28 Apr 2008 |
Sun Names New Head of Microelectronics
eWeek. Sun taps Mike Splain, a 20-year company veteran and Sun Fellow, to lead its Microelectronics Division. Splain has been acting head of the division since late last month and will report to CEO Jonathan Schwartz. In the past several years, Sun has looked to rebuild its chip division around its UltraSPARC T1 and T2 processors as well as selling its own microprocessor technology to other companies. The company's next UltraSPARC chip, "Rock," is scheduled for release in 2009.
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How Far Off Is the CEO Twittering Era? Closer Than You May Think
CNET (Blog). The blog post discusses the use of Twitter as a corporate communication tool, highlighting Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz's utilization of the service during the Web 2.0 Expo with Tim O'Reilly. The post notes, "Sun's CEO twitters? Cool. Then again, he is an early adopter. Schwartz was one of the first and most frequent users of corporate blogs to get out the word. Of course, not everyone agrees about the amount of credit he deserves. Waggener Edstrom's Frank Shaw says Schwartz is wrong about blogging. My take: Shaw is wrong about Schwartz being wrong about blogging. More than any other CEO, Schwartz has become the face of corporate blogging. But that's a side debate for another time. The more interesting question now is, how far off are we from the day when Schwartz and his fellow CEOs reach for Twitter when they want to get out the message?"
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26 Apr 2008 |
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Sun Broadens Virtualization Support for Legacy OSes
internetnews.com. Sun releases the 10 5/08 update for its Solaris operating system, which adds new virtualization features enabling users to run legacy versions of previous operating systems, including Solaris 8 and 9, on a Solaris 10 machine. "Solaris 8/9 Containers allows us to take an existing physical Solaris 8 or 9 environment that might be running on an older piece of hardware that you want to move away from and allows you to host that in Solaris 10 environment," Larry Wake, group manager for Solaris Software explains. The addition of Solaris 8 means that even more legacy Solaris users will be able to move to Solaris 10, and newer, compatible hardware.
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25 Apr 2008 |
Sun CEO: HPC Is Here to Stay
eWeek. Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz said high-performance computing is alive and well, noting that he sells Sun gear to newer Web 2.0 companies that ask for large multiprocessor systems to scale their businesses.
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Jonathan Schwartz: A Top Blogger Sees End to Blogging
CNET (Blog). Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz foresees an end to "blogging" and suggests that the blog as a method of reaching customers and the public will give way to other, more open communication practices. "At some point the word 'blogging' will be anachronistic," Schwartz says. "I communicate - Historically, communication took place by being a celebrity CEO who met with heads of state, and got the local media to cover it. You got the message out in an inefficient and environmentally irresponsible way. Then the Internet came round and gave you a way to reach the entire planet."
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23 Apr 2008 |
Sun Gears JavaFX for Consumer Move
InfoWorld. JavaFX, introduced by Sun last year as a Java-based platform for building visually oriented applications, will be leveraged in the growing consumer application space.
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Sun Launches SaaS Conversion Program for ISV Partners
ChannelWeb. Sun launches a program to help ISVs running on Solaris convert their products to a software-as-a-service platform. The Solaris On-Demand program is also offering counseling for vendors wishing to change processes such as sales or customer billing from an on-premise to a SaaS offering. Juan Carlos Soto, Sun's VP of global market development engineering, says the new initiative is in response to demand from partner ISVs that want to extend their business into the SaaS world. "We want to make sure ISVs look at Sun's network computing infrastructure as they consider an on-demand model," Soto explains.
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22 Apr 2008 |
Sun Plants Pods for Sustainability and Savings
InfoWorld. Thanks to a massive datacenter consolidation, hardware refresh, and creative, energy-efficient facility design, Sun has reduced power capacity demand by 75 percent at its Santa Clara, Calif., datacenter alone, saving $1.1 million per year in energy costs, while increasing its datacenter processing power more than four times. Overall, Sun estimates that its consolidation efforts will save 4,100 tons of CO2 per year and cut 1 percent from its total carbon footprint.
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Savoring the Fruits of the Green 15's Seeds
InfoWorld. The article spotlights some of the major contributions from the 15 winners of InfoWorld's "Green 15" awards, including Sun. According to the piece, "Green IT isn't just for the enterprise. While large IT providers such as Sun and IBM made the list, so too did Bryant University, which has fewer than 4,000 students, as well as small and medium firms such as GM2 Logistics. A smaller company likely won't be able to point to hundreds of thousands of watts and dollars saved from a green-tech project -- but the business benefits, such as freeing up space for growth and saving money from lower bills and fewer hardware purchases, can be a real boon for organizations with relatively limited resources."
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Sun Looks to Free up the Rest of Java
InfoWorld. Sun steps up its efforts to boost Java usage on Linux by running Java as fully open-source. According to the article, "In conjunction with this activity, Sun is talking with Linux distributors, including OpenSuse, Ubuntu and Fedora to have them offer an updated version of OpenJDK, which constitutes the open-source Java platform. Sun plans to offer the updated OpenJDK soon and clear the last few encumbrances later." Rich Sands, group manager for developer marketing at Sun, explains, "We've been engaging with the open-source community for Java to finish off the OpenJDK project, and the specific thing that we've been working on with them is clearing the last bits that we didn't have the rights," to distribute.
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21 Apr 2008 |
Sun Asserts MySQL Will Remain Open Source
eWeek. Sun SVP Marten Mickos says MySQL will remain an open-source product following several days of discussion over the company's decision to include certain close-source backup features in the next Enterprise edition of the software. "It is not a question of close-sourcing any existing code, nor anything in the core server," says Mickos. "Everything MySQL has released under the GPL license continues to be under GPL, and the core MySQL server will always be under GPL, or some other free and open-source software (FOSS) license."
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Ubuntu Linux Takes Aim at Larger Role for Itself in Enterprise
InformationWeek. The article highlights the latest release of Ubuntu Linux, Ubuntu Server version 8.04, which is precertified to run on x86 servers from Sun, including the Sun Fire lines. "The release of 8.04 is targeted at the enterprise," explains Barton George, group manager of free and open source software at Sun. So the company decided to add it to the same certification process Sun uses with enterprise distributions Red Hat and SUSE.
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20 Apr 2008 |
Fitting MySQL into Sun's Orbit
San Jose Mercury News. For the past five years, Finnish-born Marten Mickos has worked in Silicon Valley as CEO of MySQL - a once-tiny company that started in Sweden and became one of the most popular suppliers of open-source database software in the world. lower price tag."
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18 Apr 2008 |
Sun xVM Ops Center
ZDNet (Blog). The blog post discusses Sun's xVM Ops Center. According to the post, "First of all, it's really impossible for me to describe all of the functions Sun's xVM Ops Maanager offers here and really do justice to the product. I'd suggest setting up a demonstration of the product for yourself. My overall impression is that this is a powerful tool that will be a good foundation for users of Sun's Solaris, Red Hat's REL and SUSE's SLES operating environments. As one would expect for a version 1 product, it has its rough edges and and strong promise for the future."
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Sun Microsystems Launches MySQL Workbench
TMCNet. Sun introduces MySQL Workbench, a new database tool that integrates data modeling, database design, change, management and documentation capabilities into a single environment for developers. "We are very happy to deliver a powerful open source database design tool for the MySQL ecosystem," says Michael G. Zinner, Sun's team lead for database developer tools and the original developer of the popular DBDesigner4 open source software project. "The two editions are designed to meet the needs of the do-it-yourself community developer, while providing a very affordable and compelling commercial product for the corporate database professional."
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17 Apr 2008 |
Will MySQL Keep Lighting up LAMP?
