In response to market needs, several groups within Sun worked together to propose integrated solutions made up of specific combinations of hardware and software products. Sun also worked with top-tier software and networking equipment vendors to include specific third-party products as part of its Reference Architectures. These solutions include a set of recommended components and are sized, tested, tuned, and documented to work together and deliver specific functionality, including messaging, application services, business intelligence/data warehousing, and other functions. The Sun Reference Architecture Program is continuing to add to its portfolio of individual Reference Architectures.
Sun Reference Architectures define the hardware and software components needed to build end-to-end solutions to help meet specific business needs. Reference Architectures are jointly designed, tested, tuned, and integrated solutions based on Sun hardware and software and selected best-of-class third-party applications. The goal of Reference Architectures is to help customers reduce the complexity, costs, and risks of deploying new technology in their enterprises. Sun's Reference Architectures combine:
A multi-tiered architecture design
Best-of-class hardware and software components
Architecture, sizing, and implementation guides
Support from Sun Professional Services or Sun Partners
Optional proof-of-concept testing at a Sun Solution Center
We are responding to customer demands for end-to-end solutions and driving to create integratable stacks--integrated and tested hardware and software architectures that are open and can accommodate existing or third-party components. Sun works with the engineering teams of independent software vendors to design, install, test, tune, and integrate a complete architecture in a Sun Solution Center. The ultimate goals of Sun Reference Architectures are to reduce complexity and risk in deployment and to decrease time-to-market for the customer.
The Sun Open Net Environment, or Sun ONE, is Sun's standards-based vision, architecture, platform, and expertise for building and deploying Services on Demand. The Sun ONE software stack includes Application, Directory, Portal, Messaging, and Identity server software, as well as Sun ONE Studio development tools and the Solaris Operating Environment.
Sun ONE is:
Evolutionary: Maximizes ROI by leveraging your existing systems without changing underlying platform. Unlike other software models that assume a company will embrace only one way of developing and delivering services, Sun ONE embraces a Services on Demand vision that accommodates all styles of software usage. This differentiator is summed up as "evolution, not revolution."
Open and Integratable: Supports open standards and technologies to ensure interoperability with existing platforms, systems, and environments. Customers can deploy Sun's best-of-breed products to deliver a complete end-to-end solution or substitute alternative standards-based products if they have a legacy investment in corresponding software from another vendor. Sun ONE supports integration with any standards-based third-party products, including vertical applications.
Integrated: Limits software integration costs by operating out-of-the-box with other Sun ONE products. Customers benefit from research and development investments that are behind the Sun ONE products rather than incurring into the high integration costs involved with connecting multi-vendor solutions.
Enterprise-Ready: Supported by a network infrastructure company
and world-class partners that understand mission-critical product and
support needs. Sun service organizations (such as Sun Professional Services,
Sun Partners, and Sun Educational Services) have extensive real-world
experience in supporting demanding network infrastructures for Global
2000 organizations.
The Sun ONE architecture is based on open standards and therefore supports components that comply with these standards. Customers have the benefit of leveraging existing investments by using established infrastructure to build Sun ONE-compliant systems. Customers can also use alternative standards-based products from another vendor if preferred. This means that Sun ONE supports an integratable stack.
There is tight integration between the Solaris Operating Environment, Sun ONE infrastructure software, and Sun ONE Studio development tools. These can all be deployed on Sun servers and storage systems, giving you a single point of contact for all your computing needs.
For more information, visit http://www.sun.com/sunone/overview/platform.
the Sun Partner Advantage Program brings together Sun and leading industry partners to deliver proven solutions that reduce cost and speed time to market. the Sun Partner Advantage Program also provides services that address its customers' needs by taking them through four crucial steps during deployment:
Strategy
Application Architecture
Integration
Deployment
The Reference Architecture Program follows all crucial steps outlined in the Sun Partner Advantage Program. Customers have the opportunity to simulate their workloads in the Sun Solution Center in Menlo Park, Calif., free of charge. The ability to test a solution with your workload and data reduces the risk and speeds deployment of a new multi-tier infrastructure.
Once the customer has sized their systems using information from a Reference Architecture and Sun Solution Center, they are ready to define and deploy a complete hardware and software solution that will best fit their requirements. One quick way to do this is via the Sun Customer Ready systems (Sun CRS) program. The Sun CRS program is a delivery mechanism that simplifies and speeds deployment of Sun ONE products. The Sun CRS program offers customers flexible factory-integration capabilities and a wide range of services that deliver enhanced reliability, reduced risk, and lower total cost of ownership. The program can also integrate complementary third-party hardware and software products and other customer-provided software. For more details on the Sun CRS program, please visit http://www.sun.com/integration/crsp.
Reference Architecture sizing, implementation, and architecture guides
Sun Solution Centers
Sun Customer Ready systems program
Technical consulting from Sun Professional Services and Sun Solution Provider Partners
The Sun Solutions Directory is a searchable, streamlined repository of deployable, end-to-end solutions that leverage the creativity and knowledge of the Sun Partner Community to reduce customer risk and time to new service. Each solution in the Sun Solutions Directory includes a documented set of hardware, software, and services built and deployable in a specific geography on the Sun platform.
