The January 2000 Monthly Bulletin For Users Of SPARC Based Products

January 31 , 2000

Issue No. 76

I. SPARC NEWS

  1. RAVE COMPUTER ASSOCIATION, INC. OFFERS MOST POWERFUL RANGE OF PORTABLE WORKSTATIONS FOR SPARC(R) CUSTOMERS
  2. SUN DEBUTS SOLARIS[TM] 8 OPERATING ENVIRONMENT, THE ONLY OPERATING ENVIRONMENT THAT MARRIES DATACENTER AND DOTCOM REQUIREMENTS
  3. TADPOLE-RDI LAUNCHES ITS MOST POWERFUL RANGE OF PORTABLE WORKSTATIONS FOR SUN MICROSYSTEMS CUSTOMERS
  4. RAVE COMPUTER ASSOCIATION, INC., ANNOUNCES NEW RACKMOUNT CHASSIS FOR SUN ULTRA AX-MP MOTHERBOARD
  5. EMPRESS DATABASE NOW AVAILABLE ON FREE, OPEN-SOURCE OPERATING SYSTEM, FREE BSD

II. PVT CERTIFIED TESTING ADDITIONS IN JANUARY

III. SPARCSHOP


I. SPARC News

I. A. – RAVE COMPUTER ASSOCIATION, INC. OFFERS MOST POWERFUL RANGE OF PORTABLE WORKSTATIONS FOR SPARC(R) CUSTOMERS

Sterling Heights, MI–January 26, 2000–Rave Computer Association, Inc., a leading North America Tadpole-RDI reseller, announces the availability of most powerful range of portable workstations for SPARC customers.

Designated UltraBookIIi, the power, performance and features of the new workstations underline Tadpole-RDI’s leadership in the specialty field of portable Sun-Solaris computing.

Tadpole-RDI’s UltraBook workstations are more practical for mobile use than traditional desktop hardware, and are aimed at making Sun-Solaris computing users in industry and government more productive and cost-effective.

UltraBookIIi is shipped with Solaris 7 as operating system, together with OpenWindows 3x; AutoNET software tools plus NTP, NIS+, DHCP, NFS and DNS, as well as Java tools – Java virtual machine and HotJava browser. The portable workstation complies with leading national and international regulations for safety and EMC, including UL and ITE-FCC Part 15.

Rave Computer Association Inc. based in Michigan, located at 36960 Metro Court, Sterling Heights, MI 48312. or more information, contact Rave Computer at 1-800-966-7283 or email to info@rave.com.


I. B. – SUN DEBUTS SOLARIS™ 8 OPERATING ENVIRONMENT, THE ONLY OPERATING ENVIRONMENT THAT MARRIES DATACENTER AND DOTCOM REQUIREMENTS

With Free Solaris Source and End-User Binary Programs, Industry’s First-of-Its-Kind System Admin Portal and a Wealth of Critical Features, the Solaris 8 Operating Environment Emerges as the Dotcom Operating Environment

Palo Alto, CA–January 26, 2000–Sun Microsystems Inc. today unveiled the Solaris[tm] 8 Operating Environment, the first to satisfy the convergent requirements of enterprises adapting to the Internet age and of dotcoms adopting the disciplines of the datacenter. Sun also announced free access to the Solaris source and end-user binary code to foster innovation and ubiquity.

The Solaris 8 Operating Environment is available for both the SPARC[tm] and Intel platforms. In addition to the operating system software, the Solaris Operating Environment includes a comprehensive co-package of software from Sun, iPlanet[tm] E-Commerce Solutions[tm], Oracle and others. Already the hands-down leader in customer satisfaction, new features in Solaris 8 software drive the five critical requirements for Internet-based systems — scalability, availability, manageability, security and connectivity — to new heights.

In addition, Sun guarantees application compatibility with earlier versions of the Solaris Operating Environment through verification testing, unlike other operating systems that require major recompiling and recoding. “CEOs tell me that their No. 1 business worry is that the Internet is stressing traditional IT infrastructures. This past holiday season, they saw firsthand how service levels can make or break a dotcom business,” said Edward J. Zander, president and COO, Sun Microsystems. “The Solaris 8 Operating Environment delivers service levels that meet the new requirements, while also reducing cost and risk.”

For more information visit our web site at www.sun.com.


I. C. – TADPOLE-RDI LAUNCHES ITS MOST POWERFUL RANGE OF PORTABLE WORKSTATIONS FOR SUN MICROSYSTEMS CUSTOMERS

New generation of portable Sun-compatible workstations for enterprise software and e-business application vendors, network service providers, and forward military command centers for ground and airborne information-processing units.

