Archive | 2004

Sun Advances 4- and 8-way Server Leadership to Protect Customer Investments While Setting New Performance Records

Previews New Secure Networking Technology Innovation Designed to Improve Price/Performance and Utilization by 10

During its quarterly Network Computer ’04 launch today, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) introduced two new Solaris powered UltraSPARC(R) IV servers-the Sun Fire V490 and Sun Fire V890-powered by breakthrough Chip Multithreading (CMT) technology that can double application throughput in the same physical footprint as its predecessors while maintaining full binary compatibility. The new Sun Fire V890 server builds on Sun’s leadership in the 8-way market to help deliver the best price/performance starting at under $50K (U.S. list). The Sun Fire V890 is half the price of a similarly configured system from HP(1) and runs 10 times more ISV applications with a price tag that is 20 percent lower than IBM’s p570(2).

Sun also continued to expand its systems portfolio to include AMD Opteron processor-based systems with the recently announced Sun Fire V40z server, Sun Java Workstation W1100z and Sun Java Workstation W2100z all running the Solaris Operating System (OS) and also capable of running Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux or Microsoft Windows with Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) certifications.

“Sun is taking the enterprise server market to an entirely new level with record-breaking performance, application throughput and system utilization,” said David Yen, executive vice president, Scalable Systems Group at Sun. “Today, we’re capping the first wave of our innovative SPARC/Solaris roadmap by doubling the application throughput of our midrange systems with UltraSPARC IV. This is just the beginning of the exponential performance gains that will be afforded by future generations of Sun’s Chip Multithreading technology powered by Solaris.”

Today, Sun also previewed an extension of the systems network architecture, with radically secure applications management technology that can significantly advance the security in network computing. The technology, which comes from Sun’s acquisition of Nauticus Networks, will add resource optimization capabilities in upcoming Sun systems, and is designed to improve price/performance and utilization in end-to-end service delivery by up to ten times.

Sun Sets New Performance Records on a Variety of Workloads

The new Sun Fire V490, Sun Fire V890 and Sun Fire V40z servers, Sun Java Workstation W1100z, and Sun Java Workstation W2100z deliver record-breaking throughput and world-record price/performance to tackle any datacenter workload.

• Throughput Performance and Investment Protection: The Sun Fire V490 and Sun Fire V890 are available today at starting prices of $30,995 (U.S. list) and $39,995 (U.S. list) respectively. The Sun Fire V490 and Sun Fire V890 servers deliver up to twice the application throughput of Sun’s previous midrange server systems, while driving unprecedented levels of utilization. The Sun Fire V490 and Sun Fire V890 servers have set world-record benchmarks for sub-$50K platforms, outperforming equivalent systems from HP and IBM in the 4- and 8-way space:
  • The Sun Fire V490 server achieved world record price/performance on the 1TB TPC-H benchmark, demonstrating the highest performance data warehousing and database architecture at this price point(3).
  • On the Lotus Domino R6iNotes benchmark, which simulates email users accessing their mailboxes through the web, the Sun Fire V890 server set a triple world-record in the 8 processor class of systems for best performance, highest number of users per CPU, and best price/performance, demonstrating outstanding processing power for a sub-$50K platform(4).
  • The Sun Fire V890 server also confirms Sun’s leadership in the High Performance Computing (HPC) marketplace by producing the best SPECompM2001 performance result for all 8-way servers. It eclipses the recent results posted by a similarly equipped HP AlphaServer ES80 system by up to 17 percent(5).
• World-record Price/Performance: Sun’s comprehensive line of x86-based servers was further enhanced with the introduction of the 4-way AMD Opteron processor-based Sun Fire V40z server. It delivers world-record price/performance for the most demanding 32- and 64-bit workloads, demonstrated by industry-leading benchmark results.
  • The combination of Sun Fire V20z and Sun Fire V40z servers running Sun’s Solaris OS delivered a world-record SPECjAppServer2002 MultipleNode benchmark result. At U.S. $82/TOPS@MultipleNode, this result sets a new price/performance record as well as demonstrates the ability to build the complete infrastructure solution based on industry-leading technologies(6).
  • On two-tier SAP(R) Sales and Distribution (SD) Standard Application Benchmark, which emulated typical business workloads, consisting of complete order and invoice processing, the Sun Fire V40z server posted a world-record result for 4-way systems on Linux. This result outperforms comparable NEC, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens and IBM servers configured with either Intel Xeon or Intel Itanium processors by up to 64 percent, and a comparable HP server configured with AMD Opteron processors by six percent. Results referenced are current as of September 13, 2004. The benchmarks fully comply with the SAP Benchmark Council regulations and have been audited and certified by SAP AG. For the latest results, visit www.sap.com/benchmark(7).

Sun’s new line of ultimate performance x86-based workstations feature simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing, large memory support and record-breaking performance results for high-performance industry-recognized application suites:

• The Sun Java Workstation W2100z brings the real computing power to the desktop as demonstrated by the best SPECompM2001 performance result for all 2-way systems. The Sun Java Workstation W2100z is a development platform that provides a portable and scalable foundation for developing parallel applications(5).
• On the BLAST benchmark, the Sun Java Workstation W1100z running the Solaris 10 OS, achieved up to 61 percent better performance than the Dell Precision 650 workstation running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0(8).

Sun Provides Early Glimpse of Tomorrow’s Networking Technology

Sun also revealed select capabilities of new networking technology – from its acquisition of Nauticus Networks – designed for integration in future Sun systems to add additional virtualization and resource optimization capabilities. In preliminary tests, Sun’s secure applications management technology showed a ten-fold price/performance improvement over existing service delivery offerings, achieving world-record capabilities such as 10,000 SSL connections per second and 2Gbps of cryptographic throughput.

