Archive | 1998

Issue No. 53

I. SPARC News

II. SPARC COMPLIANT ADDITIONS, DELETIONS AND PRODUCTS IN PROCESS

III. SPARC VERIFIED ADDITIONS, DELETIONS AND PRODUCTS IN PROCESS

IV. SPARCSHOP

I SPARC News

I. A. – SPARC INTERNATIONAL WELCOMES EIS COMPUTERS

Moorpark, CA–February 19, 1998– EIS Computers joined SPARC International as VAR member. EIS Computers is an integrator of Solaris-based technology. EIS utilizes Sun board-level products in a line of UltraSPARC® PCI platforms named “Fusion”. They develop custom solutions for customers in a variety of sectors, including telecommunications, medical, government, education, Internet and enterprise management.

I. B. -THEMIS COMPUTER INTRODUCES ULTRASPARC® STRIKEFORCE FAMILY OF ULTRASPARC VME AND CPCI SINGLE BOARD COMPUTERS

Fremont, CA–February 1, 1998– Themis Computer, leading manufacturer of SPARC®-based, Sun Workstation compatible single board computers, has announced its new UltraSPARC® StrikeForce family of VME and CompactPCI single board computers (SBCs) designed around Sun’s most advanced new UltraSPARC processors and modules. UltraSPARC StrikeForce is the Industry’s most comprehensive family of UltraSPARC engines for the embedded market and offers the highest performance and I/O flexibility available on any embedded SPARC platform.

UltraSPARC StrikeForce includes the new USPIIi-cPCI, Themis Computer’s first CompactPCI offering, the new USP-2, the Industry’s first dual-processor UltraSPARC 1 VME engine, and the USPIIi-1V and USPIIi-3V, the Industry’s first UltraSPARC IIi-based VME engines that set new standards for performance and I/O flexibility. Themis’ new UltraSPARC StrikeForce family will bring the unmatched price/performance and scalability of UltraSPARC IIi and the power of dual UltraSPARC processing with demanding embedded applications. As a technology partner of Sun Microelectronics, division of Sun Microsystems, Themis Computer has been able to bring Sun’s latest technology and bring it to the embedded market world-wide. The UltraSPARC StrikeForce product family is a result of the strength of Themis’ long-standing relationship with Sun Microelectronics.

THEMIS Computer is a world-wide supplier of both VMEbus and SBus products, including; Single Board Computers, Communications Controllers, Industrial I/O, and Memory. The Company provides board and system level solutions, including software and support.

For more information visit their web site at www.themis.com, THEMIS COMPUTER US, 3185 Laurelview Court, Fremont, California 94538. Phone +510 252-0870. Fax +510 490-5529. Email sales@themis.com.In Europe contact THEMIS COMPUTER EUROPE Headquarters, 1, Rue Des Essarts Z.I., De Mayencin 38610 Gieres, France. Phone +33.76.59.60.61. Fax +33.76.63.00.30.

I. C. – CAMINTONN MEMORY SPARC VERIFIED

Santa Clara, CA–February 5, 1998– Camintonn Corp., of Irvine CA has earned the SPARC® Verified Brand for its ULTRA1-128MB memory modules for UltraSPARC® computers after successfully completing the Peripheral Verification Test(PVT) program at SPARC International. Camintonn Corp. also operates a facility in Oxford, England.

I. D- SOFTECH SOLUTIONS ONLINE! DETECTIVE

Waterford, MI–February 6, 1998– SoftTech Solutions develops expert systems and on-line technical documentation. The company’s flagship product, the On-Line! Detective for Sun, is ideal for field engineers, system administrators, help-desk centers and Sun computer brokers/resellers.

The Detective helps save time and frustration in finding and resolving most Sun/SPARC computer problems. Examples include Sun error messages with interpretations, troubleshooting flow chart diagrams and part number access. The On-Line! Detective supports any company who maintains Sun systems and is the ultimate compliment to any service contract.

SPARC International member, Rave Computer, a leading independent ISO 9002 Certified manufacturer of custom-built Sun and SPARC-compatible products, includes On-Line! Detective with its systems. The Detective complements Rave’s broad range of SPARC solutions and differentiates its line of SPARC-compatible computers from other SPARC based systems.

Paul Violassi, CEO at SoftTech Solutions says, “The On-Line! Detective for Sun is a unique product in the Sun market, providing unparalleled support and information. We see our relationship with Rave as mutually beneficial and respect the character and vision of their fine employees.”