IDG News Service. For an executive who had just had his company bought for a cool billion a few months ago and was on the eve of announcing a major update to his business' flagship database program, former MySQL CEO Marten Mickos, now Sun Microsystems' senior vice president for databases, didn't look comfortable. Mickos had come to the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit at the University of Texas Super Computing Center to explain that MySQL was not about to abandon Linux. His audience, the movers and shakers of Linux business and development circles, were not overly impressed.
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MySQL Adoption: Deep and Wide
CNET (Blog). The blog post examines the penetration of MySQL throughout the enterprise market and discusses why it is important for MySQL to consider new licensing models for enterprise users. The post notes, "Now the only thing missing in that conversation is the enterprise stepping up to pay for some or all of its free-loading adoption of MySQL. This is what is prompting MySQL to consider new licensing models. It would be very easily resolved by enterprises for owning up to and paying for the value they derive from open source, very little of which comes down to a lower price tag."
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Sun Plans to Scale T2+ Servers to Four Sockets, Maybe More
IT Jungle. The piece examines Sun's new T2 "Victoria Falls" servers and what they mean for the future of the SPARC product line. According to the article, "Now, here's the interesting bit. The two T2+ sockets in a Maramba server link together gluelessly--meaning that they have the electronics right on the chip to link their memories together and you do not have to do any more. (This extra circuitry for SMP clustering is the main reason why Sun cut out the "Neptune" 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports that were part of the T2 chip when it moved to the T2+ design.) But once you move to a crossbar switch architecture, then there is no reason to stop at four sockets. If the crossbar is designed correctly, of course. Sun is not saying that eight socket or larger Niagara machines are in the works. 'There are more multi-socket versions coming,' says Niagra Product Manager Mat Keep, but as for a machine ganging up lots of T2+ chips, 'there is no plan to do that right now' is all he would say."
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16 Apr 2008 |
Sun's 'Open'-Door Policy
eWeek. Sun Microsystems President and CEO Jonathan Schwartz and Executive Vice President for Software Rich Green run what is now the largest open-source-based IT infrastructure company in the world.
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Mickos: Sun Has Expertise That MySQL Needs, Vice Versa
InformationWeek. Sun VP the Database Group Marten Mickos discusses the need for greater scalability in the MySQL database. "The real value we need to provide is more scalability and performance. Sun has a lot of expertise in scalability," he says, speaking at the MySQL Conference & Expo. Mickos, former CEO of MySQL AB, recently acquired by Sun, also says that some of his former firm's expertise will rub off on Sun. According to Mickos, both firms have experience in building active communities, but MySQL is good "at selling small things, and a lot of them. We know how to find small customers and sell them something without incurring much sales cost," he says.
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15 Apr 2008 |
MySQL Chief to Users: Don't Expect Big Disruptions Post-Sun
CNET. Marten Mickos joined MySQL as CEO in 2001. In January, he presided over the sale of the company to Sun Microsystems. Since the acquisition, he has served as the senior vice president of its database group. I caught up with Mickos after his keynote speech at the MySQL User Conference & Expo taking place this week in Santa Clara, Calif.
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Sun Update on MySQL Integration: Peachy Keen
CNET (Blog). The blog post discusses the integration of Sun and MySQL over the past several months, highlighting recent appearances by Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz and VP Marten Mickos during the MySQL Conference & Expo. "You want to know our secret plot?" asks Schwartz. "It's to serve (the open-source) community - Each one of those folks represents an opportunity for Sun."
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MySQL Upgrade Now Slated for June, Sun Says
IDG News. Sun releases a "near final" version of MySQL 5.1 on its Website, but holds off on distributing the final production release while some remaining bugs are worked out. "When we released MySQL 5.0 it didn't really meet our quality standards," explains Sun VP Marten Mickos. "With 5.1 we are being much more conservative, much harder on ourselves."
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Sun Launches Eco Advantage Program
EChannelLine. Sun says its new Sun Eco Advantage Program (EAP) will provide Sun Partner Advantage Program members with the tools, resources and training they'll need to build their own green IT practices. "We roll out programs often, but this one is special because there's a tremendous amount of value to the end user customer and to the partner," says Bill Cate, senior director of Global Channel Marketing, Sun Microsystems. "This is all about low energy use for customers and higher margins for our partners...fundamentally, the program is designed to provide methodologies, tools, and resources to help partners solve datacenter power, cooling, space, and environmental issues. It's really the foundation for helping our partners build a green IT practice."
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14 Apr 2008 |
Sun Microsystems Expands Streaming Media Systems
InformationWeek. Sun expands its line of streaming media products to cover companies delivering from 100 to 160,000 simultaneous streams of online television and video. The hardware, introduced at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas, includes Sun Streaming Software Release 2, which leverages the Solaris 10 operating system. The software enables service providers to scale from 500 to more than 1.5 million subscribers and from 200 to more than 1 million hours of content.
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12 Apr 2008 |
Sun, Solaris, and a New Chance to Shine
CNET (Blog). The blog post examines the increased adoption of Solaris as an operating system. The blogger explains, "There's a compelling story in the Solaris numbers that suggests that it may live on for a very long time - if it can make choice a marrow-deep belief throughout its massive organization - then it's very possible that Sun can lead the market again. It's a big "If" today, but I like to see open-source advocates like Red Hat and Sun leading the software industry, rather than the proprietary dinosaurs of yore."
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Sun Revs Its Data Center Efficiency Message
ZDNet (Blog). The blog post highlights Sun's new SPARC servers, the T5140 and T5240. The author explains, "I spoke with a couple of Sun server engineers about a month ago about how design contributes to server energy efficiency. In addition to the Fujitsu processor technology, they say they've been able to improve the airflow in their servers by rethinking how the components are placed and cutting back on the cabling inside. Special composite materials are also helpful at cutting down on fan vibrations and focusing cooling power."
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11 Apr 2008 |
Sun Claims Big Leap with MySQL Upgrade Next Week
IDG News Service. MySQL developers should be able to get their hands on a major update to the open-source database next week when Sun Microsystems hosts its first MySQL conference since acquiring the company earlier this year.
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Sun Eyes Energy-Efficient Servers
InforWorld. Sun Eco-Responsibility Officer Subodh Bapat discusses the future of the data center during the Sun Labs Open House Event. According to Bapat, the company plans to introduce additional power management capabilities for its servers in an effort to increase energy efficiency and lower the environmental impact of the data center. For example, a 1-kilowatt server might be tuned to run at only 500 watts, and the server figures out how to run under that constraint, Bapat explains. "Today, our servers don't do that. They burn as much power as they possibly can," he adds.
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10 Apr 2008 |
Mickos, As New Sun Exec: Linux Will Stay In LAMP
InformationWeek. Former MySQL CEO and current Sun Senior Vice President Marten Mickos disucsses the future of LAMP at the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit. "There's a realization inside of Sun that the days of the monoliths are over, but the Web continues to grow," and Sun wants to participate in that growth, says Mickos. "Sun is more than Solaris or Sparc."
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09 Apr 2008 |
Sun's Vic Falls: Two Is Better Than One
CNET (Blog). The blog post examines Sun's new dual-socket setup for the UltraSPARC T2, "Victoria Falls." The post notes, "It's not that there was anything really wrong with its Niagara 1 predecessor, but 90-nanometer process technology imposed some fairly severe restrictions on what could be crammed into each of the eight cores - Now Sun has rolled out its promised dual-socket version of the UltraSparc T2 - So you get twice as many cores and threads, and about twice the processing power. Sun has also tweaked other server capacities a bit higher - these are solid systems that can handle big loads with aplomb."