“Sun is upping the ante once again on the competition. We’re delivering a comprehensive set of technologies for the datacenter that IBM, HP and Dell can’t match,” said John Fowler, executive vice president, Network Systems Group at Sun. “We offer customers system combinations to handle every conceivable datacenter task, big or small, with SPARC and Opteron processors running Solaris in addition to supporting Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux and Windows. What’s more, with the Nauticus acquisition, we are adding highly secure applications management to our server product line, with dramatic price/performance value for our customers.”

Tune to the NC04Q3 web experience at www.sun.com/nc to join a live web chat with Scott McNealy, Sun’s chairman and CEO, listen to Sun executives describe new innovations and detailed product information and view all press releases.

1. Sun Fire V890 configured with 2 x USIV, 8GB Memory, 6x73GB HDD, OS License, 90 Software Support , DVD-RAM & 3 year warranty coverage for $39,995. IBM p570 configured with 2 x p5, 8GB Memory, 6x73GB HDD, DVD-RAM, AIX 5L V5.2 Express & 1 year SWMA for AIX with a total cost of $43,307. 2 year warranty extension to make a total of 3 years coverage costs $5,280, making the total cost $48,587. Pricing Source: UNIX Server Pricing & Configuration. Monitor, DH Brown Associates Inc, August 13th , 2004 IBM ISV Source: http://www.developer.ibm.com/solutions/isv/igssg.nsf/searchgui, August 13th 2004
2. Sun Fire V890 configured with 4x Dual Core 1.2GHz USIV, 16GB Memory, 6x73GB HDD, 1xGB Ethernet port, DVD and 3 year warranty coverage costing $75,995. HP rp7420-16 configured with 4 x Dual Core 1GHz PA-8800, 16GB Memory, 2x146GB HDD, 1xGB Ethernet port, DVD and 3 year warranty coverage costing $180,143. Pricing Source: UNIX Server Pricing & Configuration. Monitor, DH Brown Associates Inc, August 13th , 2004
3. The Sun Fire V490 server delivered 2,958 QphH@1000GB at a price performance of US$52/QphH@1000GB, and with a scheduled availability of 01/16/05. TPC-H, QphH and $/QphH are trademarks of the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC). Additional information on the TPC-H benchmark can be found at www.tpc.org/.
4. The Sun Fire V890 server configured with 8 UltraSPARC IV processors, running the Solaris OS and Lotus(R)Domino 6.5.1 when configured in four partitions achieved 14,000 users at $13.38 per user, 11890 NotesMark tpm, and 99 ms average response time. The benchmark results stated above reflect results published on http:/www.notesbench.org as of 09/13/04.
5. The Sun Fire V890 server produced SPECompM2001 score of 14789.The Sun Java Workstation W2100z produced SPECompM2001 score of 5085. These results have been submitted to SPEC. SPEC and the benchmark name SPEComp are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. HP AlphaServer ES80 7/1150 server produced SPECompM2001 score of 12289. Comparisons are based upon published results as of 09/13/04. For the latest SPEC OMP benchmark results, visit http://www.spec.org/omp/results/.
6. As of September 14, 2004: Two Sun Fire V20z application servers, each equipped with two AMD Opteron Model 250 2.4 GHz processors, and a Sun Fire V40z database server, equipped with four AMD Opteron Model 850 2.4 GHz processors, delivered a result of 1363.88 TOPS@MultipleNode with a price/performance of US$82.74/TOPS@MultipleNode for the SPECjAppServer2002 benchmark. The comparison presented above is based on the MultipleNode category. For the latest results see http://www.spec.org.
7. The results of each of the two-tier SAP SD Standard Application Benchmarks mentioned are as follows: NEC Express 5800 Model 140Rc-4 server supported 499 SAP SD Benchmark users and was configured with four Intel XEONprocessors, 4 GB RAM, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, running SAP R/3® Enterprise Release 4.70 solution, SAP certification number 2003059. Dell PowerEdge 7250 server supported 615 SAP SD Benchmark users and was configured with four Intel Itanium 2 processors, 16 GB RAM, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, running SAP R/3 Enterprise 4.70, SAP certification number 2004056. Fujitsu Siemens Computers Primergy Model RXI600 server supported 685 SAP SD Benchmark users and was configured with four Intel Itanium 2 processors, 16 GB RAM, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, running SAP R/3 Enterprise 4.70, SAP certification number 2003048. IBM xSeries 365 Model 88626RXserver supported 720 SAP SD Benchmark users and was configured with four Intel XEON processors, 8 GB RAM, IBM DB2 UDB 8.1, Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, running SAP R/3 Enterprise 4.70, SAP certification number 2004019.HP ProLiant Model DL585 server supported 770 SAP SD Benchmark users and was configured with four AMD Opteron 850 series processors, 32 GB RAM, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, running SAP R/3 Enterprise 4.70, SAP certification number 2004024. Sun Fire V40z server supported 820 SAP SD Benchmark users and was configured with four AMD Opteron 850 series processors, 32 GB RAM, Oracle 9i, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 (64-bit), running SAP R/3 Enterprise 4.70, SAP certification number 2004044.
8. The BLAST benchmark was provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information. The Sun Java Workstation W1100z with a AMD Opteron processor Model 150 running Solaris 10 operating system, achieved up to 61 percent better performance than Dell 650 workstation with one 3.2 GHz Xeon processor running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0. More information on the BLAST 2.2.9 benchmark can be found at http://www.ncbi.nih.gov/blast.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” — has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, Sun Fire, Solaris, Java and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries exclusively licensed through X/Open Company, Ltd.