SoftTech Solutions looks to extend the Detective line of products into additional UNIX platforms and other respective industries. For more information about the On-Line! Detective for Sun call SoftTech Solutions at (888) 786-4393 or visit their web site at www.stsolutions.com.

I. E- ANDATACO UNVEILS GigaRAID FIBRE CHANNEL LINE WITH APPLICATION-SPECIFIC ARCHITECTURE FEATURES

San Diego, CA–February 10, 1998– ANDATACO today announced it has started shipping Fibre Channel solutions for its GigaRAID product line for users who need superior performance, high availability, and maximum capacity within server-based enterprise network environments. Available in both RAID and JBOD configurations, the new GigaRAID/FC Series features the flexibility and scalability of the company’s Application-Specific Architecture (ASA), integrated with Fibre Channel’s complete redundancy, multi-platform support and transparent upgrade path to hardware-based RAID. ANDATACO’s Fibre Channel solutions serve as the lynchpin of ANDATACO’s overall strategy to offer the highest performing SCSI and Fibre products for its targeted market segments-oil and gas exploration, technology development, video, data warehouse and OLTP/Database environments.

* The GigaRAID /FC Series consists of three distinct models, starting with the GigaRAID/FC 3400/3500, the successor to the first active/active SCSI RAID product on the market.

* The GigaRAID/FC 5000 is the capacity building block for the GigaRAID/FC family, providing up to 10 dual-ported, high-performance, highly available Fibre Channel disk drives in a modular chassis.

* The GigaRAID/FC 5400/5500 is the performance building block, utilizing one or two storage processors to deliver hardware RAID protection plus excellent data through out for sequential applications and high random I/O performance for transaction processing.

* The GigaRAID/FC Series includes support for Sun, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Silicon Graphics and Windows NT servers.

ANDATACO, headquartered in San Diego, California, manufactures and distributes storage solutions based on its Application-Specific architecture for Windows NT and UNIX environments. The Company’s open architecture solutions include RAID and RAID-ready disk arrays; tape backup and restore products; and storage management, data sharing, remote mirroring and disaster recovery software. The Company distributes internally developed products, and products from other manufacturers, through a network of 23 sales offices worldwide, and through business affiliates in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Canada and Australia.

Windows NT is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Sun, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Silicon Graphics are trademarks of their respective companies.

I. F-nSTOR ENHANCES ADMINISTOR™ STORAGE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE RAID GUI CONFIGURATION UTILITY FOR SUN NOW AVAILABLE

Lake Mary, FL–February 10, 1998– nStor(TM) Corporation, Inc., a leading manufacturer of high availability, high performance RAID and information storage solutions, today announced the immediate availability of its AdminiStor(TM) UNIX Utilities for Sun, designed for use with its award-winning CR8e subsystem and the Ultra SCSI-to-SCSI (S2S) RAID controller. These enhanced software utility components provide system administrators with an easy-to-use graphic user interface (GUI) for installing, configuring and monitoring RAID systems in a Solaris or Sun OS environment. The UNIX Utilities are an add-on option to nStor’s robust AdminiStor Storage Management Software Suite, the first and only enterprise software package to provide cross-platform configuration, management and monitoring capabilities across Windows NT, NetWare, Sun Solaris, and SGI IRIX platforms.

“Traditionally, the installation and configuration of RAID systems in the UNIX environment has been time consuming and difficult using operating system provided character-based utilities,” said Steven Paulhus, director of marketing at nStor Corporation. “Utilizing nStor’s easy-to-use AdminiStor UNIX Utilities, system administrators now have a user-friendly drag-and-drop GUI storage management solution similar to those found in other environments that allows for quick and easy RAID setup, configuration and alert notification of fault-tolerant disk arrays.”

nStor Corporation is located in Lake Mary, Florida. For more information visit their web site at www.nstor.com. Phone +407 829-3500 or + 800 724-3411 Fax + 407 829-3638. Email sales@nstor.com

I. G-RED HAT LINUX 5.0 OPERATING SYSTEM RECEIVES MORE ACCOLADES FROM INDUSTRY PUBLICATIONS

Research Triangle Park, NC–February 17, 1998–Just two weeks after Red Hat Linux 5.0 was named the Network Operating System Product of the Year by InfoWorld Magazine, Red Hat Software, Inc., publisher of Red Hat Linux, announced that Red Hat Linux 5.0 has received a “Productivity Award” from Software Development Magazine.