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Sun to Tout Hosting Platform
InfoWorld. Sun plans to discuss a research and development project aimed at providing a hosting platform for Internet-based services. The project, dubbed Project Caroline, is part of the Sun Labs Open House agenda. According to the company, the Caroline platform will incorporate a configurable pool of virtualized computing, storage and networking resources. "Anticipating needs driven by new SaaS business models and processes, Project Caroline helps SaaS providers develop services rapidly using high-level programming languages like the Java programming language, Ruby, Python, and Perl to update in-production services frequently and to automatically flex their use of platform resources to match changing runtime demands," says Sun on the project's Website.
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Sun Gangs Up Sparc T2+ Chips with Maramba Servers
IT Jungle. There is still enough competition in the Unix space to make vendors hate to see each other get the limelight. Which is one of the reasons why Sun Microsystems has timed the launch of its "Victoria Falls" Sparc T2+ multicore processor and the related "Maramba" server line in the same week that IBM is launching big Power6 boxes and Hewlett-Packard is rolling out an update to its HP-UX Unix and a repackaging
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Sun Readies New Niagara Systems
eWeek. Sun rolls out two new servers based on the UltraSPARC T2 chip, the SPARC Enterprise T5140 and the T5240, which use the latest iteration of the Niagra 2 processor, code-named Victoria Falls. "We have added SMP [symmetric multiprocessing] capabilities so you can add two of them into a single system, so within one rack unit or a two-rack-unit-high enclosure you are going to have 128 simultaneous compute threads," notes Sun Niagra Systems Group Manage Mat Keep. "What that means in comparison to other compatible systems is that you'll have two-and-a-half to five times the performance compared to a two-socket, Intel-based system and price performance that is five times better."
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Sun Micro Improves Servers' Performance
The Wall Street Journal. Sun Microsystems Inc. is announcing a big jump in the performance of its small server systems, the latest example of a trend to push computer chips to do many jobs at once. The company says the new servers can simultaneously carry out up to 128 computing instructions, known as threads. Not all programs can take advantage of such "multithreaded" chips, but some customers are reporting impressive results.
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08 Apr 2008 |
MySQL Focusing on Scalability for Web 2.0
eWeek. The piece examines MySQL's future and its attitude toward scalability. According to the article, "While MySQL may not be supplanting proprietary databases in the enterprise, the people behind the open-source database see solving the scalability problems of Web application developers as their ticket towards broader enterprise adoption - The company is also looking to integrate the efforts Sun and MySQL AB were making separately around Memcache, a high-performance distributed caching system designed to take large loads off the database server and distribute them across low-cost servers with a global cache. The technology is used by some high-traffic sites to optimize performance."
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07 Apr 2008 |
Sun's Java Gets Subscription Support Plan
internetnews.com. After years of offering Java as a freebie, Sun Microsystems today announced a new model to the Java line that is fee-based. While all the old editions will remain, for enterprises looking for extra support, there is now the Java Platform Standard Edition (Java SE) for Business.
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06 Apr 2008 |
Sun Refashions Java Support Options
InfoWorld. Sun unveils new customer support options for its Java SE platform, extending support on some plans and reducing it on others. One of the main new features is a paid subscription program called Java SE for Business. Under the previous plan, Sun provided quarterly fixes for release families of Java SE for six years, explains Bill Curci, Sun product marketing manager for Java SE. "Now with Java SE for Business, customers can more than double that timeline to a total of 15 years where they can receive fixes per release family," Curci says. Java SE is the basic runtime environment for desktops and servers.
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04 Apr 2008 |
100 Most Influential People in IT
eWeek. Ziff Davis Enterprise lists the 100 most influential people in information technology, with Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz joining the list as number 16. The list says of Schwartz, "hitching his company's horse to open source, Schwartz is making sure the Sun doesn't set." Other members of the list include Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
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03 Apr 2008 |
Sun Slaps Network Appliance with New Patent Suit
InformationWeek. Sun files a new lawsuit against Network Appliance, claiming patent infringement, in the latest battle between the two vendors. Sun claims NetApp's Onaro SANscreen and NAS Insight storage management software violates its patents for device discovery, remote monitoring, event filtering and remote rebuilding of computer states, according to court papers filed last week in U.S. District Court for Northern California. "Rather than innovate, NetApp builds on the innovation of others," Sun claims.
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Ubuntu + Sun = Very Good Idea
CNET (Blog). The blog post discusses Sun's endorsement of Ubuntu UNIX for its hardware. The post notes, "I think Sun has far more to gain by embracing Linux and, in particular, Ubuntu, than it stands to lose. Sun can put its exceptional engineering team on innovating in and around Linux, building great hardware (and software) to go with it - Sun does recognize the importance of momentum for it right now, and it wants the favor of open-source developers pulling its way. With MySQL and Ubuntu in its court, it's hard to see how it could possibly be less sexy in the market."
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Ubuntu Linux to Be Certified by Sun
Reuters. Sun becomes the first major hardware vendor to certify Ubuntu Linux as compatible with its product line. According to the article, "Such certifications are important because there are dozens of types of independently developed Linux software and many of them are not compatible with hardware and software sold by the world's largest computer and software makers." Sun is also working with its Java programming language to ensure compatibility with Ubuntu.
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Accenture and Sun Launch Pre-built IAM Toolkit
CBR. Sun partners with Accenture to launch a series of pre-built identity-management and service-oriented architecture toolkits for enterprise security. "One of the big criticisms of identity and access management (IAM) is that in the past it's been necessary to re-engineer enterprise architecture and processes to fit, but we've adopted a different approach. We'll put it in and accept a compromise, getting users used to the system and then extend its reach out more and more," says Accenture Global Managing Director Alistair MacWilson. Pat Sullivan, global alliance director at Sun, adds, "A lot of customers have implemented the front end, biometric piece such as fingerprinting. The advantage of this solution is you can take that technology and they don't have to do much with it to integrate it with the back-end."
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02 Apr 2008 |
'You Already Have An Eco Job!'
Environmental Leader. Sun VP of Eco-Responsibility Dave Douglas describes how to instill a culture of corporate sustainability by making every job into an "eco-job." The piece notes, "These are employees with passion for sustainability and a deep knowledge of their part of the company. Why aren't we taking advantage of this great combination? - A lot of the opportunities are best discovered and driven from the bottom up by the people who actually understand how things work. At Sun, we're seeing real innovation in everything from procurement, to chip design, to IT, to travel administration. Much of this would never have been conceived or driven from the top down."
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01 Apr 2008 |
A New Dawn
ITP. Sun EVP Crawford Beveridge discusses the company's strategy for open-source software in the Middle East and contrasts it with Microsoft's closed-door policy. "To be fair, I think our colleagues in Microsoft have done a superb job of marketing here," Beveridge admits. "So people haven't really thought about the alternative because they've had this aggressive and confident group of people supplying them with this kind of software."
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Planning the Exit Strategy
GCN. Sun Chairman Scott McNealy discusses the importance of an exit strategy for a technology project during the FOSE Conference and Exposition in Washington. "If you build Frankenstein 1.0 out of 40 different body parts - how do you get to Frankenstein 2.0?" he asks. One reason people choose open-source technologies is that there are no barriers to exit, says McNealy. There also are no barriers to entry, and the technology is interoperable across multiple platforms. Additionally, because the technology is shared, there is more research and development across companies rather than a proprietary system. "If you want safe and secure, get naked, get transparent," he adds.
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Open Source Databases Widely Used, Seldom Paid For
InformationWeek. The article examines a new report from The 451 Group on open-source databases. According to the report, "The expected impact of open source code to commoditize the database market has yet to occur - Open source systems have replaced only a few commercial products in the enterprise. Their use comes from adoption by development teams for internal applications with limited criticality; they're sometimes used in production systems for reporting -- as opposed to transaction processing." The piece also discusses Sun's acquisition of open-source database MySQL.