Sun’s Robust Ecosystem for Solaris on x86 Expands to Include 15 New Financial Services Applications

During its quarterly Network Computer ’04 launch today, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) announced the growth of the Solaris x86 Operating System (OS) ecosystem with more than 1,100 solutions currently available from more than 700 of Sun’s business application software partners, an increase of 17 percent in the last six months. Independent software vendors (ISVs) around the world have adopted the Solaris OS for Sun’s AMD Opteron and Intel Xeon processor-based systems. At an event in New York City today, Sun also announced it has added 15 new premier financial services application software partners to the Solaris ecosystem.

“The operating system is irrelevant if it lacks world-class ISV support. And a server without that OS is a doorstop,” said Jonathan Schwartz, president and COO at Sun Microsystems. “Unlike some of our competitors, Sun is making it easy for ISVs to qualify to our systems. We’re making every business-critical application our customers need available for Solaris on AMD Opteron processor-based systems so that customers benefit from the broadest possible range of choices.”

The application momentum underscores Sun’s successful strategy to provide the market’s most widely adopted UNIX(R) operating system – the Solaris OS – with its rock solid security and enterprise-class features, at highly competitive prices on a wide variety of Sun platforms.

“VERITAS’ decision to broaden its support of the Sun platform to include Solaris on x86 and Sun’s decision to expand its already significant commitment to VERITAS solutions represents a win for customers and a win for each company,” said Gary Bloom, chairman, president and CEO, VERITAS Software. “With the collective strength of our partnership and our established track record among the Global 2000, VERITAS and Sun are uniquely positioned to deliver customers a high-performance, scalable infrastructure while simultaneously lowering operating costs.”

ISVs spanning multiple industries worldwide have already committed to Sun as a partner. Today’s featured financial services partners include: BMC Software, Inc., Computer Associates International, Inc., EMC Legato Software, Hyperion Solutions, Mainsoft Corporation, Oracle, Rogue Wave Software, Stellent, Inc., Sybase, Inc., TIBCO Software, and VoiceGenie. Other application software partners include: Bright Software, ECnet Ltd., EcQuaria, Excellence Network Co., FatWire Corporation, iESLab, IMAZIC, Jaatayu Software, Lasersoft, Oracle, Neusoft, Runqian, Tarantella, Inc., Transversal e Networks Pvt. Ltd., UFSoft, Universal Defence, VERITAS Software Corporation, WizVision Pte Ltd., and many more.

Partner Support Paves the Way for Solaris 10

More than 100 of the most popular business application software partners have begun preparing and testing their applications to support Solaris 10. Additionally, Sun is providing new developer tools, programs, compilers and Java technology updates to help customers begin planning their migration to Solaris 10.

To help partners be successful, Sun has introduced the iForce(SM) Partner Program/Solaris 10 Early Adoption Program to provide ISVs, IHVs and development partners the opportunity to adopt the newest features and technologies in the Solaris OS. Over the last three years, more than 6,000 partners have joined the program. More information is available at: http://iforce.sun.com/partners/solaris.

Partners already preparing to support their applications on Solaris 10 include: Actuate Corporation, Advent Software, BEA Systems, Inc., BMC Software, Inc., Computer Associates International, Inc., Hyperion Solutions, Informatica Corporation, Jataayu Software, Oracle, RogueWave Software, Stellent, Inc., SunGard, Sybase, Inc., Tarantella, Inc., TIBCO Software, Transact Tools, UFSoft, UshaComm, VERITAS Software Corporation, and many more.

Tune to the NC04Q3 web experience at www.sun.com/nc to join a live web chat with Scott McNealy, Sun’s chairman and CEO, listen to Sun executives describe new innovations and detailed product information and view all press releases.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” — has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris, iForce, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open Company, Ltd. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Plans To Introduce Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture Line; Netra 440AC Enters Market; Competitive Win With Telecom New Zealand

The leader in network infrastructure for telecommunications providers, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced its intention to launch an Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (AdvancedTCA)-compliant product family supporting both the Solaris operating system (OS) and Carrier-Grade Linux operating systems. Sun also today unveiled the AC version of its UltraSPARC processor and Solaris OS-based Netra 440 system, the lowest priced 4-way carrier- grade server on the market.

As the telecommunications industry regains momentum, Sun has been able to capitalize with its Solaris OS based Netra servers and maintain its position as a leading provider. According to Gartner’s recent report “Worldwide Server Market Continues Strong Growth in 2Q04,”1 Sun posted the highest growth rate overall among top-tier vendors in worldwide server shipments, much of which can be attributed to strong demand for Netra systems from telecom providers.

Sun’s leadership in delivering best-of-breed products and solutions to the telecommunications market is demonstrated through a recent multi-million dollar commitment from Telecom New Zealand. “Sun’s products, from Throughput Computing and Solaris 10 through to the Java Enterprise System, are a good fit for our business now and into the future,” said Greg Patchell, Telecom New Zealand’s General Manager Technology Strategy & Capability. “Sun has proven a real commitment to helping us maintain a competitive edge through technology innovation. This partnership promises to be good for us in the long-term and for our customers as well.”

“Telecommunications companies such as Telecom New Zealand are key to making network computing pervasive in everyday life,” said David Yen, Executive Vice President, Scalable Systems Group, Sun Microsystems. “This market has historically been, and will remain, a key priority for Sun. We understand the competitive pressures they face and are committed to delivering the most innovative technology to help them derive value from their business.”

