The central notion of StarCat is that the day of the Unix high-end system as the "top gun" of a corporate data center has arrived. IBM, the builder and guardian of System/360/370/390 mainframe architecture for more than 30 years, is now the only IBM-compatible mainframe player in the field. (Mainframes are one type of high-end server, and high-end servers - by IDC definition - are priced at $1 million or more.) In the last year, IBM mainframe competitors Amdahl Corp. and Hitachi Data Systems have dropped plans to field next-generation IBM-compatible mainframe servers and have refocused their businesses. (See AmdahlÆs Exit from the S/390 Market Offers Opportunity and Concern [IDC #23227, October 2000] and Hitachi Data SystemsÆ S/390 Hiatus Hurts All of Us [IDC #21818, March 2000] for more information.)

Technically, the StarCat cannot be a traditional IBM-mainframe because it does not run IBMÆs System/390 operating system (or previous versions, including System/360 and System/370 operating- system software). However, SunÆs point is that it can run mainframe-style workloads - and that it can run them in partitions - in the manner of the IBM mainframe servers.

Further, the Sun systemÆs Automated Dynamic Reconfiguration (ADR) software, a feature that is built into Solaris 8, will allow partitions to "grow," through the addition of processors and memory, as workloads grow within the partitions. From there, SunÆs Solaris Resource Manager (SRM) software can be used to shift workloads from one partition to another.

Sun would like to replace a "slice" of IBMÆs installed base of G-Series and older IBM System/390-compatible mainframe systems. IDC research shows that there were approximately 11,200 IBM ES/9000 S/390 systems (in both the midrange and high-end price bands) installed worldwide by the end of CY00. In October, IBM said it has shipped more than 1,000 zSeries mainframes (of all sizes) since their introduction in CY00. The zSeries systems can run the traditional IBM OS/390 server operating system or the new IBM zOS server operating system.

In addition, there were approximately 2,000 IBM-compatible high-end server machines installed worldwide by the end of CY00 - split between those made by Amdahl and those made by Hitachi Data Systems. Many of these systems are now more than five years old, and most of them carry heavy monthly license fees for OS/390 (or the older MVS operating system) and related systems software and applications. IDC anticipates that there will be an accelerated retirement rate for Amdahl and Hitachi Data Systems mainframes due to their deemphasis on IBM-compatible machines announced during CY00 and CY01.

All of this will serve to "clear the way" for a new generation of high-end Unix servers, including those made by Sun, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Compaq, and Fujitsu-Siemens (for high-end server market share, including all servers and Unix-only servers, see Tables 1û4). All of these vendors have extended their 64-bit Unix/RISC architectures from the midrange to the high end. Sun is targeting this product-transition period for its renewed marketing initiative to gain market share from traditional IBM mainframe sites. One recent Sun campaign, dubbed the "Blue Bomber" marketing campaign, specifically targeted IBM mainframes for replacement by SunÆs high-end Unix servers, according to information provided in a recent Sun quarterly call to financial analysts.

Although IBM's new 64-bit high-end and midrange zSeries servers support the older IBM OS/390 systems software, and they are strong engines for ecommerce in their own right, Sun believes that it can tap enough mainframe customers for the StarCat to ramp sales outside the Sun-installed base. Sun claims that its Blue Bomber campaign has already accounted for more than 50 such system replacements for its existing Enterprise 10000 high-end servers. Figure 1 shows the current Sun product line, which is topped by the high-end Sun Fire 15000 server.