Issue No. 54
A. SPARC® INTERNATIONAL WELCOMES MEMORY CARD TECHNOLOGY
B. 81 PRODUCTS DECLARED SPARC® COMPLIANT DURING MARCH!
C. SUN MICROSYSTEMS ANNOUNCES MEL FRIEDMAN AS NEW PRESIDENT OF SUN MICROELECTRONICS
D. PHENOMENAL GROWTH RATE REPORTED IN RED HAT SOFTWARE’S 1997 SURVEY OF THE LINUX MARKET
E. VisiCom PROVIDES DISPLAY CONTROLLERS TO SIEMeNS MEDICAL SYSTEMS
II. SPARC® COMPLIANT ADDITIONS, DELETIONS AND PRODUCTS IN PROCESS
I. A. – SPARC® INTERNATIONAL WELCOMES MEMORY CARD TECHNOLOGY
Aarhus, Denmark–March 10, 1998– Memory Card Technology A/S joined SPARC® International as an IHV member. This publicly traded company on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, is the leading European broadline designer and manufacturer of memory upgrades and PC Card products. Its corporate offices, design center, and manufacturing facilities are in Aarhus, Denmark, with ten sales offices Worldwide.
I. B. -81 PRODUCTS DECLARED SPARC® COMPLIANT DURING MARCH!
Santa Clara, CA–March 1998–SPARC® International, Inc. had a record breaking month conducting SPARC® Compliance Definition (SCD) testing on new and upgraded system products. Between Member Companies, Hal Computer Systems, Sun Microsystems and Ross Technology, the introduction of 81 products has been added to the ever growing SPARC Certified Products list WHICH NOW TOTALS 698 SYSTEMS.
For a complete listing of these products visit our “Certified Products” section of our website at https://sparc.org.
For more information on how your company products can be Certified as SPARC® Compliant contact Ghassan Abbas at emailabbas@sparc.org.
I. C. – SUN MICROSYSTEMS ANNOUNCES MEL FRIEDMAN AS NEW PRESIDENT OF SUN MICROELECTRONICS
Palo Alto, CA–March 4, 1998– Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced Mel Friedman, formerly Vice President of Worldwide Operations for Sun Microsystems Computer Company, will replace Chet Silvestri as President of Sun Microelectronics. Silvestri has announced he will leave SME to pursue other opportunities outside of Sun. Friedman will report directly to Edward J. Zander, who was recently promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
In his nine year tenure at Sun, Friedman has spent the last two as Vice President of Worldwide Operations for SMCC. In this role, he has led the team that has directed Sun’s worldwide manufacturing and distribution strategy and is responsible for the leadership Sun has attained in high quality, cost effective product delivery. Additionally, Friedman and his team have driven a number of key initiatives focused on market competitiveness and customer satisfaction including Sun’s configure to order capability and short predictable lead times.
“As Vice President of Worldwide Operations, Mel has been instrumental in driving our manufacturing and product delivery strategies. Mel and his team have delivered one of the best inventory turns and operational efficiency records in the industry,” said Edward J. Zander, COO Sun Microsystems, Inc. “Mel’s combination of broad based business abilities and high technology industry experience make him an ideal choice to lead Sun Microelectronics.”
Since joining Sun in 1989, Friedman has held positions as Vice President of West Coast Operations and Vice President of Supply Management. Prior to his tenure at Sun, Friedman held senior positions at Prime Computer, Apollo Computer, and Polaroid where he was granted 13 patents. He was cofounder of Tabor Corporation, a disc drive company.
Friedman holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from City College of New York and did his graduate work in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
I. D- PHENOMENAL GROWTH RATE REPORTED IN RED HAT SOFTWARE’S 1997 SURVEY OF THE LINUX MARKET
Research Triangle Park, NC–March 10, 1998– Red Hat Software, Inc., publisher of the award-winning Red Hat Linux Operating System, today published the second edition of their “Sizing the Linux Market” analysis. An often cited source of Linux usage numbers, Red Hat’s “Sizing the Linux Market” article is compiled by Red Hat Software’s President, Robert Young, and is based on data culled from magazine surveys by magazines such as Dr. Dobbs and UNIX Review, independent analyst reports such as Datapro’s “1997 International User Ratings Survey of UNIX and NT,” and Red Hat’s own user data.
As anyone who has ever tried to quantify the market of Linux knows, the freely distributable nature of the Linux OS makes it nearly impossible to know how many people are using it. “One of the great mysteries of Linux usage is that there is no way to know the number of Linux users who download the product by anonymous FTP,” said Young. “We do know that off of Red Hat Software’s FTP site alone, there were 100,000 copies of Linux downloaded in the last 12 months.”