AdvancedTCA Family

AdvancedTCA is one of the latest industry standards (PICMG) specification for next generation carrier-grade blade servers. Sun’s Netra AdvancedTCA systems will include UltraSPARC and AMD Opteron-based processor technologies with support for Solaris and Carrier-Grade (CG) Linux. Network equipment providers and carriers will be able to optimize throughput and cost effectiveness for 3G network applications, including GGSN, SGSN and RNC, using these new technologies. Only Sun will be delivering ATCA Systems which support the two of the most popular carrier-grade operating systems, Solaris and CG Linux.

Netra 440 AC Server

Following the launch of the Netra 440 DC server in June 2004, Sun today unveiled the Netra 440 AC at 75 percent less than the competitive 4 processor NEBS certified server from HP. Designed to meet the needs of telecom, defense and OEM customers, the Netra 440 AC is now the lowest-priced option on the market.

Starting at $13,995 (U.S. list price) – over 40 percent less than HP’s rx4640 Itanium server and almost 75 percent less than HP’s rp5470 PA-RISC carrier-grade servers – Sun’s Netra 440 server delivers unprecedented price performance. The Netra 440 also offers telecom customers the best compute density (4P/5U) of any comparable server on the market today, enabling them to deploy more capacity and capability in a single rack.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” — has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, Netra, Solaris and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Customers and Partners Turn to Sun’s New AMD Opteron Processor-Based Workstations For Better Performance and Increased Flexibility at a Lower Price

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced that customers, developers and partners are rapidly adopting the new Sun Java Workstations based on AMD Opteron processors for their technical and heavy duty workloads across a range of industries, including document management, life sciences, oil & gas, digital content creation and software development. With support for the Solaris Operating System (OS), Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux or Microsoft Windows, these workstations give customers maximum flexibility for growth at industry-leading price/performance. Customers also benefit from the ability to run both 32-bit and 64-bit applications within a single architecture.

“The superior performance, visualization-class graphics and increased memory of the new Sun Java Workstations make them ideal for technical applications in multiple industries,” said Brian Healy, director of workstation product marketing at Sun Microsystems, Inc. “Whether they’re used for product design, digital content creation or seismic data analysis, these workstations provide customers leading price/performance with a proven 32- to 64-bit growth path.”

Sun Java Workstations Give Xerox a Performance Edge for Document Reproduction

Xerox Corporation evaluated and purchased the new Sun Java Workstation W1100z because of the tremendous performance gains it saw with the new AMD Opteron processor-based systems. The units are used to manage document reproduction control stations for customers typically overseeing very large print jobs.

“The AMD Opteron processor-based workstations are an excellent addition to the Sun product line and nicely complement its SPARC-based offerings,” said Rich Lauria, manager, production controller unit, Xerox Corporation. “We are consistently seeking ways to provide more value to our customers, and the benchmark price/performance achieved by the Sun Java Workstation W1100z make it an attractive solution for several demanding product applications.”

Sun and NVIDIA Team to Deliver Leading Next-Generation Graphics with Sun Java Workstations

Through a strategic alliance with NVIDIA, Sun is shipping NVIDIA Quadro graphics technology with the Sun Java Workstations, offering the ultimate in performance, precision, programmability and quality. These professional graphics solutions allow Sun to deliver industry-leading two- and three-dimension performance improvements, including higher bus bandwidth, increased memory bandwidth, improved rendering speeds and the ability to deploy large data sets (up to 16 GB in size) across multiple operating systems. Customers in CAD/CAM, EDA, DCC, life sciences, oil & gas, defense, scientific research, financial services and software engineering can all reap the benefits of these advanced workstation solutions. Sun and NVIDIA will continue to work together to deliver new NVIDIA technologies in future Sun products.

“With more than 10 years of 64-bit computing expertise and over 2 million 64-bit workstations sold, Sun has long been a leader in the 64-bit computing market,” said Jeff Fisher, executive vice president of sales at NVIDIA. “Sun continued that trend by introducing a complete portfolio of industry-leading x86 AMD Opteron processor-based workstations, and Sun is once again primed to make a profound impact on the workstation market.”

Sun Java Workstations Power Biomedical “BioWall” Visualization Environment

Biomedical researchers and scientists at the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) and the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) located at the University of California, San Diego use Sun Java Workstations, NVIDIA Quadro FX graphics and partner technologies to power the “BioWall Tiled Display.” This 20-tile “wall” of high-resolution flat-panel displays, measuring five monitors across and four monitors high and supporting 40 megapixels, is used to project incredibly detailed two- and three-dimensional images, allowing scientists to better understand biological structures and functional relationships in cells and tissues.

“The extreme graphics capabilities and large per-tile memory footprint of the AMD Opteron processor-based Sun Java Workstations allow us to interactively visualize our massive three-dimensional datasets that can measure as large as 200 GB at full resolution,” said Dr. Mark Ellisman, NCMIR director. “This is only possible by using the extensive hardware and systems expertise of Sun and working closely with partners at the Electronics Visualization Lab at the University of Illinois, Chicago and the Rocks Clustering Group at SDSC. Taken together, this allows us to focus on our biomedical science drivers, maximize our current resources, and save both time and money.”