The sudden industry recognition of Linux is not so much sudden as it is indicative of the growing desire of computer users to control their system. Software that comes with source code and is not restricted by any license terms, as with Red Hat Linux, gives the user unlimited freedom and potential. “The principal and common benefit of the Red Hat Linux operating system to our customers is the control that cooperatively developed, freely distributable software gives them over their computer systems,” said Robert Young, president of Red Hat Software. “Other OS’s that are published under restrictive licenses simply limit the innovation of the product.”

Announced during the 1998 Software Development trade show that ran from February 10-12 in San Francisco, Software Development Magazine’s Jolt Awards are designed to recognize computer innovations that “jolt” the computer world. Indeed, Linux is making waves. Not only was Red Hat Linux 5.0 named the InfoWorld’s Network OS Product of the Year, but InfoWorld also gave a Technical Support Award to the Linux community for their timely, accurate, and devoted support of the Linux OS.

Coming on the heels of Netscape’s announcement to join the world of cooperatively-developed software, to which Red Hat Software is committed, these industry accolades bring focused attention, legitimacy, and commercial success, as well as deserved praise, to both the users and developers of the Linux Operating System.

ABOUT LINUX

Linux is the freely distributable, cooperatively-developed POSIX-based, multi-user, multi-tasking operating system used worldwide in commercial, academic, and development organizations. Linux is used as a high value, fully-functional UNIX workstation for applications ranging from Internet Servers to reliable work group computing.

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 Linux operating system. Red Hat Software also publishes and maintains commercial applications for Linux including OSF Motif, CDE, and the Applixware Office Suite.

For more information about Red Hat Software and Red Hat products and technologies, please call +919 547-0012 or visit our web site at www.redhat.com . Reviews encouraged.

I. H-ANDATACO APPOINTS ARUN K. TANEJA SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING

San Diego, CA–February 17, 1998– ANDATACO (NASDAQ/SMALLCAPIPLS) today announced the appointment of Arun K. Taneja as senior vice president of marketing. Taneja will be responsible for developing and executing the company’s worldwide strategy for marketing ANDATACO’s comprehensive storage products, storage management software and professional services product lines. Taneja comes to ANDATACO with extensive marketing and senior management experience. His career includes senior management positions at Data General Corporation, his role as director of marketing for the Workstations Systems Group of Sun Microsystems, Inc., and most recently, his position as vice president of marketing for Invincible Technologies Corporation.

For more information visit ANDATACO’s web site located at www.andataco.com .

I. I-SUN MICROSYSTEMS UNVEILS NEW SPARCENGINE COMPACTPCI FAMILY OF EMBEDDED-BOARD COMPUTERS

Stuttgart, Germany–February 18, 1998– Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced the SPARCengine® CP 1200 and CP 1500, two embedded-board computers for mission critical telecom and industrial computing applications. These new boards are an extension of Sun’s offerings in the telecom and industrial computing markets and represent Sun’s first CompactPCI (cPCI) based offering.

The Sun(TM) SPARCengine CP family of cPCI board computers is designed for OEM customers with demands for High Availability embedded processing platforms that must perform under extreme conditions or meet difficult environmental specifications. The CP family delivers the advantages of an industry standard-based offering, with a high performance PCI-based solution to companies such as telecommunications and networking equipment providers, who previously depended on proprietary bus architectures. The CP 1500 is a high-performance, single-slot cPCI board that will initially be available with Sun’s 270 MHz, 64-bit UltraSPARC ®-IIi microprocessor and will follow with future speed upgrades. The CP 1500 takes full advantage of the VISTM extended instruction set, which delivers the industry’s best networking and software application acceleration capabilities. The high level of integration in the microprocessor, including on-board memory controller and dual channel PCI interface, gives OEMs an immediate realization of lower total system cost while providing high performance.

The CP 1500 is a high-performance, single-slot cPCI board that will initially be available with Sun’s 270 MHz, 64-bit UltraSPARC-IIi microprocessor and will follow with future speed upgrades. The CP 1500 takes full advantage of the VISTM extended instruction set, which delivers the industry’s best networking and software application acceleration capabilities. The high level of integration in the microprocessor, including on-board memory controller and dual channel PCI interface, gives OEMs an immediate realization of lower total system cost while providing high performance.