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Sun Founder Extols Open Source for Government
FCW. Scott McNealy, founder of Sun Microsystems and chairman of the company's federal division, told agency officials today that open-source software based on open standards provides the security, interoperability and low cost that government needs. It is a familiar message, one McNealy delivers at every appearance, and his keynote address today at the FOSE trade show in Washington, D.C., was no exception. "We invented open source," McNealy declared in a tone that dared anyone to challenge the claim, and he listed its advantages.
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31 Mar 2008 |
Sun's MySQL Will Continue Oracle Relationship
InformationWeek. The piece examines the relationship between MySQL, recently acquired by Sun, and Oracle. According to the article, "When MySQL was bought by Sun, some knowledgeable observers said the first thing Sun would do is make MySQL free of its dependence on Oracle - But Zack Urlocker, the executive VP of products, who supervises both engineering and marketing at MySQL, says such independence is still viewed as unnecessary inside Sun."
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28 Mar 2008 |
15 Open-Source Business Influencers
eWeek. eWeek recognizes Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz as a open source influencer. eWeek notes, "The CEO of Sun Microsystems and champion of open source inside Sun and outside to customers, Schwartz oversaw the open-sourcing of numerous Sun technologies, including Java."
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Sun's xVM Virtualization Wares Run Red with Catch-Up
The Register. The Register discusses Sun's xVM OpsCenter management software as well as its forthcoming hypervisor in the context of the overall virtualization market. According to the article, "In the positives camp, we have a major vendor trying to build a real competitor to VMware. That's probably a good thing for the virtualization market since the likes of HP, IBM and Dell appear content to more or less do what VMware, Citrix and Microsoft tell them - As you would expect, Sun has placed more emphasis than any other vendor on turning the virtualization code for the Solaris operating system. In addition, Sun has followed through with the open source push around a Xen hypervisor base and plans to work with all of the major operating platforms including Windows, Linux, VMware, Xen and Hyper-V"
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27 Mar 2008 |
Lab Test: Sun's Octo-Core SPARC Is Made to Multitask
InfoWorld. InfoWorld reviews Sun's SPARC Enterprise T5120 server. According to the piece, "For many years the SPARC processor was lauded as the only high-end business platform worth investing in, and sales of SPARC-based servers and workstations were nearly as high as the prices. In the eighties and nineties, a tour through any financial company was roughly the same as a tour through a Sun showroom. In the late nineties that began to change, as Linux and even Solaris x86 began to surge in popularity due to the extremely low cost and reasonable performance. Since then, the performance game has left the SPARC platform bereft - But all is not lost. The SPARC platform still has some kick left, and while that kick may not be in clock speed, it's certainly in the threads."
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Sun Wraps Onaro into Patent Suit against NetApp
eWeek. Sun files its third lawsuit against NetApp, charging infringement on storage management technology acquired by NetApp through another company. The new lawsuit is the first official public move made by either company since the first two suits were filed late last year. The filings relate to Onaro's SANscreen software, which allows enterprises to manage large amounts of storage with a minimum of downtime.
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Sun Fires another Shot at NetApp
SearchStorage (Blog). Sun files a new lawsuit against NetApp, alleging patent infringement on storage management technology acquired by NetApp through Onaro. According to the blog post, "But perhaps the harshest accusation Sun leveled against NetApp in its latest filing came in the opening paragraph of the suit. Chiding NetApp for only spending about $390 million on research and development last year and for holding only approximately 200 patents, Sun declared: Indeed, rather than innovate, NetApp builds on the innovation of others and NetApp uses extensive amounts of open source code developed by others, without contributing any innovation of its own."
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Sun Swallows MySQL, but Management Remains Intact
InformationWeek. The article examines the absorption of MySQL by Sun, highlighting recent remarks by MySQL VP Zack Urlocker regarding Solaris and Linux in the LAMP space. "Linux is our number one platform, Windows is number two, and Solaris is number three. We are totally committed to supporting those platforms," in that order, Urlocker explains. He adds, Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz "gets that. He says, why would Sun want to alienate 90 percent of the MySQL customer base?"
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26 Mar 2008 |
Sun Exec Shines Light on Pockets of Business HPC
ComputerWorld Canada. Sun EVP John Fowler addresses the IT World Canada Frankly Speaking Breakfast in Toronto, discussing the potential advantages of high-performance computing (HPC) in everyday business applications. According to Fowler, HPC technology is more pervasive than people know and holds real benefit to businesses, in particular for performing tasks like predictive analytics, past purchase analytics and simulations. A business probably already houses "pockets" of HPC technology scattered across the organization, explains Fowler, which may have over time been individually purchased, deployed and operating in "a half-baked fashion."
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Sun Announces MySQL Bundle
eWeek. Sun releases a new bundle for its recently acquired MySQL database. The bundle, announced earlier this week, includes GlassFish 2.0 with the MySQL CommunityServer and Java Database Connectivity driver. According to company officials, it is designed to provide developers with popular open-source versions of enterprise Java and the database and give them easy access to the platforms to develop and deploy rich Java and Web applications.
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Sun, IBM Hook Up on Mainframe Storage
eWeek. Sun's entire storage software catalog is now fine-tuned for IBM's System z machines. IBM and Sun Microsystems, rivals when it comes to selling open-standards enterprise storage systems, have found a patch of common ground on which to collaborate in a re-emerging sector of data storage: mainframes.
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The State of Open Source: Zack Urlocker, MySQL
Computerworld Australia. In a Q&A with Computerworld Australia, MySQL Vice President of Products Zack Urlocker discusses the challenges of open-source products in an enterprise marketplace. Urlocker notes, "Open source has made the transition into IT and is being used for very complex systems development. But I think the infrastructure software is still more popular than open source applications - As we head into a recession with more IT budget crunch, I think we'll see the next wave of open source adoption. If it's good enough for telcos, banks, and the largest Web sites, maybe it's good enough for broader adoption - I think there's greater awareness that you can build a business with open source today. That wasn't clear five or 10 years ago. Companies like Red Hat, Sun, IBM, make hundreds of millions in revenue due to open source software."
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25 Mar 2008 |
Sun's Moves in the SMB Space
InfoWorld (Blog). The blog post examines Sun's recent moves in the SMB market and highlights the work of Sun employee Christine Buery in the SMB space. The post notes, "The question is, though, why would Sun systems be attractive to a small business, even one that meets the qualifications set by the vendor? The answer in a nutshell is flexibility. Sun hardware offers the possibility of migrating from Windows Server to Linux to Solaris without changing your physical system." Buery adds that SMB IT concerns are no longer substantially different than those of larger enterprises. There are differences in scale, but not in essential needs or problems.
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Sun Outlines Its Open Source Strategy and MySQL Integration
SearchEnterpriseLinux.com. SearchEnterpriseLinux.com sat down with Barton George, the group manager for Sun Microsystems Inc.'s GNU/Linux strategy, about the company's open source strategy, Sun's acquisition of MySQL and the impact on customers.
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24 Mar 2008 |
MySQL-Chief-Cum-Sun-Database-Head Talks Open Source
CNET (Blog). Former MySQL CEO and current Sun VP Marten Mickos discusses the importance of open source in the development of the Web 2.0 economy. "All of the new entrepreneurs, they're building Web 2.0 and open-source companies in this new model," explains Mickos. "Why? It (is) free of charge - Software in the '80s and '90s was prohibitive...today it's open, modular, interoperable, and that's the way to win."
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Sun Gets Pentagon Contract to Research Laser-Connected Chips
InformationWeek. Sun receives over $44 million in research funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to study the use of laser beams to move data between microprocessors. The company is working with Stanford University and the University of California at San Diego. "Optical communications could be a truly game-changing technology -- an elegant way to continue impressive performance gains while completely changing the economics of large-scale silicon production," says Greg Papadopoulos, chief technology officer and executive VP of Research and Development for Sun.