Sun Makes Worldwide Revenue and Unit Market Share Gains During the Second Quarter of 2004

Recent market share data released by IDC, a leading provider of global IT research and advice, confirms Sun’s position for the 40th consecutive quarter as the undisputed leader in Traditional Workstation (TWS) unit shipments and revenue, with both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year share increases. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Workstation QView, Sun’s workstations represent 71.1% of all worldwide units shipped in the Traditional Workstation Market, gaining 1 market share point on a quarter-to-quarter basis and nearly 2 points on an annual basis. Sun workstations account for nearly 50% of worldwide revenue market share in the traditional UNIX/RISC platform segment.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” — has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, The Network Is The Computer, Java and Solaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Sun Highlights More Than 150 Customers That Migrated to Sun as a Result of HP Ending Support for AlphaServer Tru64 Servers and Its Lack of Commitment to HP-UX

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW – News) today announced that it is expanding the successful HP Away migration program to include a migration path to Sun’s AMD Opteron processor-based workstations and servers. Sun is combining its 64-bit enterprise computing experience with the AMD Opteron processor, and providing additional value with the Solaris operating system, the Sun Java Enterprise Software, N1, Linux and the Java Desktop System, to create systems with unmatched security, scalability and availability from the desktop to the enterprise. At the heart of the HP Away migration program is the Solaris operating system, the clear alternative for HP customers frustrated with HP’s lack of commitment to its UNIX operating system.

“HP is forcing customers to migrate from one platform to another, but customers are balking because HP has limited credibility with HP-UX,” said Larry Singer, Sun’s senior vice president, strategic insights officer. “By migrating more than 150 HP customers to Sun systems running SPARC we’ve proven there is a demand to find a better alternative. Now for customers that want to run UNIX on x86 we’re offering the advantage of cheaper, better performing, higher functioning systems with our Opteron platform.”

Sun has effectively upstaged HP by offering systems that support Linux, can offer better performance, and deliver a clear path to Solaris for customers that want to run Unix. In addition, Sun is helping developers and ISVs protect their technology investments by making it easy to port from HP to Sun systems based on the AMD Opteron processor, through the Migration to Sun platforms program.

Sun’s AMD Opteron Processor Advantage
(www.sun.com/executives/realitycheck/reality-080904.html)

Sun offers the industry’s best performing and the most complete line of AMD Opteron processor-based servers with the two processor Sun Fire V20z server and the four processor Sun Fire V40z server. The Sun Fire V40z server demonstrated best performance among all four CPU x86 servers in 2-tier SAP Sales and Distribution Standard Application Benchmark. It performs up to 23% better than a comparably equipped HP ProLiant Xeon-based server and up to 6.5% better than HP’s 4-way Opteron-based server (*). And, Sun has worked closely with AMD to optimize the Solaris Operating System, Linux, and the Java Enterprise System-as well as Microsoft Windows-to run on the systems.

Workstation customers can also turn to Sun for AMD Opteron processor-based systems. Sun now offers leading performance with its new Sun Java Workstation W1100z and Sun Java Workstation W2100z. These systems are offered with the latest release of the Java Desktop System running either the Solaris x86 OS or Linux.

“Sun offers better value and performance on servers based on industry standard components-with the added advantage of our 64-bit heritage in operating systems and broad enterprise application support,” said John Fowler, executive vice president of Sun’s Network Systems Group. “We have the most complete line of Opteron servers, and more are on the way. We’re the only company that delivers an enterprise proven UNIX operating system on x86 with Solaris. For customers that want to run Linux we provide systems with screaming performance and broad application support. What I’d like to say to HP customers is you can rest peacefully knowing that Sun is offering a brighter future.”

Sun Highlights Customer Migrations

The HP Away program was launched last year to help offer a no-risk alternative for customers concerned by HP’s announced end-of-life of its AlphaServer Tru64 platform. Then earlier this year, the program was expanded to include all HP customers using the HP-UX operating system-a lifeline to customers frustrated with HP’s continued product delays and security issues (for more detail on security flaws, see: www.secunia.com/advisories/12246/).

Since the program was introduced, Sun has successfully migrated more than 150 customers. The following describe how two of these customers have benefited from moving to a Sun environment:

TKEC (Taiwan): Tsann Kuen Group, the leader of small home appliances and 3C retail chain store businesses in Taiwan and China, migrated its existing HP server environment to new Sun servers to build and support a highly available and scalable ERP platform. The new architecture will be re-enforced with additional resources to support the continuous growth of ERP application users. Tsann Kuen chose a Sun Fire 12K server running the Solaris OS and StorEdge 9970 to ensure a more stable and secured operating system.

Universidade Luterana do Brasil (ULBRA): ULBRA’s IT department supports the IT needs for ULBRA hospital, which needed more compute power to implement new applications for the hospital administration. The university’s overall administrative computing systems were demanding more power than their HP AlphaServer Tru64 infrastructure was providing. By migrating to two Sun Fire 4800 servers in a Sun Cluster environment, and a Sun backup solution with capacity of more than 5TB, the university now has the power and reliability it needs. The Sun solution runs the hospital’s main systems replication, as well as the primary, high school, college and Ph.D databases, payroll, and management information. By moving from the old HP platform to the new Sun environment, ULBRA’s applications run almost five times faster.

New Migration Tools

The HP Away migration program is a shared risk model in which Sun and partners work with customers to deploy an effective migration solution. Today Sun is expanding this program with new tools and offerings targeted to help customers adopt Sun’s low cost x86 solutions. Specifically, these programs are:

• A complete set of Solaris x86 tools and resources to move to the Solaris x86 OS.
• Special promotions for developers and enterprise customers on the new Sun Fire V20z server for up to 41% off the retail price, and a three-year subscription to the Solaris OS.
• Solaris Enterprise Subscription x86 packages for up to 80% off competitors’ offerings.
• Special financing for qualifying customers: no payments, no interest until 2005; 3.9% financing to ease transition to Solaris x86 and AMD Opteron-based servers. Certain terms and conditions apply. Subject to credit approval. Exact interest rate may very.