Carlsbad (CA), January 14, 2000 – Tadpole-RDI, Inc., a business unit of mobile computing specialist Tadpole Technology plc, today announced the launch of its most powerful range of portable workstations for Sun Microsystems customers.

Designated UltraBookIIi, the power, performance and features of the new workstations underline Tadpole-RDI’s leadership in the specialist field of portable Sun-Solaris computing.

Tadpole-RDI’s UltraBook workstations are more practical for mobile use than traditional desktop hardware, and are aimed at making Sun-Solaris computing users in industry and government more productive and cost-effective. Threefold productivity gains are achieved frequently.

The real world benefits of increased productivity and lower operating costs associated with portability for Sun customers are laid out on Tadpole-RDI’s website www.tadpolerdi.com/tco/index.html.

UltraBookIIi is shipped with Solaris 7, 2.6, 2.5.1 as operating system, together with OpenWindows 3x, AutoNET software tools plus NTP, NIS+, DHCP, NFS and DNS, as well as Java tools – Java virtual machine and HotJava browser. The portable workstation complies with leading national and international regulations for safety and EMC, including UL and ITE-FCC Part 15.

Tadpole-RDI, Inc.’s headquarters are based in Carlsbad, California and European operations in Cambridge, England. For more information visit their web site at www.tapolerdi.com


I. D. – RAVE COMPUTER ASSOCIATION, INC., ANNOUNCES NEW RACKMOUNT CHASSIS FOR SUN ULTRA AX-MP MOTHERBOARD

Sterling Heights, MI–January 21, 2000–Rave Computer Association, Inc., an authorized Sun Master value-added System Integrator, announces a new 4U form factor rackmount chassis for the UltraAXmp.

Rave Computer Association, Inc. integrates Sun’s UltraAXmp motherboard into a 4U 19-inch rackmountable chassis. The UltraAXmp is a scalable 64-bit UltraSPARC multi-processing motherboard with a unique Ultra Port Architecture (UPA) that enables the CPU bus bandwidth to be increased to 3.2 gigabytes per second via a custom cross bar switch. This large processor bandwidth enables scaling of up to four UltraSPARC-II microprocessor modules (currently shipping at 400MHz with 4MB cache). The motherboard supports up to 4 GB of memory, features integrated dual-channel Ultra-wide SCSI, and six PCI slots, four at 33MHz and two at 66MHz. The 4U standard chassis configurations include three 5.25 half-height exposed drive bays, two 3.5 low profile hidden bays, three removable load-sharing 300-Watt power supplies, and three 93-CFM cooling fans.

The 4U-AXmp can be pre-installed with Solaris 2.7 and is binary compatible with the broad array of current SPARC applications. Red Hat Linux 6.1 is offered as an optional operating system for the UltraAXmp. All of Rave Computer integrated systems feature a one-year warranty.

The powerful multiprocessing features found in the UltraAXmp provides an ideal solutions for telecommunication servers, ISP applications or specialized commercial and financial applications.

More information about Rave Computer Association, Inc., and its integration services can be found on their web site at: www.rave.net or by calling 1-800-966-7283. Email inquiries can be sent to: info@rave.com.


I. E. – EMPRESS DATABASE NOW AVAILABLE ON FREE, OPEN-SOURCE OPERATING SYSTEM, FREE BSD

Greenbelt, MD–January 26, 2000–Empress Software, developers of the EMPRESS Relational Database Management System, announces the immediate availability of the EMPRESS RDBMS on FreeBSD, the freely distributed, open source code UNIX operating system. Empress hi-tech data management software features the ANSI-SQL EMPRESS RDBMS, an Internet application development toolkit, JDBC Interface, ODBC server and other companion products for rapid development of database applications. EMPRESS on FreeBSD delivers performance, scalability, and reliability designed to build E-commerce, Web, embedded and other scientific and engineering applications.

EMPRESS RDBMS operating in a FreeBSD environment optimizes performance and reliability. For data intensive applications, EMPRESS easily stores and retrieves heavy loads of information. The fast, robust database engine supports high volume electronic commerce Web sites with constant traffic and gigantic downloads. And EMPRESS on FreeBSD offers solid reliability for Internet service providers and developers building traffic intensive Web sites.

Empress Software develops and supports the Empress Relational Database Management System. The EMPRESS RDBMS is one of the most powerful and cost-effective development databases especially designed for developers operating on UNIX, Windows or real-time environments. Empress has been utilized successfully in diverse fields including image and voice management, telecommunications, medical systems, telephony systems, geographical information systems and network management.