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Replacing Wire With Laser, Sun Tries to Speed Up Data
The New York Times. Sun Microsystems is trying to do for computing what all the king's horses and men failed to do for Humpty Dumpty. For decades, the semiconductor industry has broken silicon wafers into smaller chips to improve manufacturing yields.
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20 Mar 2008 |
New Emphasis on First Impressions
Workforce Management. New employee orientation programs at Sun, including video games, highlight the importance of "making a good first impression," says Sun Chief Learning Officer Karie Willyerd. The piece notes, "Before Sun launched its new onboarding program in October 2007, an employee's first day was typical for what you would see at many companies today. The new employee spent most of it filling out paperwork. The new hire's workspace, phone, computer and security badge may or may not have been ready. Some new employees were waiting two weeks before they had access to e-mail. Almost half of Sun's 34,000 employees work remotely, so many new hires wait weeks or months before meeting their managers - At a time when Sun is losing talent to companies like Google and MySpace, the organization is making new hires a top priority in order to improve employee retention and productivity, as well as recruit top talent and strengthen its corporate brand."
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Sun Jumps into Virtual Desktops, Advocates Sun Ray Thin Client
InformationWeek. Sun's new Virtual Desktop Infrastructure 2.0 adds a Dekstop Connector server and works alongside other virtualization solutions such as VMware's Virtual Infrastructure. According to the article, "Sun isn't seeking to be the generator of the virtual desktops but the broker of access to them. It's focused on being able to deliver a Windows, Mac, Linux, or Solaris full screen presentation to the end user over the network. And it can add its own thin client, the Sun Ray, to that line-up, giving enterprises the option of saving on the expense of end user machines. The Sun approach works in conjunction with, not in place of, VMware's Virtual Infrastructure 3."
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19 Mar 2008 |
Solaris SPARC to x86 Software Highway Opens
The Register. Sun customers can now run SPARC and Solaris applications on x86 machines, thanks to a new partnership with Transitive. According to the article, "Sun Microsystems has gone totally native - Customers can use this code to run applications written for Solaris/SPARC machines on x86 boxes running the Solaris operating system. Sun would prefer that you buy its x86 hardware, but with the likes of Dell, IBM and HP all supporting Solaris to various degrees, you have plenty of options."
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Sun Moves to Low End
eWeek. Sun plans to extend its focus on commodity technology in order to expand its brand associated beyond high-end storage and servers. The company unveils a new Website targeting SMBs and other small, tech-savvy companies looking to implement open-source and Web 2.0 solutions. "We are looking at companies that have a business based on Web 2.0 as well as the smaller telecom companies, data warehouse firms, financial firms as well as companies that can benefit from technologies such as software as a service," explains Sun Director of Systems Marketing Christine Beury.
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Sun Turns To Eclipse To Get Object/Relational Mapping
InformationWeek. Sun has turned to an open source project lead by Oracle for its standard for mapping software objects into relational databases. In seeking to keep Java standardized, Sun Microsystems has turned to an open source project lead by Oracle (NSDQ: ORCL) for its standard for mapping software objects into relational databases.
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18 Mar 2008 |
Sun Unveils Virtual Desktop Upgrade
internetnews.com. Sun announces a major upgrade for its Virtual Desktop Infrastructure software. Version 2.0 supports a wider range of operating systems as well as PC and Mac infrastructure in addition to Sun's proprietary clients. "We don't pipe them to the client device but leverage the server in the middle to get a high-quality connection," explains Chris Kawalek, product line manager for desktop and virtualization marketing at Sun.
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Dell, Sun Eye SMB Buyers
internetnews.com. The article highlights recent moves by Sun and Dell into the SMB market. "Sun is making it easier, faster and more cost-effective for SMBs to use technology to gain a competitive advantage," explains Lisa Sieker, vice president of SMB systems marketing for Sun. "Our expanding partnerships with online national resellers focused on this market provide the easy engagement models and fast turnarounds that SMBs require." The article notes, "This is one thing Microsoft has done brilliantly over time, bundling -- just have it together so you don't have to go off and do separate evaluation of each product - It could work for Sun as well."
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17 Mar 2008 |
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World's Most Admired Companies - 2008
Fortune. Fortune publishes its list of the World's Most Admired Companies, with Sun Microsystems ranking sixth among computer companies with an overall score of 6.71. Full details of Sun's ranking can be seen by following the above link.
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Sun Microsystems Founder Calls for Industry-Wide Security Standards
ComputerWeekly. Sun Chairman Scott McNealy calls for industry-wide security standards in an interview published by British Computer Society. McNealy notes, "It was a little hard to do in the old days when there were literally hundreds of different computer languages and interfaces, but with a lot more consolidation and standardization I think you can start to look for certification - People want to feel safe and comfortable that a technician is not going to compromise their privacy that they are going to maintain the levels of security in the systems that they work on."
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Sun, Mitel Team Up on UC Client, Hot-Desking
eWeek. A new client brings hot-desking to the voice world. Mitel Networks and Sun Microsystems at VoiceCon on March 17 will strengthen their OEM commitment when they launch a new unified communications client on the Sun Ray thin client.
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Sun's Open Source Buying Spree
Redmond Developer News. The piece analyzes Sun's commitment to its open-source strategy and its plan to continue acquiring open source vendors. According to Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz, "Open source is really in the DNA of Sun." He adds, "As such, when we look across the marketplace, those companies that have built good high-integrity communities and have broad distribution and some measure of commercial success are the ones we're going to be most interested in."
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16 Mar 2008 |
NetBeans Beta IDE to Ship
InfoWorld. Sun plans to ship a beta release of the NetBeans 6.1 IDE today, according to the company. The new version includes across-the-board performance enhancements as well as Ruby and JRuby support enhancements. The company has not announced a general release date yet.
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14 Mar 2008 |
Sun Set to Bring NSA Tech to Solaris
InternetNews.com. Sun teams up with the NSA to incorporate the agency's Flux Advanced Security Kernel architecture, an updated version of the mandatory access control policies developed by both groups in tandem several years ago. The technology, dubbed Flask, will be added to Sun's Trusted Extensions with the help of the open-source OpenSolaris community. "Now that we're community driven in Solaris it's a lot more advantageous for us to do these kinds of things," notes Sun Federal president and COO Bill Vass said. "I wish we would have done it (sooner) and I can't really explain to you why we didn't, other than I think we had a lack of maturity in our open source model around Solaris."
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13 Mar 2008 |
Sun Joins IBM, HP in Standards Advocacy Group
BetaNews. Sun joins the Open Group, an organization dedicated to open-source development, along with IBM and Hewlett-Packard. According to its mission statement, the Open Group is dedicated to "boundaryless" free and open source software development, and will seek Sun's participation on open projects for architecture framework, architect certification and IT specialist certification.
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Sun Readies Dual-Socket Sparc T2+ Servers
IT Jungle. Sun plans to launch the next generation of its T2 servers within the next month, according to insider speculation. According to the article, "In the case of both the Sparc T1 and Sparc T2 chips, Sun announced the chips first, followed a month or two later by the announcement of servers using the chips. It is hard to believe that Sun's re-constituted Microelectronics division doesn't want some time on its own with the press and analyst community, but thus far Sun has not said much about the chip other than to expect systems based on it to be launched in the first half of 2008. The machines are close enough for some Sun resellers to have detailed specs for the boxes up on their sites."
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Sun, NSA Link Arms to Improve Solaris
InformationWeek. Sun Microsystems said Thursday that it has signed an agreement with the U.S. National Security Agency to jointly develop new security mechanisms for OpenSolaris. The two will work with the open source project, OpenSolaris.org, to integrate an additional form of mandatory access control. The joint development project is intended to add to the mandatory access controls already provided by Solaris Trusted Extensions, and any additions will be evaluated and tested by the OpenSolaris community, said Jonathan Schwartz, Sun CEO, in making the announcement.