For more information on the HP Away migration program go to www.sun.com/datacenter/migration/hp_offer.html. For more information on the Migration to Sun platforms developers program go to www.sun.com/partners/migration.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” — has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, The Network is the Computer, Sun Fire, Java StorEdge, Sun Cluster, and Solaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems,Inc. in the United States and other countries.

UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open Company Ltd. Specifications are subject to change without notice.

* Sun Fire V40z server (4xAMD Opteron Model 850 2.4 GHz processors, 128 KB L1 cache, 1MB L2 cache, 32 GB main memory) running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 (64-bit), Oracle 9i, SAP 4.70 (32-bit), has achieved the result of 820 SAP SD benchmark users with 1.95 seconds average dialog response time and measured throughput of 247,000 dialog steps per hour (or 82,330 fully processed line items per hour), as of August 12, 2004. The benchmark fully complies with the SAP Benchmark Council regulations and have been audited and certified by SAP AG. SAP certification number 2004044. The comparison based on results with certification numbers 2004013 and 2004024. For the latest results, see: http://www.sap.com/benchmark/

Sun Also Unveils Java Enterprise System Promotion For Sun Fire V20z AMD Opteron-Based Server

In a move to further expand customer choice, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced that its business model for the Sun Java Enterprise System will be extended to third-party operating systems and hardware platforms. Currently available on the secure, enterprise-class Solaris Operating System (OS) for SPARC, AMD Opteron and Xeon systems, as well as Linux, Sun will add support for the HP-UX operating system on the PA-Risc architecture and the Microsoft Windows Operating System for x86 based hardware, including AMD Opteron-based systems, beginning next year. Customers will now be able to take advantage of the simple, predictable and affordable approach to reducing cost and complexity that the Java Enterprise System provides on hardware platforms of their choice.

Further extending the value of the Java Enterprise System, Sun today also announced a special systems promotion, under which qualified customers who purchase the Java Enterprise System will receive a Sun Fire V20z AMD Opteron processor-based server (a nearly $4,000 value), the Solaris 9 Operating System (OS) and one year of SunSpectrum Silver(sm) support all for $100 per employee per year. Companies will also be upgraded to Solaris 10 OS at no additional cost, giving them access to new technologies like dynamic tracing, dynamic file system, predictive self healing and N1 Grid Containers, as well as optimized 64-bit Solaris support for Opteron-based systems. The Java Enterprise System enables enterprises to reduce the cost and complexity of running their mission critical software infrastructure, reuse and adapt the infrastructure for new services, and secure their businesses with identity-enabled services and applications. Additionally, the Sun Fire V20z included in this promotion is ideal for proof of concept, testing and development of solutions based on the Java Enterprise System running the Solaris 9 Operating System. For details on this special promotion and others, visit: http://wwws.sun.com/software/javaenterprisesystem/opteron/index.html

“With today’s announcements, Sun is opening up significant new opportunities for customers and partners, and giving them flexibility to mix and match systems to meet their technology needs, help reduce the costs and complexity associated with systems management and leverage Sun’s infinite right to use model,” said John Loiacono, executive vice president of software at Sun. “Sun is also delivering on its unified systems strategy with this new Java Enterprise System promotion, allowing customers to benefit from industry leading enterprise software on commodity hardware with extreme performance.”

“Extending the Java Enterprise System for deployment on non-Sun branded hardware, at no additional cost, injects the novel subscription pricing model and mid-tiers solution packaging approach into the server OEM space,” said Dana Gardner, Senior Analyst, Application Infrastructure and Software Platforms, Yankee Group. “The likely effect is that, as the costs-benefit analysis becomes clear, enterprise buyers will pull this up through the channel. And that will encourage server makers to offer it on their hardware, which further enhances the value chain reaction. The existing Java Enterprise System business model is steadily changing how companies evaluate and select infrastructure software. This announcement will spur wider examination of the benefits.”

Sun is also extending its special promotion for qualified small businesses through December 31, 2004. Under this promotion, companies who qualify and have less than 100 employees, will receive the Java Enterprise System software free of charge for one year. Sun is arming small businesses with the tools they need to build a solid and secure IT infrastructure, to develop and extend network services to users at no additional cost and focus on core business goals. For further information on this promotion, visit http://wwws.sun.com/software/javaenterprisesystem/programs/index.html

Availability

• The Java Enterprise System is available directly through Sun and Sun iForce(sm) partners on the Solaris and Linux operating systems for Sun and non-Sun SPARC, AMD Opteron and x86-based systems. Support for HP-UX on PA-Risc and Windows platforms is planned for the first quarter of the next calendar year, 2005.
• The systems promotion for the Java Enterprise System, Solaris OS, Sun Fire V20z AMD Opteron-based server and one year of SunSpectrum Silver support is available immediately through December 31, 2004.
• The Free Java Enterprise System software promotion to qualified companies with less than 100 employees is now extended through December 31, 2004.

About Java Enterprise System

Serious software made simple, the Java Enterprise System seamlessly integrates award-winning and market-leading enterprise network services that are needed by every organization to successfully build and deploy their own business critical applications. This complete standards-based software system is delivered as a single, pre-integrated entity on a predictable release cycle, at an affordable cost. Radically simplified customer pricing — $100 per employee per year (U.S. list price. All prices quoted are in U.S. dollars) — delivers the peace of mind CIOs need to focus on what they do best: leverage IT to achieve their business goals. The Java Enterprise System shared network services provides the following functionality and capabilities: Web and Application Services, Network Identity Services, Portal Services, Communication and Collaboration Services, Availability Services and end-to-end Security Services. For more information on the Java Enterprise System please visit: http://www.sun.com/software/javaenterprisesystem

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” — has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, Sun Fire, SunSpectrum Silver, N1, Java, iForce, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Sun Microsystems, Inc., (NASDAQ: SUNW) reported results today for its fiscal fourth quarter and full fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2004.