The SPARCengine CP 1200 board is now sampling with volume production within the second calendar quarter of 1998. Individual boards sell for less than $1,500 in quantities of 500. The CP 1500 CPCI board, with a 64MB memory module, is scheduled to sample in April, with volume availability mid-year, and sells for less than $7000 in quantities of 500. For further information about Sun’s CPCI products contact Sun Microelectronics Sales at (650) 960-4200. For more information visit our Web site at www.sun.com/microelectronics.

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 www.sun.com.

I. J-VISICOM FINALIZES RASTERFLEX PRODUCT ACQUISITION FROM CONNECTWARE AND ANNOUNCES RASTERFLEX FOR SOLARIS 2.6 TIMES

San Diego, CA–February 23, 1998– VisiCom announced today that it has finalized the purchase of Connectware Inc. RasterFlex Sbus graphics accelerator boards for Sun SPARC and Sun compatible workstations. VisiCom now has exclusive rights to manufacture, market, sell and support the RasterFlex-32 and RasterFlex-HR products, which are used extensively in systems operating in domestic and international financial institutions.

“RasterFlex provides VisiCom with a highly successful Sbus graphics card line to support integrators developing mission-critical applications for the financial market”, stated Gene Kennon, vice president of sales and marketing at VisiCom. “RasterFlex has gained wide acceptance in the financial arena as an efficient, reliable, easy to install solution to support multiple monitors and live program windows in full color. As the Sun market migrates from Sbus to PCI, VisiCom is developing appropriate technology that will allow our customers to seamlessly move their products from one bus architecture to another. Our recently introduced VigraVision imaging product will provide the core technology to ease this transition and move developers forward in the coming years.”

RasterFlex has been used successfully in a wide variety of financial institutions including Reuters, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Barclays Bank, CitiBank, Morgan Stanley, and Fidelity Investments. The product is also extensively used in a variety of international financial centers such as Switzerland, Germany, Japan, and England.

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 www.visicom.com, phone +619 457-2111, and fax +619 457-0888. Karen Johnson, Manager, Marketing Communications, VisiCom, Email kj@visicom.com.

I. K- TATUNG INTRODUCES INDUSTRY’S FIRST SUN ULTRA 10-COMPATIBLE DESKTOPS

Milpitas, CA–Feb. 23, 1998– Tatung Science & Technology, Inc. (TSTI), celebrating its tenth year of commitment to the SPARC® systems market, today introduced the COMPstation U10-300, a new line of desktop workstations that represents the industry’s first Sun Ultra 10-compatible systems. Scheduled to ship in March, the COMPstation U10-300 also marks an important milestone as the first Tatung workstation to feature the PCI I/O bus.

The new workstation features the new 300MHz UltraSPARCIIi PCI processor from Sun Microelectronics. Providing a SPECint95 of 12.1 and SPECfp95 of 12.9* when equipped with 512KB of external cache, this 64-bit processor supports five 32-bit PCI devices at 33 MHz to provide plenty of system flexibility. An additional 64-bit UPA slot is designed for vertical add-ons such as Creator graphics cards.

Standard COMPstation U10-300 configurations include 512KB of external cache; 64MB of memory (expandable to 1GB); one 4.3GB hard drive and one 1.44MB floppy drive; and a PCI graphics card. Prices start at $4,995, (not including monitor). The COMPstation U10-300 is designed for users of high-end applications in engineering, medical research, animation, geophysics, finance and other markets.

While incorporating the PCI I/O bus, the COMPstation U10-300 also maintains full binary compatibility with the application software customers now use with their existing SPARC systems. No application changes are required in order for customers to continue to use the thousands of software programs available for the SPARC platform.

For more information, contact Tatung Science & Technology, Inc., 1840 McCarthy Blvd., Milpitas, CA 95035. Telephone 1-800-659-5902. Email mkt@tsti.com. Home Page www.tsti.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) None at this time.

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

ADDITIONS (Semiconductor Products) None at this time.

DELETIONS None at this time.

SEMI-CONDUCTOR IN PROCESS:

NOTE At times, unannounced systems (“in process” or “certified”) may not be included in this report at the request of the vendor.

III. SPARC VERIFIED ADDITIONS, DELETIONS AND PRODUCTS IN PROCESS

Note Additional information, including a complete list of SPARC Verified products, is available on the Internet via the World Wide Web. Access www.sparc.org with any web browser or send email to info@sparc.org.