For more information about Empress, please call 301-220-1919. Check our web site at www.empress.com or send e-mail to info@empress.com. You can write to us at Empress Software, 6401 Golden Triangle Drive, Greenbelt, MD, 20770.

II. PVT CERTIFIED TESTING ADDITIONS IN JANUARY

The SPARC Compliant brand, awarded by SPARC International, assures end users that systems so branded will work with any other product branded to the same level of the “SPARC Compliant Definition (SCD).” This list, updated monthly, includes changes made to the master list of SPARC Compliant products. To view the master list, please access our web site at www.sparc.org or send email to info@sparc.org.

COMPANY PRODUCTC OS SCD DATE
Hitachi America DK32AH-18LW Solaris 7 2.1 01/09/00
Hitachi America DK32AH-36LW Solaris 7 2.1 01/09/00

III. SPARCSHOP

SPARC-related documents are available through SPARC International’s bookstore, SPARCSHOP. Access to SPARCSHOP is available several ways,

  1. email sparcshop@sparc.org
  2. phone us at 1-408-748-9111 x240

Currently available

The SPARC Architecture Manual, Version 8 $50.00
SPARC-V8E Embedded Supplement to SPARC-V8 $25.00
The SPARC Architecture Manual, Version 9 $55.00
Implementation Characteristics of Current SPARC-V9 based products $25.00
Mbus Interface Specification (Version 1.2) $40.00
SPARC Compliance Definition (SCD 1.1) $20.00
SPARC Compliance Definition (SCD 2.1 & 2.1A) $20.00
SPARC Compliance Definition (SCD 2.2) $20.00
SPARC Compliance Definition (SCD 2.3 & IS) $20.00
SPARC Compliance Definition (SCD 2.4 & IS) $40.00
SPARC Compliance Definition (SCD 2.4.1 & IS) NEW!! $40.00
SPARC Technical Papers $56.00
SPARC Strategy & Technology $40.00
Type 5 Keyboard Interface License $99.00



Please contact SPARC International’s SPARC Shop at sparcshop@sparc.org or Tel: 408 748-9111 x240 for lead times on the manuals. Thank you.


SPARC-FLASH is distributed by SPARC International. All rights reserved.

– Managing Editor –

Cheryl Hostetler

Direct Inquiries To – sparc-flash-request@sparc.org

Additional information about SPARC International, its members and its certification programs is available via the World Wide Web www.sparc.org or via email info@sparc.org.


SPARC International promotes the design, development and application of SPARC to computer and peripheral products; establishes hardware and software standards; enables compatibility across SPARC-branded products; and provides, promotes and protects SPARC and SPARC-related brand names.

SPARC International has verified to the best of its ability all of the product information contained in this newsletter. Information in this newsletter has been provided by the vendors. SPARC International has not reviewed claims made about product features or functions, and is not responsible for the accuracy of such claims. Users may want to obtain references, documentation, and/or demonstrations before purchasing any products or services. No vendor is authorized to act as an agent of SPARC International, or to make any representations or warranties on SPARC International’s behalf.

The following are Registered® Trademarks of SPARC International, Inc.:

SPARC® SPARCbook® SPARCenter® SPARC Compliant®
SPARC Compliant SCD & Design® embedSPARC® SPARC International® SoundSPARC®
SPARClite® SPARCprinter® SPARCserver® SPARCstation®
UltraSPARC® UltraSPARC Driven® SPARC Storage® SPARCworks®
MicroSPARC® microSPARC® SuperSPARC® SPARC (Stylized)®
SPARCcompiler® SPARCphone® ftSPARC® hyperSPARC®
SPARCluster® SPARCsummit® SPARC64® SPARC64/OS®
SPARCengine® SPARC LT® SPARC O/S® SPARC PC®
SPARCluster 1® SPARCplug® SPARCtop® SPARK®
TurboSPARC® UltraSPARC Driven & Design® UltraSPARC Driven & Design (Logo)® UniSPARC®


Other Trademarks that are in use or Pending Registration include:

SPARCstation SPARC811 SPARCbuilders SPARCard
SPARC Compatible SPARC Compliance SPARC-FLASH SPARC Technology
SPARClet SPARCtop SPARC V9 SPARCbuilders
SunSPARC SPARC Product Directory SPARCshop SPARC Technology Business
SPARC Verification SPARCware SPARKit SPARC Power
SPARC64-GP SPARC Driven SPARC-Line SPARC-Line
ConsumerSPARC SPARCV9 SPARC_V9 SPARC Verified
SPARC Verification SPARCware SPARKit EuroSPARC


Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based on an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company, Ltd. All other product names, trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.