Revenues for the fourth quarter grew to $3.110 billion, an increase of 4.3 percent as compared with $2.982 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003. Total gross margin as a percent of revenues was 39.4 percent, a decrease of 4.3 percentage points as compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003. Net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 was $795 million or $0.24 per share as compared with a net loss of $1.039 billion or a net loss of $0.32 per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003.

Cash generated from operating activities was $2.172 billion for the quarter, and the balance of cash and marketable securities was $7.608 billion.

For the full 2004 fiscal year, Sun reported revenues of $11.185 billion, a decline of 2.2 percent as compared with $11.434 billion for the full 2003 fiscal year. Total gross margin as a percent of revenues was 40.4 percent, a decline of 2.8 percentage points as compared with the 2003 fiscal year. The net loss for fiscal year 2004 was $376 million or a net loss of $0.11 per share as compared with a net loss of $3.429 billion or a net loss of $1.07 per share for the 2003 fiscal year.

Results reported today include $1.6 billion of other income, and $350 million in deferred other income related to the Microsoft settlement. Sun has sought confirmation of certain aspects of its accounting relating to this settlement from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Financial results are pending final resolution of these matters.

Steve McGowan, Sun’s chief financial officer and executive vice president, corporate resources, said, “We’re pleased we grew revenue in fiscal Q4 based on consistent demand throughout the quarter across geographies and products. We’re also pleased that we generated $2.2 billion in cash from operations in fiscal 2004 and ended the year with a cash and marketable securities balance in excess of $7.6 billion. This marks the 15th consecutive fiscal year that Sun has generated positive cash flow from operations.”

“Delivering growth and preliminary profits in Q4 is a great way to end the year, with 46% server unit volume growth year-over-year and a sequential increase of 18%,” said Scott McNealy, chairman and chief executive officer, Sun Microsystems, Inc. “We enter the new fiscal year with a strong balance sheet, the strongest product and services portfolio in our history, and the largest developer and partner communities we’ve ever had. We’re delivering innovations based on some of the industry’s most coveted technologies, SolarisTM OS and JavaTM platform, running on industry standard SPARC®, AMD Opteron and Intel Xeon processors. In fiscal 2005, we’re focused on growing revenue and market share, generating cash, achieving sustained profitability, and rewarding long-term shareholders.”

“Let’s start putting some questions to rest,” said Jonathan Schwartz, president and chief operating officer, Sun Microsystems, Inc. “With the 74% sequential increase in Java Enterprise System subscribers, now totaling 303,000, we’ve made progress in both monetizing Java technology and driving long-term savings for customers. In addition, Solaris OS volumes and OEM support on industry standard AMD and Intel platforms grew at an accelerated pace, with a 25% increase in Solaris x86 registered licenses to almost 1.1 million and a 69% sequential increase in Software Express for Solaris x86. We are now unquestionably on the offensive, with powerful resources at our disposal, and an excellent product calendar.”

Sun has scheduled a conference call today to discuss its earnings for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2004 at 1:30 p.m. (PT), which is being broadcast live at www.sun.com/investors.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” — has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com

This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding the future results and performance of Sun Microsystems, Inc., including statements that Sun’s financial results are pending final resolution of accounting for the Microsoft settlement; that Sun is delivering innovations based on some of the industry’s most coveted technologies; that in fiscal 2005, Sun is focused on growing revenue and market share, generating cash, achieving sustained profitability and rewarding long-term shareholders; and that Sun is now unquestionably on the offensive. Such statements are just predictions and involve risks and uncertainties such that actual results and performance may differ materially. Factors that might cause such a difference include risks associated with how the company accounts for the Microsoft settlement; continued adverse macroeconomic conditions in the U.S. and internationally, including adverse business conditions in the specific markets for Sun’s products; lack of success in the timely development, production and acceptance of new products and services and in technical advancements; increased competition, and the failure to manage costs and improve operating efficiencies. These and other risks are detailed from time to time in Sun’s periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Sun’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended September 28, 2003, December 28, 2003, and March 28, 2004.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris, Java, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the US and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Solution Addresses Industry Mandates Established by Leading Retailers

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) and Capgemini today announced the launch of a jointly developed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solution. The solution will help enable retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies to comply with RFID mandates issued by a growing number of leading retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Albertsons. Sun and Capgemini provide a complete end-to-end solution including hardware, software and consulting services.

The Sun and Capgemini RFID solution is unique in that it has been designed from the ground up to optimize the full supply chain. The solution addresses business justification and supply chain modeling, as well as expertise in the application landscape at both the enterprise and middleware levels. Capgemini and Sun’s in-depth experience of complex integration and the handling of high volumes of data compliment this solution.

“RFID adds a new level of granularity to supply chain data and has great potential to optimize inventory management across enterprises,” says Christopher Boone, program manager with IDC. “To take advantage of RFID, retailers and CPG companies will have to reevaluate and reengineer supply chain processes as well as the applications and databases that support these processes.” IDC forecasts that spending on RFID for the retail supply chain in the United States will grow from $91.5 million in 2003 to approximately $1.3 billion by 2008.

Capgemini and Sun have collaborated for more than 12 years and have helped their customer’s gauge and respond quickly to changes in the market, accelerate return on capital investments and maintain a competitive advantage. Companies can leverage Capgemini’s Advanced Development Centers (ADC) and Accelerated Solutions Environment (ASE) centers, as well as Sun’s RFID Test Centers where suppliers can test their RFID implementations before investing money on the technology and services. Today, Sun’s Dallas-based RFID Test Center will host an open house at the facility. To register or get further details, visit http://www.avim.com/sun/index.html.