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Sun Micro Sees Robust India Revenue on Tech Spends
Reuters. Sun plans to maintain its current pace of doubling its revenues in India every three years. According to Bhaskar Pramanik, president of Sun Microsystems India, "The growth of our customers is humungous...As a market, it's something which will continue to grow in leaps and bounds. We haven't as yet seen the tip of the iceberg." In its fiscal second quarter ended December 30, Sun had got 17 percent of its $3.62 billion global revenue from Asia-Pacific, including India.
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12 Mar 2008 |
Sun-Microsoft Collab Results in Interop Center
Campus Technology. Sun and Microsoft are working together to develop a set of guidelines for implementing Exchange Server 2007 on Sun server and storage hardware. Billed as Sun's Infrastructure Solution for Exchange, the guidelines allow scalable implementations for 1,000 to 20,000 mailboxes and represent the first solution to emerge from the recently opened Sun-Microsoft Interoperability Center. The center will also provide certification services for Java Platform Standard and Enterprise Edition and Java Runtime Environment applications running on Windows Server 2008.
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Q&A from Sun's Worldwide Education and Research Conference
Campus Technology. Each year, Sun Microsystems holds its Worldwide Education and Research (WWERC) conference to bring together thought leaders in education and technology. Campus Technology joined a press conference at this year's WWERC in San Francisco and asked Sun Chairman Scott McNealy and Global Education VP Joe Hartley two questions of interest to higher education.
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11 Mar 2008 |
Why Sun's CEO Is Fast Becoming a Leading Spokesperson for the Open-Source Community
eWeek. eWeek highlights Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz's role in the open-source community. Describing the speeches at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research Summit, the piece notes, "Schwartzthe only one I could find in the room with a ponytail, man or womanstood out in this discussion with his simple but effective parables explaining how open-source software works. Thus, right before everybody's eyes on a world-class stage, he became a bona fide spokesperson for the open-source community...Schwartz, through his popular blog and personal appearances like this, is a key reason why Sun Microsystems, one of the top 10 largest IT companies in the worldand the one that most relies on open source and the open-source community to help drive its businessis going to find itself well positioned in the not-too-distant future in relation to the inevitable continued growth of free and open-source software."
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10 Mar 2008 |
Open Source M&A Takes Shape
M&A Journal. The piece highlights the increased feasibility of open-source mergers and acquisitions, exemplified by Sun's buyout of MySQL. According to the article, "Sun Microsystems' $1 billion purchase of MySQL, the largest-ever in the space, is a sizable nod to the amount of power that these software developing communities wield in technology M&A. Their clout has grown to the point that software giants, in a sharp reversal from earlier technology business models, appear more than willing to hand over some of the reins
The sector is a huge fishbowl for corporations looking for the next big thing."
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MySQL Co-Founder: Success = Humility + Passion (not Exit Strategy)
InformationWeek (Blog). MySQL co-founder David Axmark addresses a group of participants at a Startup Camp in London, highlighting the passion and dedication he brought to his work at MySQL. According to the post, "The Startup Camp crowd smiled upon David Axmark, an entrepreneur who followed a righteous path to success without fanfare and grandeur. When he got to the end of recounting his journey, recounting the climatic $1 billion purchase of MySQL by Sun, nobody begrudged him a dime; they applauded him. Plenty of people became wealthy and Axmark said he was fine with his 'slice of a billion dollars' but that he and most of the people who came with him to Sun would be staying. Because if it's a product coddled and tilled and coaxed from a place of passion, why would you abandon it now."
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Sun Waits out Microsoft, Gets Some Interoperability Bang after All
ZDNet (Blog). The blog post examines the new joint Interoperability Center manned by Sun and Microsoft. The post notes, "So Sun was right after all. They were right about 'write once, run anywhere.' They were right about 64-bit servers, 64-bit files, parallelism, Rock, Niagara, utility, grid. They were right about virtualization (but wrong about not buying VMWare). They were right about thin client terminals (though not right about buying Cobalt). And now Microsoft gets it, too."
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09 Mar 2008 |
(Dis)Orders of Magnitude
Envrionmental Leader. In a bylined article, Sun VP of Eco Responsibility Dave Douglas discusses the scale of sustainability. According to the piece, "We need the innovation of the compact fluorescent bulb, which lowers the number of new power plants required from 20 to 4 or 5. But we also need innovation in solar and wind power which makes it cheaper and easier to not build those plants at all. And we need innovation in usage and behavior, which allows people to get the light they need but to have it on fewer hours a day. Only when we innovate in ways which can scale to billions can we hope to advance the well being of the bulk of the world's citizens. The number of people on the earth is so big its hard to fathom, but we absolutely need to be able to work at these large scales. There's 7 billion good reasons to get this right."
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07 Mar 2008 |
Sun to Build Virtual Machine for iPhone
Computerworld. Sun plans to build a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) for the iPhone and the iPod Touch now that the iPhone Software Developer Kit has been released. The company hopes that providing a JVM for the iPhone will make it easier for developers to use Java applications on both devices. "With more than 4 million iPhones already sold, there is a large market that developers are anxious to access," notes Sun Java Marketing VP Eric Klein.
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Sun Moves OpenOffice under LGPLv3 Protections
InformationWeek. Sun moves its OpenOffice productivity suite to the LGPLv3 open-source license in order to offer more protection against patent challenges. "Upgrading to the LGPLv3 brings important new protections to the OpenOffice.org community, most notably through the new language regarding software patents," explains Simon Crosby, Sun chief open source officer, on his blog.
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Sun's 256-Thread African Journey Begins Next Month
The Register. Exclusive Sun Microsystems will leave the midwest and head to Africa next month with the release of its fanciest ever multi-core servers, The Register has learned. On April 9, Sun plans to unveil a line of systems known internally as the Maramba boxes. The 1U and 2U servers will run on the UltraSPARC T2+ processor - aka Victoria Falls.
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06 Mar 2008 |
Dell, NetApp Maintain Market Traction
eWeek. IDC reports, EMC and IBM continue to lead the pack in the storage industry, but trend-type news is being made by three other companies including Sun. According to the article, "In the total worldwide disk storage systems market (internal and external), IBM leads the market with 22.9 percent, followed by HP with 18.1 percent. EMC maintains the third position with 16 percent. However, Sun showed the most growth in this sector (16 percent), with Hitachi (14.9 percent) right behind."
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Simon Phipps was Right
Open Source Initiative. Michael Tiemann apologies to Sun Chief Open Source Officer Simon Phipps in a blog post. He writes, "You said a standard's process is a crucial aspect of the standard's product, and a process that is not open cannot be trusted to produce a product that can be considered open. I maintained that I had seen and used many wonderful standards that took absolutely zero input from me, and therefore I didn't see my participation as a necessary prerequisite for assuring quality in the future. I believed that no matter what the process, a standard should be judged by the product. Watching the fallout settle from the BRM in Geneva, I'm beginning to think that you were right and I was wrong."
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Sun, AT&T Invest $1 Billion Each in Open Source Cloud Computing
TMCNet. The article praises Sun and IBM for their investments in open source and cloud computing. According to the piece, "The Sun $1 billion purchase of MySQL is a little bit like the AT&T $1 billion investment in global infrastrucure: both are a sort of 'plumbing' that makes modern applications work, and upon which revenue-generating services are created." Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz adds, "Until now, no platform vendor has assembled all the core elements of a completely open source operating system for the Internet. No company has been able to deliver a comprehensive alternative to the leading proprietary OS."