The SPARC Verified brand, awarded by SPARC International, assures end users that the peripherals they want to use will work on the SPARC Compliant systems they target. This list, updated monthly, includes changes made to the master list of SPARC Verified products. To view the master list, please access our web site at www.sparc.org or send email to info@sparc.org.

The SPARC Verified brand, awarded by SPARC International, assures end users that the peripherals they want to use will work on the SPARC Compliant systems they target. This list, updated monthly, includes changes made to the master list of SPARC Verified products. To view the master list, please access our web site at www.sparc.org or send email to info@sparc.org.

ADDITIONS

DELETIONS None at this time.

IN PROCESS None at this time.

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

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.:

Other Trademarks that are in use or Pending Registration include:

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.

Issue No. 52

I. SPARC News

II. SPARC COMPLIANT ADDITIONS, DELETIONS AND PRODUCTS IN PROCESS

III. SPARC VERIFIED ADDITIONS, DELETIONS AND PRODUCTS IN PROCESS

IV. SPARCSHOP

I SPARC News

I. A. – SPARC INTERNATIONAL WELCOMES TWO NEW MEMBERS

Santa Clara, CA–January 8,1998– Hi-Tech USA of Milpitas, CA recently joined SPARC International as a VAR Member. Established in 1990, Hi-Tech USA has focused on Single Board Computers, Rackmount Systems, RAID Sub-Systems, and UNIX/NT Servers in turnkey custom solutions. The firm has recently introduced a line of SPARC-based workstations.

San Diego, CA–January 30,1998- TruSOLUTIONS, Inc. of San Diego, has become a VAR Member of SPARC International. Known as “your Rackmount Computer Company”, TruSOLUTIONS designs and manufactures UltraSPARC rackmount servers for OEM customers. The TruSERVER family of 2U and 4U systems is customized for specific customer requirements

I. B. -NEW DARWIN LINE OF WORKSTATIONS OUTPERFORMS PCS

Palo Alto, CA–January 13, 1998– Sun Microsystems, Inc. today introduced two new low-priced, power desktop systems aimed at aggressively capturing share in the growing market for high-end PCs, or personal workstations. The Ultra(TM) 5 and Ultra 10 workstations, also called the Darwin line, combine the best of high-performance Sun(TM) workstations, eye-popping graphics, and the productivity applications, pricing and manufacturing style of the PC industry. Sun also announced web-based ordering services to let customers configure, purchase and view order status of the new Darwin line.

Starting at just $2,995[1], this new pricing allows Sun to aggressively pursue the growing number of performance-hungry users who want PC prices and compatibility with the most popular PC applications, but also want more than they are getting from high-end NT PCs. They want SPARC(R) Solaris(TM) workstation power, sophisticated applications and precision graphics. Sun’s new Darwin line of workstations is available in two models. The Ultra 5 workstation is aimed at the price-conscious user who wants workstation performance at a low, PC price. The entry-level Ultra 5 workstation is equipped with a 270MHz UltraSPARC(TM) IIi RISC processor;256KB external cache; 64MB of memory (expandable up to 512MB); a 4.3GB hard drive and 1.44MB floppy drive; 8-bit accelerated graphics; and three PCI I/O slots. Starting at just $2,995, the Ultra 5 desktop is less expensive and delivers up to 31 percent better performance than either a Compaq PW 5100 or Hewlett-Packard Kayak XA system, both running a 266MHz PentiumII processor. The Ultra 10 workstation is designed for users who need more performance, more powerful graphics and more room for expansion than is afforded by the Ultra 5 system. The Ultra 10 Creator workstation is equipped with a 300MHz UltraSPARCIIi processor; 512KB of external cache; 64MB of memory (expandable to 1GB); one 4.3GB hard drive and one 1.44MB floppy drive; Creator graphics; and four PCI slots. Prices start at $6,395[2].

An Ultra 10 Elite3D m3 system delivers a CDRS benchmark of 74 and handles up to 3.0 million triangles per second at a price of only $12,495. In contrast, the top-of-the line SGI Octane/ MXI system sells for $44,495[3], yet has a CDRS rating of only 48.6 and handles less than 2 million triangles per second, making the Ultra 10 Elite3D m3 system 52 percent faster at about one fourth the price. Both the Ultra 5 and Ultra 10 workstations are available immediately.

