance to Grand Central Station. Over our three day stop in Gotham, we had two recurring themes; the first being a variety of customers who were in New York on vacation that noticed us, asked what Project Blackbox was all about, and then not only toured the container, but attended the formal presentations as well. We also had a number of executives from a variety of customers meet with our sales reps and tour the container, then send their IT staff in the subsequent days to see Project Blackbox and learn how it could help solve their datacenter needs. All in all, while 200 people had originally registered, over 100 additional customers from a wide range of industries including major investment firms, hardware manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies, literally stepped off the street right into Project Blackbox.  Washington, D.C. - 02/28/07
Our stop in the nation's capitol saw Project Blackbox play host to a variety of government customers and contractors, from the Intelligence Community to Health and Human Services, and many in between - over 250 visitors in all. One customer is already considering Project Blackbox for both their disaster recovery needs as well as an upcoming datacenter consolidation. We also had a lot of system integrators from a wide range of government contractors take tours, all of whom were very excited to hear that Sun will work with them to help Project Blackbox suit their particular needs. They are looking forward to participating in Sun's upcoming Project Blackbox partner certification program.  We could tell you, but... 02/26/07 - 02/27/07
The last two days have seen Project Blackbox visiting a couple of our nation's military bases, with over 400 people touring the container, many of them pointing out that the rapid set-up and deployment and self contained nature of Project Blackbox makes it a perfect fit for customers who need fast and secure datacenter capability in the field wherever in the world that field may be. Many of the system integrators on-site were very impressed with how quickly Project Blackbox can go from commercial spec to military spec with just a few adjustments to the overall system. As one customer put it, "What a great display, I can see so many great possibilities for this!"  Norfolk, Virginia Raytheon Center - 02/23/07
Touring a variety of customers and system integrators through Project Blackbox, one of the most compelling comments on this stop of the trip regarded the efficiency and cost savings that come with Project Blackbox. We've already mentioned that once a container has been built for disaster recovery use, it can be moved offsite, but we may not have pointed out a key benefit: the container doesn't need to be powered up and running until it is needed. The final result? Less cost for energy use to the customer, and less emissions from producing that energy for the world. The classic win/win if we've ever heard one.  Alpharetta, Georgia Cingular - 2/21/07
As one of the nation's leading providers of communications, Cingular is known to embrace emerging technology right out of the gate, making Project Blackbox the perfect fit! We had the opportunity to tour several top executives through Project Blackbox, to astounding results; they are already investigating the opportunity to be an early access customer and they are looking to work with Sun to identify and capitalize on additional sell-through opportunities. We even saw one of the Cingular Executive Directors give a Project Blackbox tour to an HP service rep who happened to be on-site that day, pointing out along the way that HP had a bit of catching up to do.  Atlanta, Georgia - 02/20/07
One of our most diverse events yet, Atlanta saw Project Blackbox play host to a major media customer, a Solaris User Group and a group of high school students from a local tech school in addition to the usual cast of corporate executives and developers. An outstandingly successful stop on the tour, by the end of the day, the major media customer initiated an order for five Project Blackboxes, and two education accounts and a leading beverage manufacturer began further investigation into placing orders of their own.  Huntsville, Alabama - 02/16/07
The original home of NASA, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center is now a museum with a collection of technological innovations of historic proportions; the Saturn V rocket, the SR-71 Blackbird, the Space Shuttle. On this brisk February morning, Project Blackbox is a perfect fit - a revolution of technology (and a different kind of space), impressing a steady stream of government customers, contractors and resellers, all in the shadow of a full-size replica of the Space Shuttle!  Memphis, Tennessee - 02/15/07
A pair of whirlwind stops, Memphis found Project Blackbox under a light dusting of snow, but impressive nonetheless to executives from FedEx, International Paper, Hilton Hotels, Regions Bank, ServiceMaster and more. At both stops, having the tarp closed to keep out the cold may have obscured the view of Project Blackbox from the outside, but it also illustrated just how small of a space Project Blackbox is able to fit a complete datacenter solution in (20 feet, just in case you've forgotten).  Dallas, Texas - 02/13/07
One of our coldest stops yet, Dallas saw over 80 attendees braving the chilly weather to get a look inside of Project Blackbox. In addition to our regular tours, we also hosted a small number of private tours for some customers, which were met with an overwhelmingly great response with many of them showing a great deal of interest in becoming early access customers.  Austin, Texas - 02/12/07
Riding the momentum from our Bay Area launch, Project Blackbox rolled into Austin, Texas, peaking interest and changing customer perceptions along the way. While 70 people had originally RSVP'd for our presentation, the buzz about Project Blackbox spread quickly, and by day's end, several hundred people had toured Project Blackbox, finding it to be the perfect solution for their datacenter needs. Next stop: Dallas!  AMD - 02/09/07
Our visit to AMD was literally success by the numbers; kicked off by the VP of Sales, Project Blackbox played host to over 300 people for more than seven hours. With the entire crowd, from the executives on down, curious and excited about Project Blackbox, the numbers game peaked with the realization that Project Blackbox could house 2,000 AMD processor cores.  Sun Analyst Summit and the Education Research Conference - 02/07/07
Project Blackbox debuted on its inaugural stops on the first leg of the Sun Discover Tour to a host of accolades from an excited group of worldwide industry experts, financial analysts and leading minds in education. These experts and customers praised Project Blackbox as the perfect solution to many of their key IT needs; whether they were out of space in their existing datacenter, felt that expansion would take too long, or needed better efficiency in both performance and energy usage, all in attendance unanimously agreed that Project Blackbox is the perfect solution to their most critical IT issues at a fraction of the cost of building a new traditional datacenter. While we already felt that Project Blackbox was a great idea, the widespread validation received at our launch was an energizing feeling that we look forward to sharing with the rest of country in the days to come.  Menlo Park, California - 02/05/07
Sun Microsystems unveiled Project Blackbox, another example of innovation-at-work, which was designed to reset datacenter economics. Whether you are out of space, growing rapidly, need instant-on IT infrastructure that could be quickly deployed anywhere worldwide, or want to access alternative energy sources, traditional datacenters may no longer be the fastest, most cost effective or efficient way to add IT capacity. The many unique design features in Project Blackbox -- including ability to pack racks tighter than possible in a traditional datacenter, shock absorption for easy transport, and integrating and centralizing state-of-the-art cooling, networking and power distribution -- optimize energy, space and performance efficiency. The result is instant-on expansion and deployment opportunities for customers achieve maximum cost savings and operational flexibility. 
|
 Try a Sun solution risk-free for 60 days
Our Try and Buy Program allows you to get your hands on the latest technology from Sun to evaluate and test at no charge.
Virtualization Goes Mainstream.
Looking to increase business agility, simplify IT infrastructure, and get more out of your computing resources? Sun's virtualization solutions can help.
| |||||||||||
 | | |||||||||||