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Sun: Economic Slowdown Favors Open Source
ZDNet Asia. Sun hosts its Sun Tech Days developer conference in India and discusses the key role of developers in the realm of free open source software (FOSS). "The world is being transformed by FOSS...During an economic slowdown, not everything slows down (and) IT projects will continue to be undertaken. But IT budgets will be reduced," causing businesses to seek out and implement lower-cost, open-source alternatives.
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MySQL CEO Says Sun Acquisition Is Already Paying Off
CBR. The former CEO of open source database firm MySQL, which was recently acquired by Sun for $1bn, said in a Computer Business Review interview that being bought is already boosting the firm's business.
"As soon as the deal closed we immediately secured a big deal with a major European national police agency," said Marten Mickos, now SVP database technology at Sun. "Key to them choosing MySQL was that we are now part of a much larger public corporation. The deal wouldn't have happened when we were private."
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05 Mar 2008 |
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04 Mar 2008 |
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03 Mar 2008 |
Sun Hires Two Key Python Developers
Computerworld. Sun hires two new Python developers, Ted Leung and Frank Wierzbicki, to continue developing Python projects on behalf of the company.
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28 Feb 2008 |
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Sun Automates Tiered Data Archiving
SearchStorage.com. Sun expands its tape archiving capabilities with a new library, a double-spool tape drive and a management system for tape encryption. Sun also plans to donate the code for its Honeycomb system to the open-source community.
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26 Feb 2008 |
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Sun Locks Up MySQL, Looks to Future Web Development
InformationWeek.
Sun completes its acquisition of MySQL, six weeks after announcing the original deal, marking "the end of a remarkable era for MySQL and the beginning of another remarkable one" with Sun.
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IT as System Integrator
Navica. CIO.com open source columnist and Navica CEO Bernard Golden shares his thoughts on a recent trip to Sun.
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25 Feb 2008 |
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Sun and NMC Launch Open Virtual Worlds Project
Virtual World News. The New Media Consortium and Sun announced a two-year commitment to the Open Virtual Worlds Project, dedicated to making it easier to learn, work and exchange ideas in virtual reality.
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Storage Virtualization: Why Aren't the Big Guys Talking More about It?
ZDNet (Blog). "As organizations adopt a more virtualized approach to their IT infrastructure, it makes sense that they would also separate the storage function from other parts of the infrastructure...Sun offers virtual machine software and an array (pun intended) of storage systems and software. They're one of the few 'one stop shops.'"
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22 Feb 2008 |
Hands On with the Sun Fire X4150
PC Magazine. PC Magazine examines the Sun Fire X4150 server: Sun "has sacrificed absolutely nothing in the way of hardware or management features, building a box capable of competing with servers twice its size."
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Gawker - Texas's Supercomputing Ranger
The Register. Sun unveils its Constellation supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computer Center. "Ranger's official unveiling took place this week with the supercomputer standing as the world's fastest 'open' system...Ranger exemplifies what can result from Sun's so-called Constellation designs. With the help of co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim and others, Sun has crafted servers, storage and especially networking gear that can scale - and how."
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21 Feb 2008 |
Sun Readies a Supercomputer in Texas
eWeek. Sun christens its new supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center. The piece notes, "The new system, dubbed "Ranger," was made possible through a $59 million grant from the National Science Foundation. At its peak, the Ranger machine offers 504 teraflops, or 504 trillion calculations per second. Of the world's Top 500 supercomputers, IBM's Blue Gene/L system, which is installed at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is currently listed as the world's top-performing supercomputer with a maximum performance of 478.2 teraflops...For Sun, the unveiling of Ranger marks a forceful return to the field of supercomputers and HPC (high-performance computing)."
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Server Shipments up Despite Fears of Economic Slowdown
InformationWeek. Worldwide server shipments climb 11 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 with revenue up nearly 3 percent in spite of fears of an economic downturn. In terms of shipments, HP led with a 29.8 percent share, followed by Dell, IBM, and Sun Microsystems at 3.8 percent.
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IBM Certifies Solaris for Selected X64 Servers
IT Jungle. IBM unveils support for Sun's Solaris system on selected System x rack servers and blade servers. Stemming from an OEM agreement in August, the servers come pre-loaded with Solaris 10 and include optional technical support services for IBM customers.
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How Many Computers Does the World Need? Fewer than You Think
The Guardian. The article spotlights potential changes in the nature of computing, especially in terms of supercomputing and the Internet. According to Sun CTO Greg Papadopoulos, "The world needs only five computers." Such giant computing grids, he explains, "will comprise millions of processing, storage and networking elements, globally distributed into critical-mass clusters". The point in calling them "computers," he adds, "is that there will be some organization, a corporation or government, that will ultimately control" their construction and operation. Their many pieces will work in harmony, like the components inside your PC.
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Yes, Sun Should Compete Against Linux
InfoWorld (Blog). The blog post analyzes the competition between Linux and OpenSolaris. The post notes, "In the past, IBM engineer Mike Dolan commented that the issue isn't whether Sun should compete, but why they don't collaborate...I have written in the past that I believe it is perfectly valid for Sun, or any company to compete with Linux or any OSS project/product. I am a fan of competition. I believe it helps all parties raise their game."
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20 Feb 2008 |
Can Sun's Blade Slice Server Sprawl?
internetnews.com. Sun unveils its Sun Blade X8540 server module, the newest of the company's high-end, high-capacity server products utilizing quad-core Intel Xeon processors. The server is a four-socket system with 32 DIMM sockets. "We're seeing tremendous interest in our customer base at being able to consolidate all their platforms into a common infrastructure," says Mike McNerney, director of the blades server product line at Sun. "With these blades they are not limited to just Solaris on Sparc. They can do a broad section of data-center consolidation onto a blade center architecture."
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TSMC to Make Sun's UltraSPARC Processors, Join OpenSPARC
IDG News Service. Sun taps Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing to fabricate its latest UltraSPARC processors. The companies will also collaborate on Sun's OpenSPARC program, expanding research on the processors in Taiwan by reaching out to Taiwanese universities. TSMC will manufacture UltraSPARC processors using its 45-nanometer production technology, as well as future generations of the UltraSPARC.
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19 Feb 2008 |
Sun's New Data Center Approach Takes Shape
internetnews.com. Sun releases the xVM Ops Center, its data center management tool which includes features for mixed environments such as Linux and Solaris as well as x86 and SPARC-based systems. "I'd say this is 50/50 about addressing existing Sun customers and getting new ones," Oren Teich, director of marketing for Sun's xVM virtualization products, explains. He adds, "It's a great solution for any Red Hat, Linux or Solaris customer."
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Avnet Introduces Sun/Diligent Data De-Dup
EChannelLine. Sun and Diligent Technologies team up for a data de-duplication solution, signaling that the industry may be gearing up for a surge in this new technology. According to Wikibon Project participant David Vellante, "This is the case where Sun, like a lot of other companies, would rather OEM the product, leverage their long distribution channels, package the technology with other parts of their portfolio and get it out in the market."
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Analysis: Popularity of Open-Source, Adobe Tools on Campus Prods Microsoft's Giveaway to Students
Computerworld. The piece cites the open-source popularity of Sun and Adobe as a driving force in Microsoft's bid to "gift" its developer tools to young computer students. According to the article, "Sun and IBM are the most prominent promoters of open-source technologies as alternatives to Microsoft's offerings. For instance, Visual Studio's primary open-source rivals include Sun's NetBeans and the IBM-supported Eclipse framework, both of which are available free of charge. Similarly, Windows Server is battling against Linux, which is heavily backed by IBM, while SQL Server has to contend with the open-source MySQL database, which Sun is in the process of acquiring under a deal announced last month."