Footnotes

1.Without monitor
2.Without monitor
3.Pricing based on International Data Corporation as of 1/8/98

I. C. – ULTRASPARC-IIi PROCESSOR TARGETS WORKSTATION, SERVER AND EMBEDDED MARKETS

San Francisco, CA–January 13, 1998– Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced the availability of the new 300 MHz, 64-bit UltraSPARC(TM)-IIi microprocessor. The UltraSPARC-IIi provides the processing power behind Sun Microsystems’ new Darwin workstations, the Ultra 5 and Ultra 10, enabling these systems to deliver workstation performance at PC prices. The UltraSPARC-IIi, a highly integrated, PCI-based processor, was designed for entry-level workstations and servers as well as the high-performance embedded market, including communications, networking, and imaging applications.

The UltraSPARC-IIi processor builds on the strength of the 64-bit UltraSPARC microprocessor family and adds the functionality of memory controllers and PCI bridge chips to deliver a tightly integrated single-chip solution. The UltraSPARC-IIi processor is sold both in a single chip and module solution with 512Kbytes dedicated external cache. The immediate benefit for system designers is reduced system cost along with superior overall system performance and ease of design.

“System designers are continuously looking for ways to produce smaller, faster and less expensive products,” said Jeff O’Neal, Sun’s SPARC(TM) group marketing manager. “The UltraSPARC-IIi microprocessor provides a major step toward achieving this goal. Not only are we offering customers the performance benefits of the 64-bit SPARC architecture, but we are also taking full advantage of the PCI industry infrastructure.” At 300 MHz with 512Kbytes external cache, the UltraSPARC-IIi processor-based module provides a SPECint95 of 12.1 and SPECfp95 of 12.9. The UltraSPARC-IIi processor supports four PCI devices at up to 66 MHz and an optional Advanced PCI Bridge is available to increase connectivity and support demand for PCI I/O bandwidth for up to eight devices at 33 MHz. The UltraSPARC-IIi processor provides optimum I/O, memory and compute performance for typical uniprocessor systems. This means a balanced price/performance solution that delivers the power and features needed by high-end applications, such as optimized power utilization, supporting manufacturability, and ease-of-design.

The integration of the UltraSPARC-IIi microprocessor and the Advanced PCI Bridge allows designers to add UltraSPARC architecture price-performance levels to a broad range of embedded and desktop designs. This CPU-Bridge combination not only optimizes embedded designs that require maximum processing power, but also drives desktop applications supporting connections to a wide array of PCI-compatible devices up to 66 MHz (directly) and 33 MHz (across the bridge). The UltraSPARC-IIi processor is optimized for the telecommunications, high-performance networking and imaging markets, for use in applications such as adjunct communication processors, switched routers and multifunction printers and photocopiers.

In addition to its many other features, the UltraSPARC-IIi processor takes full advantage of the VIS(TM) instruction set for applications in accelerating multimedia, image processing, and networking. The VIS instruction set continues to be the highest-performance and most robust set of multimedia extensions available today. UltraSPARC microprocessor customers have expanded the breadth of VIS applications to include media intensive applications, such as 3D medical imaging.

The 300 MHz UltraSPARC-IIi microprocessor is available today as both a single processor and module with 512Kbytes external cache. In volume quantities, the new processor sells for $470, while the module sells for $890. The Advanced PCI-to-PCI Bridge (APB) sells for $50. The processor is available in a ceramic LGA package and the APB is available in a plastic BGA package. For further information about the UltraSPARC-IIi processor contact Sun at (650) 960-4200 or visit our website at http://sun.com/sparc.

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 $8.5 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com.

I. D- HAGIWARA SYS-COM MEMORY EARNS SPARC VERIFIED BRAND

Santa Clara, CA–January 16th,1998– Hagiwara Sys-Com Co.,Ltd. of Aichi, Japan has been awarded the SPARC Verified Brand for its HSC-WS128 memory modules for UltraSPARC(TM) 1 computers, after sucessfully completing the Peripheral Verification Test (PVT) program at SPARC International. Hagiwara also maintains a facility in San Diego, CA.

For more information call +81-052-223-1301 (Japan) or visit their web site at www.cgc.co.jp/syscom/.