Sun Reference Architectures deliver key proof points and complete integration of Sun ONE of best-in-class third-party software into a tested, documented architecture. Reference Architectures offer customers a high level of assurance prior to purchase and deployment, because the configurations have already been tested in a lab at Sun and system sizing information is readily available. Review the Sun ONE family of products to see how a specific Reference Architecture can help you deploy the functionality you need. An architectural overview, implementation guide, and sizing guide for a specific product or solution deployment is available from your sales representative at no cost. For more details on the Reference Architectures program, please visit the following URL: http://www.sun.com/products/architectures-platforms/refarch.
The combination of Sun products, programs, and solutions provides customers with a Business Ready Infrastructure--an open, integrated environment that can easily adapt to changing business needs. Because of the openness, flexibility, and scalability of Sun systems, their users will be well positioned to evolve to the next generation data center. Sun's vision, called N1, includes a data center with �virtualized� resources, leading to simplified management and improved efficiencies and flexibility.
For customers desiring an additional level of assurance prior to deployment, the Sun Solution Centers, which include Sun Solution Centers and authorized partner-run Sun Solution Centers, are available for proof-of-concept testing of these architectures with all lab facilities, hardware, and software provided by Sun and its partners. The customer is encouraged to be part of the proof-of-concept process to maximize input to the project. For more details on the Sun Partner Advantage Program, please visit the following URL: http://www.sun.com/partners.
Sun has developed a program to meet this exact need. The Sun Customer Ready systems program offers a broad spectrum of integration capabilities and services, and it supports the following products.
All Sun hardware products, including all standard and non-standard options
Complementary third-party hardware
All Sun software, including Sun ONE platform products
Customer-provided software
Complementary third-party software
The Sun CRS program also support the following factory integration services.
A Business Ready Infrastructure is an integrated environment of systems and services that enables an organization to drive and respond to the business. Based on the Sun Fire servers, Sun StorEdge storage, and Sun ONE software, a Business Ready Infrastructure gives customers the ability to integrate new technologies while reducing TCO and driving ROI without sacrificing readiness for future growth.
Reference Architectures are SunTone Quality Enablers, which means they are building blocks that can help enterprises achieve SunTone Certification for their computing infrastructures. The goal of the SunTone Initiative is to provide the highest quality of service to end users. To do that, the SunTone Initiative has created specifications and best practices that can help participants set up and maintain their IT environments to achieve very high service levels, which can lower operations costs and enhance system performance and scalability. Sun Reference Architectures are designed to those specifications, in order to meet the quality parameters of the SunTone program. Sun Services for SunTone can also provide assessment and remediation consulting, for further assistance with the SunTone Certification process. For more information about the SunTone Initiative and SunTone certification, visit www.suntone.org.
Visit the Reference Architecture Program Specifications page to learn more about the overall functionality of each Reference Architecture, its components, and its architecture. For further information about a particular Reference Architecture, including information about third-party partners and software, visit the Technical FAQs.
Currently, Sun and its partners have developed the following Reference Architectures:
Mobile Location Services Reference Architecture
Anti-Virus Reference Architecture
Firewall Reference Architecture
Retail Banking Reference Architecture
Application Services Reference Architecture
Messaging Internet Data Center Reference Architecture
Enterprise Data Integration Reference Architecture
Enterprise Data Warehouse Reference Architecture
Business Intelligence Reference Architecture
To find out more about the architecture, implementation, and sizing guides associated with a Reference Architecture, or to schedule a proof-of-concept test at an Sun Solution Center, contact your local Sun sales representative.
Sun's new Availability Reference Architecture provides the industry's first
mathematical modeling capability, which allows customers to accurately predict,
and avoid system failures by configuring IT deployments correctly from the
beginning.
The Availability Reference Architecture provides a tool for customers to gain
greater understanding of their availability requirements, along with the
knowledge to manage system configurations to minimize downtime. Customers will
be able to answer questions such as how much will yearly downtime improve if
time to failover changes, or will an active-passive 2-node configuration provide
greater availability than a 5-node load balanced pool of smaller servers?
The ability to predict and avoid potential failures increases system
dependability and improves utilization, while reducing IT costs.
IT systems architects and IT operations personnel can benefit from the
availability modeling methodology discussed in the white paper to optimize
deployment architecture and for improving availability characteristics during
operation.
For more information on technical white paper related to Availability
Reference Architecture and the modeling tool please contact your local
Sun Sales Representative or SE. They will be able to discuss the contents
under a NDA.
Sun, aware of the need for Enterprises and Telcos/ISPs to accelerate the
performance and efficiency of messaging environments, developed the
CIDC Reference Architecture. This reference architecture enables
Enterprises and ISPs to make quick, informed IT decisions, while at the same
time reduce complexity. The Communications IDC Reference Architecture
incorporates a complete set of recommended hardware configurations based on
Sun Fire servers, Sun ONE Messaging Server 5.2 and Sun ONE Directory Server 5.1
that give Enterprises and ISPs a technical solution that enables multiple
messaging services.
The first goal of this Reference Architecture is to reduce the technical
complexity of architecting a messaging solution and to simplify purchasing
decisions once the architecture has been finalized.
The second goal is to provide sizing and implementation guides to help reduce
implementation times. And the third goal is to enable customers to conduct proof-of-concept testing
of individual workloads in the Sun Solution Center in Menlo Park. With this
capability customers can reduce the risk associated with deploying new messaging
solutions in their environment.