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Transactional Memory and Solaris
ZDNet (Blog). The blog post describes two features designed in Sun's forthcoming Rock chip: thread scouting and transactional memory. The piece notes, "The most obvious implication here is that Rock and its successors will allow Solaris kernel developers to make most these lock processes go away - and for applications that will initially mean simple re-compiles to take advantage of new libraries but in the longer term spark new designs eliminating many of the cycle absorbing complexities of present day multi-threading."
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Sun Ships Management Piece of xVM Strategy
IDG News. Sun ships its xVM Ops Center, a data center automation console for Linux- and Solaris-based x86 and SPARC environments. The software has previously been released under an open-source GPLv3 license and incorporates automatic firmware installation and patch-management tools for SUSE, Red Hat and Solaris.
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18 Feb 2008 |
Server-Based IP SANs Are Catching On
SearchStorage.com. SearchStorage.com highlights the increasing popularity of iSCSI SAN devices and praises Sun for its plans to converge the storage and servers groups last year. According to the piece, "While there isn't much hard data available to measure the proportion of server-based to array-based iSCSI SANs being deployed, the trend is reflected in the growing number of startups coming out of stealth with software/server storage packages."
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15 Feb 2008 |
Sun Boosts HPC On-Demand Offering
HPCWire. Sun unveils new applications and a new partner program for its Network.com high-performance computing utility. The Sun Network.com Connection is desgined to encourage independent software vendors to publish their on-demand applications to the service. With the 14 added this week, Sun now claims over 40 applications in its Network.com catalog.
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14 Feb 2008 |
Buyers Focus on Shrinking Power
Purchasing. The article describes the shift in the market as buyers look for more efficient energy performance in their electronic purchases and highlights Sun's work in this area. Subodh Bapat, vice president and distinguished engineer for Sun's eco-responsibility office, describes the importance of designing machines that incorporate both energy efficiency and lower power consumption. "It is not just about looking at the power of each individual box," says Bapat. "It also involves correlating power draw with the utilization of that box." He adds, "Each new server we build burns more power than the previous generation of servers simply because it has faster microprocessors, more memory and more disk-drive space."
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Sun Champions Developers, Disruption of Big Software Suppliers
InformationWeek. At Sun's annual Global Media Summit, CEO Jonathan Schwartz described a strategy to equip the next generation of Internet companies with lower costs, more flexibility, and multiple development environments. Schwartz notes that Sun is repositioning itself as a disruptive software supplier, using freely downloadable open source code to initiate relationships with developers in young Internet companies. "Everything," he adds, "begins with the development of a community."
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Sun Shifts from Pruning to Growing
San Jose Mercury News. Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz keynotes the company's Global Media Summit on its campus in Menlo Park. "We are very much oriented toward growing," says Schwartz. "We're not immune to any global economic trends," he adds, but "around the world we see more companies spending more time and money on technology as a vehicle to progress their business."
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13 Feb 2008 |
In Pursuit of a Carbon-Free Economy
Policy Innovations. The realization that emissions are responsible for an impending climate crisis has set in motion a major change in human historythe evolution to a carbon-free economy. Few people realize the extent to which this will alter everything that currently makes up our daily lives. Having been born into a world dominated by fossil fuels, we lack a reference for this transformation, but we are starting to acknowledge that it must happen if we are to preserve the earth for future generations.
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Sun's Super Supercomputer to Launch
CNET (Blog). Sun unveils its Constellation System at the Texas Advanced Supercomputing Center. The main switch of the Constellation, code-named Magnum, includes 3,457 ports to free up data pathways within the system. "We are looking at a factor-of-three improvement over the current best system at an equal number of nodes," says Andy Bechtolsheim, chief architect and senior vice president of the systems group. "We have been somewhat absent in the supercomputer market in the last few years."
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Sun SPOTs Go Open Source: An interview with Arshan Poursohi
Campus Technology. Recently Sun Microsystems announced that it would open source both the hardware and operating system for Sun SPOTs, its sensor networking product based on Java technology. CT talked with Arshan Poursohi, a staff researcher in the Sun SPOTs lab on Sun's Menlo Park, CA campus to find out how higher education institutions can incorporate Sun SPOTs in research and instruction.
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12 Feb 2008 |
Sun Unveils New Emerging Markets Partner Program
EChannelLine. Sun establishes its Sun Equity Partner program in tandem with the first partnership of the program, the joint venture Sun Vietnam. "In an emerging market like Vietnam, we had partners but they didn't have as competitive an advantage as if we had a direct presence there," explains Tim Pawloski, senior director of the Sun Equity Partner Program at Sun. "The lack of a Sun facility handicapped them. What SEP is all about is creating a synthetic subsidiary. That gives us a physical presence in those locations, providing feet on the street and facilities in country."
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Sun, Frontline Form Joint Venture in Vietnam
ZDNet Asia. Sun and Frontline Technologies announce a joint venture in Vietnam to be called Sun Vietnam. The program is the first in a company initiative to drive growth for Sun in emerging markets. The company plans to open sales offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City later this year. "Sun's investment will help drive growth in Vietnam in terms of skills and technology enablement through community cultivation and sharing," says Lionel Lim, Sun's chief of operations in the Asia-Pacific.
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08 Feb 2008 |
Top Ten IT Characters
The Inquirer. Sun Chairman Scott McNealy ranks number three on The Inquirer's list of top ten IT characters. The piece notes, "With teeth so prominent and impressively white, it's a wonder that McNealy could manage to break the world record for fast talking. When not carrying the flag for UNIX, Steely McNealy developed an all-enveloping contempt for Microsoft and perhaps the best golf game and ice hockey skills in the business. He famously hugged a penguin to show Sun was warming to Linux and named his children in the manner of David Bowie, dubbing them Maverick, Dakota, Colt and Scout."
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Regulators Clear Sun's Purchase of MySQL
Associated Press. Federal antitrust regulators clear the way for Sun's acquisition of MySQL. The deal received an "early termination," meaning that the FTC completed its antitrust review before the end of a 30-day review period.
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Green Computing
The Economist (Blog). The piece examines the importance of "green computing" not as an environment-saving mechanism, but a cost-cutter, both for enterprise and home users. The piece notes, "Green computing is one of the latest fads in the digital domain. Often, it's dressed up as corporate responsibility and used as a marketing tool. Corporate computer-users may talk about reducing their carbon footprint to slow global warming, but what they really mean is finding ways to slash their electricity bills...Sun Microsystems, a leading server maker, reckons that 70% of the servers in most organisations have only one application running on them; a further 10% run applications no one uses any more. Consolidating the useful applications onto fewer and fewer machines, courtesy of virtualisation, can reduce a firm's electricity bill significantly."
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06 Feb 2008 |
Sun's Schwartz Cites MySQL's Growth Rate as Incentive
InfoWorld. In deciding to buy MySQL last month, Sun was attracted to the open-source database company's very rapid growth rate and its revenue model, Sun President/CEO Jonathan Schwartz said in a keynote presentation Wednesday at SugarCRM's SugarCon 2008 conference in San Jose, Calif.
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Sun's Bet on Services
The Wall Street Journal (Blog). In a blog post, The Wall Street Journal describes one of the key difficulties of an open-source model, using Sun as an example.
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04 Feb 2008 |
Ruby Shines on All Platforms
eWeek. Sun, Microsoft and other programmers continue to enhance the Ruby language to increase its performance on all platforms.
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SOA Consortium Adds Sun
InfoWorld (Blog). Sun joins the SOA Consortium as a high-level Sponsor member. The consortium advocates SOA adoption by Global 100 companies, governments and businesses.
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01 Feb 2008 |
Radical Cells
CFO.com. CFO.com reviews several alternatives to Microsoft Excel, including Sun's OpenOffice.org, and highlights OpenOffice's manipulation of data between programs.
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