I. E- EMPRESS INTERNET TOOLKIT DELIVERS NEW FEATURES INCLUDING PERL AND TCL/TK

Greenbelt, MD–January 16, 1998– Empress announces the availability of Empress Hypermedia V3, an Internet applications development toolkit for the Empress RDBMS user. New features take advantage of the latest advances in Internet technologies. Additionally, Empress Hypermedia V3 includes enhanced Perl and Tcl/Tk interfaces for connecting these popular scripting languages to Empress RDBMS.

Empress Software develops and supports the Empress Relational Database Management System. Empress RDBMS V6.10 is one of the most powerful and cost-effective development databases especially designed for embedded systems developers operating on Unix, Windows or real-time environments. Empress has been utilized successfully in many technical fields including image and voice management, space exploration, flight simulation, telecommunications, medical 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 sales@empress.com. You can write to us at Empress Software, 6401 Golden Triangle Drive, Greenbelt, MD, 20770.

I. F-TruSOLUTIONS INTRODUCES A RACKMOUNT UltraSPARC-IIi

San Diego, CA–January 30, 1998– TruSOLUTIONS today announces the availability of the TruSERVER 4U AXi an UltraSPARC(TM) II AXi-powered server based on the UltraAXi(TM) board from Sun Microelectronics using load sharing, dual, hot swap AC or 48VDC power supplies. The TruSERVER 4U AXi utilizes a 270MHz UltraSPARC-II(TM) CPU running Solaris(TM) 2.6 Unix from SunSoft. The system is enclosed in a ruggedized steel chassis with shock mount drive bays. Two 300W power supplies are removable from the front. In the case of a power supply failure, an alarm sounds, and the offending power supply can be removed and replaced without interrupting the system operation. The power supply options allow operation from a 100VAC/230VAC or -48V DC source. DC voltage is common in many telecommunications applications.

A variety of peripherals are available with the TruSERVER 4U AXi. A 1.44M floppy disk drive is standard along with a 32X CD-ROM drive with a removable cartridge.

Hard disk drive capacities range from 4.5G to 27G bytes. A performance oriented SCSI ultra-wide interface is used and there is an option for removable drives. Memory options vary from 64M bytes up to 1G bytes of DRAM. Other standard features include a 100Mbit ethernet port, PS/2 style keyboard and PS/2 style mouse ports, a parallel port and a serial port. Low cost PC type keyboards and mice can be used. ATI graphics cards provide video for a standard SVGA type monitor. The systems can be run head-less, without monitor or keyboard. Another unique feature of this system not found on most Sun workstations is the presence of six PCI slots. These are used in place of the typical SBUS slots to enable the use of less expensive PCI add-in cards commonly found in PC systems. Finally, a fan bank with three 120mm fans generates 250 cubic feet per minute of airflow more than enough to keep the system components cool. The TruSERVER 4U AXi is ideal for companies looking for the capabilities of the new Sun Microsystems Darwin product in a rackmount chassis.

TruSOLUTIONS, founded in 1996, is a dynamic manufacturer of rackmount UltraSPARC(TM), Pentium(TM), and Pentium II(TM) based servers. The company is currently offering its products directly to OEM customers and through resellers. For more information call +619 642-6800 (San Diego, CA) or visit their web site at www.trusolutions.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)

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 None at this time.

ADDITIONS (Semiconductor Products) None at this time.

DELETIONS None at this time.

SEMI-CONDUCTOR IN PROCESS

NOTE At times, unannounced systems (“in process” or “certified”) may not be included in this report at the request of the vendor.

III. SPARC VERIFIED ADDITIONS, DELETIONS AND PRODUCTS IN PROCESS

Note Additional information, including a complete list of SPARC Verified products, is available on the Internet via the World Wide Web. Access <> with any web browser or send email to <info@sparc.org>.

The SPARC Verified brand, awarded by SPARC International, assures end users that the peripherals they want to use will work on the SPARC Compliant systems they target. This list, updated monthly, includes changes made to the master list of SPARC Verified products. To view the master list, please access our web site at <> or send email to <info@sparc.org>.

The SPARC Verified brand, awarded by SPARC International, assures end users that the peripherals they want to use will work on the SPARC Compliant systems they target. This list, updated monthly, includes changes made to the master list of SPARC Verified products. To view the master list, please access our web site at <> or semail to <info@sparc.org>.

ADDITIONS: Hagiwara HSC-WS128(128MB 200PIN SIMM) 16JAN98
DELETIONS: None at this time.
IN PROCESS: None at this time.

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

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.:

Other Trademarks that are in use or Pending Registration include:

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.