According to the report, Linux use has grown from 1,500,000 million machines to 7,500,000 between 1995 and March of 1998.
In summary, says Young, based on our methodology of studying magazine data, customer surveys, and our own rough feel for Linux users, we estimate, to within a margin of error of +/-25%, that there are between 4,500,000 and 10,500,000 active Linux users.
About Red Hat Software, Inc. Founded in 1994, Red Hat Software, Inc. is based in Research Triangle Park, NC, where it builds and maintains the Red Hat Linux distribution of the Linux operating system for Intel, DEC Alpha(TM), and Sun SPARC® platforms. Working in cooperation with a huge development team of research, academic, and commercial software developers over the Internet, Red Hat’s goal is to build the most accessible and advanced operating system available anywhere. It’s working.
About Linux Linux is the freely distributable, cooperatively-developed POSIX-based, multi-user, multi-tasking operating system used worldwide. Linux is used as a high value, fully-functional UNIX workstation for applications ranging from Internet Servers to reliable work group computing.
For more information about Red Hat Software and Red Hat products and technologies, please call 1-919-547-0012 or visit our web site at http://www.redhat.com, emailmelissa@redhat.com, Melissa Trenkle, Reviews encouraged.
I. E- VisiCom PROVIDES DISPLAY CONTROLLERS TO SIEMeNS MEDICAL SYSTEMS
San Diego, CA–March 18, 1998– VisiCom announced today it has received a $200,000 order from Siemens Medical Systems (Forchheim, Germany) to provide a three-year supply of display controller boards for Siemens DigiScan X-Ray system. VisiCom VS15 SBus Display Controller has been successfully deployed in the DigiScan system for over six years.
The continued strong demand for Siemens DigiScan system has created a need for additional VS-15 display controllers, which provide an operator interface between the embedded Sun Microsystems SPARCstation(R) 5 and the Planar ElectroLuminescent flat panel display used in the DigiScan system. VisiCom will begin delivery of the boards in April, 1998.
This latest order from Siemens reflects the type of long-term support VisiCom is being asked to provide more frequently to its customers. The products developed by VisiCom are incorporated into complex, real-time applications such as Siemens DigiScan, which are often sold for 10 years or more. Key to customers like Siemens is a product continued availability and its ability to remain reliable and consistent, with little or no down-time. Once developed, these systems must also adhere to stringent standards and safety testing, such as that required by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). A long term, uninterrupted supply of tested products therefore becomes critical to help companies satisfy market demands.
Corporate Background VisiCom is a $40M, closely held private company dedicated to providing real-time, open architecture embedded solutions for industry and government computing worldwide. VisiCom develops innovative hardware and software products, provides systems engineering services and serves as a value-added reseller for complex systems. VisiCom is headquartered in San Diego, CA and has offices in Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington and the United Kingdom. For more information visit their web site at http://www.visicom.com.
I. F-TATUNG OFFERS NEW DUAL PROCESSING ULTRASPARC PCI SYSTEMS
Milpitas, CA–March 23, 1998–The COMPstation U60-2300 is a powerful, new dual-processing, Sun Ultra 60-compatible workstation/server that expands Tatung’s new PCI based product line. The high-performance COMPstation U60-2300 delivers the sophisticated functionality and complex graphics required by geophysicists, CAD designers, animators and other high-end graphics users. It is particularly suited to 3-D modeling and full digital prototyping. With a level of speed and performance that can dramatically impact graphics computing in the workplace, the COMPstation U60-2300 speeds tasks and shortens development times. And the PCI I/O bus allows users to leverage the wide range of PCI devices available, while enabling further performance and price advantages. With two 300MHz , 64-bit UltraSPARC II(R) processors produced by Sun Microelectronics, this dual-processor system delivers a SPECint95 of 13.0 and a SPECfp95 of 23.5* when both processors are equipped with 2 MB of L2 cache. TheCOMPstation U60-2300 supports three 33MHz, 32-bit PCI devices and one 66 MHz, 64-bit PCI device. An additional 64-bit horizontal UPA slot is designed for add-ons such as Creator graphics cards. Standard configurations include two, 300 MHz UltraSPARC II processors; 2 MB of external cache; a PCI graphics card; 128 MB RAM (up to 2 GB of memory is available); and a 20-inch color monitor. The COMPstation U60-2300’s five drive bays can be outfitted with two, standard 3-1/2″ hard drives; a 5-1/4″ CD-ROM drive; a 4- or 8mm tape drive; and an additional 5-1/4″ slot for another peripheral or a 3-1/2″ floppy drive. Other standard features consist of a 64-bit slot for Creator graphics cards; Ultra Wide SCSI; two serial ports; one parallel port; and a 100-BaseT Ethernet interface.Options include up to 2 GB of RAM; up to 18 GB or more of hard disk storage; additional PCI graphics cards; Creator 3D Graphics; ATM connectivity; and Ultra Wide SCSI.
