Solaris on HP Servers - FAQs

1. What are Sun and HP announcing?

   Sun and HP announced an expanded multi-year OEM partnership agreement that enables HP to distribute and support Sun's Solaris 10 OS on the HP ProLiant server and blade platforms. Sun now becomes a strategic HP ProLiant OS distribution partner and Solaris is elevated to the lineup of key operating environments for the ProLiant platform. HP is endorsing Solaris by responding to customer demand for expanded support on HP ProLiant. With this partnership, the top five server vendors ship Solaris with their systems.

   For more information, read the Press Release.

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2. How much are HP and Sun investing in this partnership?

   We are not disclosing the terms of the deal. The companies will invest in joint work, spanning hardware and software, in addition to the billions each company already spends in R&D each year. Sun and HP will also provide Solaris training to HP's sales and support organizations and will partner closely on system certification, solution development and demand generation programs to expand the overall Solaris ecosystem.

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3. Is this announcement financially material for either company?

   This announcement doesn't require an SEC filing.

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4. When will HP begin offering Solaris Subscriptions?

   HP expects to begin shipping systems with Solaris in the first half of calendar year 2009. They have already qualified many ProLiant systems, which appear on the Solaris Hardware Compatibility List (HCL).

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5. What HP systems are included in this announcement?

   The announced agreement is for systems within the HP ProLiant family. HP will announce specific models. You can view the Solaris HCL for systems that have been certified.

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6. How is this deal different from similar deals Sun has done with IBM, Dell and Fujitsu Siemens?

   Specific details of each deal are confidential.

   Just as Dell, IBM and Fujitsu Siemens already have, HP is responding to customer demand for a wider choice of operating systems. Sun now becomes a strategic HP ProLiant OS distribution partner and Solaris is elevated to the lineup of key operating environments for the ProLiant platform. HP customers will benefit from a broader choice of pre-configured systems and simplified access to the innovation behind the advanced security, virtualization and scalability inherent in the Solaris OS.

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7. What volume and revenue do you expect from this deal? How much revenue have you realized from the existing Solaris OEM deals?

   Specific details of each deal are confidential.

   Sun does not disclose forecasts and revenues from specific vendors. What we can say is that the joint Solaris on HP ProLiant solution has already amassed a significant number of customer installations with HP now distributing Solaris, it dramatically expands the available market for Solaris.

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8. What about an existing Sun Solaris customer who purchases an HP system to run Solaris? Doesn't the customer already have Solaris support today?

   Customers have Solaris support only if they have purchased a Solaris Subscription from Sun or an authorized reseller. With this agreement, customers can now acquire the Solaris OS, an HP ProLiant server, and a Solaris Subscription from HP.

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9. Does a Solaris customer who wants patches and upgrades for Solaris get them from Sun or HP?

   Sun will provide patches and updates directly to HP's customers through Sun's automated Connected Services.

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10. Which markets will Sun and HP target for Solaris expansion?

    There are many markets for which Solaris is ideally suited, including healthcare, retail, manufacturing, transportation and government.

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11. Will any of HP's Itanium-based systems be available with Solaris?

    Our agreement with HP is for their ProLiant line of Intel Xeon and AMD based servers. There are no Itanium-based systems from any vendor on the HCL.

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12. How does this agreement benefit Sun?

    With this agreement the top five server vendors ship Solaris with their systems. This agreement demonstrates HP's commitment to offering clients a broad choice of operating systems available in the industry and Sun's commitment to offer customers a wider choice of systems for the Solaris platform. The joint Solaris on HP ProLiant solution has already amassed a significant number of customer installations, and with HP now distributing Solaris, it dramatically expands the available market for Solaris.

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13. Will HP also ship and support systems running OpenSolaris releases?

    With this agreement, the top five server vendors ship Solaris with their systems. ProLiant systems on the HCL can run OpenSolaris releases and support is available from Sun.

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14. Is any other Sun software included in the current agreement?

    This agreement is specifically for the Solaris OS. Subscriptions and licenses for other Sun software are available directly from Sun.

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15. How does this agreement impact partners?

    Valued Sun partners gain new building blocks to meet customer requirements and realize new margin opportunities and ISVs will benefit from a broader target customer base.

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16. Who are the top 5 server vendors that now ship Solaris with their systems?

    Sun, IBM, Dell, Fujitsu, and now HP -- the top 5 Server vendors according to the IDC Quarterly Server Tracker -- all sell Solars with their x86-based servers.

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17. Where are billings from these types of OEM agreements reflected in Sun's financials?

    Billings from the Solaris OEM agreements with HP, IBM, Dell, etc. are reflected in the Services line in Sun's "Billings Disclosure by Category" slide in Sun's quarterly earnings call slide deck.

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18. How can I learn more?

    Learn more by visiting the Sun Solaris HP page or email questions to the alias.

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