For more information visit Tatung’s web site at http://www.tsti.com.
I. G-SUN’S ULTRASPARC-IIi MICROPROCESSOR UNLEASHED AT 333 MHz
Chicago, Il-March 31, 1998–Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced the newest member of its 64-bit UltraSPARC(TM) family, the 333 MHz UltraSPARC-IIi microprocessor, enabling new levels of SPARC(TM) and Solaris(TM) operating environment performance in the embedded compute and entry-level workstation and server markets.
“The 300 and 333 MHz UltraSPARC-IIi microprocessors demonstrate the scalabilty and robustness of the UltraSPARC architecture,” said Jeff O’Neal, Sun Microsystems Group Marketing Manager for SPARC® Products. “The 333 MHz UltraSPARC-IIi module, with 2MBytes dedicated external cache continues to out perform volume offerings from the competition and gives our customers affordable SPARC® and Solaris operating environment solutions at industry-leading performance levels. Our OEM customers need the on-chip integration of the UltraSPARC-IIi processor that shortens design cycle times and improves time-to-market.”
The UltraSPARC-IIi processor, based on the SPARC® V9 superscalar architecture, builds on the strength of the 64-bit UltraSPARC microprocessor family and adds the functionality of memory and PCI controllers to deliver a tightly integrated single-chip solution. All members of the UltraSPARC-IIi processor family are sold both in a single chip and module solution with dedicated external cache. The immediate benefits for system designers who integrate the UltraSPARC-IIi family, is reduced system cost along with superior overallsystem performance and improved ease of design.
At 333 MHz, with 2MBytes external cache, the UltraSPARC-IIi processor-based module provides an estimated SPECint95 of 14.2 and SPECfp95 of 16.9. The UltraSPARC-IIi processor supports four PCI devices at up to 66 MHz. An optional Advanced PCI Bridge is available from Sun to expand the number of PCI devices supported to a total of 32 devices at 33 MHz. The UltraSPARC-IIi processor provides optimum I/O, memory and compute performance for typical uniprocessor systems. This leads to a well balanced price/performance solution that delivers the power and features needed by high-end embedded applications, such as Sun’s new Ultra AXi motherboard.
In addition to its many other features, the UltraSPARC-IIi processor takes full advantage of Sun’s VIS instruction set for applications in accelerating multimedia, image processing, and networking.
The entire UltraSPARC-IIi microprocessor and module family is available today. In volume quantities at 333 MHz, the UltraSPARC-IIi microprocessor sells for $720, while the module, with 2MBytes external cache, sells for $1,250. The Advanced PCI-to-PCI Bridge (APB) sells for $50. The processors are available in a ceramic LGA package and the APB is available in a plastic BGA package. For further information about UltraSPARC-IIi processors contact Sun Microelectronics Sales at (650) 960-4200 or visit our website at <http://www.sun.com/microelectronics>.
About Sun Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, “The Network Is The Computer(TM),” has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQSUNW) to its position as a leading provider of hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $9 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.
II. SPARC® COMPLIANT ADDITIONS, DELETIONS AND PRODUCTS IN PROCESS
Note Additional information, including a complete listing of SPARC® Compliant products, is available on the Internet via the World Wide Web. Access www.sparc.org or send email to info@sparc.org.
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.
ADDITIONS (System Products)
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Please Note “*C” indicates “Conditional SPARC® Compliance”. This means that certain waivers have been temporarily granted. A list of these waivers can be obtained upon request to the above named companies. Waivers must be resolved prior to the expiration dates shown by the declared Certification date.
SYSTEMS IN PROCESS:
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SEMI-CONDUCTOR IN PROCESS:
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NOTE
At times, unannounced systems (“in process” or “certified”) may not be included in this report at the request of the vendor.
SPARC-related documents are available through SPARC International’s bookstore, SPARCSHOP. Access to SPARCSHOP is available several ways,
- email sparcshop@sparc.org
- phone us at 1-408-748-9111 x240
Currently available
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– Managing Editor –
Cheryl Hostetler
Direct Inquiries To – sparc-flash-request@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.:
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Other Trademarks that are in use or Pending Registration include:
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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.