Sun and Capgemini RFID solutions are based on the Sun Java(TM) Enterprise System software, an open and integrated software system, and Sun’s RFID infrastructure software that features self-healing and provisioning and works with leading EPC-enabled readers. Sun’s EPC-compliant RFID software is supported on a full range of systems available from Sun, including Solaris x86 or Linux -based Operating Systems through high-end SMP environments leveraging UltraSPARC(R) processors and Solaris OS.

“Capgemini and Sun are working together with customers to build collaborative RFID solutions that allow organizations of all shapes and sizes to go ‘beyond compliance’ to seek competitive advantage in their supply chain,” stated Mal Postings, global Mobility leader, Capgemini. “We provide companies with an expertise based on first-hand experience and real-world implementations.”

“Our co-developed solution is part of an ongoing effort to deliver the most secure, RFID solutions to the market,” said Julie Sarbacker, director of the Auto-ID Business Unit at Sun Microsystems. “We understand the pain points in the transition and process for retailers and distributors, and we’re designing end-to-end solutions with our partners to reduce the complexity and costs from the equation.”

About Sun Microsystems’ Work With RFID

Sun Microsystems’ industry-leading, standards-based, RFID solution is a comprehensive end-to-end offering that includes hardware, software, services and best-in-class partnerships. For over three years, Sun has been working to make RFID technology an extension of web services and a seamless part of software infrastructure such as the Sun Java Enterprise System. Sun has been a leading member of and advisor to the MIT Auto-ID Center – the driving force for Auto-ID standards, and has participated in numerous successful pilots and deployments. Sun is opening RFID Test Centers around the world to help companies test their RFID implementations before they invest – from tagging products, integrating data into back-end systems and sharing this data with supply chain partners. For more information on Sun’s leading role with RFID visit http://www.sun.com/rfid. To start testing in a Sun RFID Test Center and learn how to get the competitive advantage necessary, email rfid-testcenter@sun.com today.

About the Capgemini Group

Capgemini, one of the world’s foremost providers of Consulting, Technology and Outsourcing services, has a unique way of working with its clients, which it calls the Collaborative Business Experience. Through commitment to mutual success and the achievements of tangible value, the company helps businesses implement growth strategies, leverage technology, and thrive through the power of collaboration. Capgemini employs approximately 48,000 people worldwide (55,000 including Transiciel) and reporting 2003 global revenues of 5.754 billion euros.

More information about individual service lines, offices and research is available at www.capgemini.com

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” — has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, Solaris and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Aggressive Promotion Provides iForce Partners and Customers With The Benefits of Rock Solid Solaris OS At Revolutionary Price Points for Volume x86 Server Deployments

Building on the growing demand for its x86 systems, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today announced a new promotion for the Solaris Operating System (OS) on x86 systems, providing annual volume subscription packages in quantities of 100, 500 and 2000, including services and support. The promotion is also available to iForce partners, allowing them to pass on significant cost savings to their customers. This aggressive promotion for high volume server deployments prices the Solaris OS at up to 80 percent off the cost of Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, and up to 70 percent off the cost of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The promotion price also enables customers to simply pay one price for the use of the Solaris OS on any mix of 1-4 way x86 systems.

Customers are able to leverage the uncompromising security and reliability of the Solaris OS on low-cost x86 systems, including Sun’s new AMD Opteron processor-based systems such as the Sun Fire V20z server. In addition, they can also benefit from the indemnification that Sun provides to all Solaris OS for x86 customers, helping to make the Solaris OS a safe and risk-free choice.

“There is no better time to choose the Solaris OS for its enterprise-class features and unparalleled security at unmatched price points—all on x86 systems,” said John Loiacono, executive vice president, software, Sun Microsystems, Inc. “This promotion makes Solaris the most competitively priced OS on x86 systems and will be attractive to both existing Solaris customers that are heavily invested in Sun’s OS, as well as new customers that may have been on the fence before.”

Solaris OS Subscription For x86 Systems Yields Cost Savings Over Linux and Windows

The Solaris OS for x86 promotion is based on an annual subscription starting at a $50,000 U.S. list price for a 100 unit package, which includes both the license and support. Subscriptions are also offered in packages of 500 and 2,000 units with either standard or premium support. Compared to commercial Linux and Windows, customers will see significant cost savings with the Solaris OS for x86 promotion package. For example, the 2,000 unit package with standard support has a U.S. list price of $800,000 compared to the following comparable products:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES: 2,000 subscriptions with standard support ($799 per system) would cost nearly $1.6 million and be prohibited for use on 4 CPU systems.
• Windows: One year of Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition with support (more than $4.4 million) is five times more expensive.

The Solaris OS for x86 systems has gained rapid industry momentum, with more than 850,000 registered licenses to date and more than 200 supported x86 systems from both Sun and third party vendors. In addition, more than 900 solutions are available for Solaris 9 x86 through approximately 600 ISVs. Since last quarter alone, the ISV adoption rate has grown approximately 12 percent.

Pricing and Availability

The Solaris Enterprise Subscription x86 promotion will be available on April 27 worldwide and is expected to run through the end of the year. Customers can purchase use of the Solaris OS on any mix of 1-4 CPU servers up to the selected package limit, including standard 5×12 support or premium 7×24 support. More information about the Solaris OS for x86 promotion and prices in other countries are available at sun.com/solaris/x86.

About the Solaris Operating System

The #1 enterprise-class UNIX, the Solaris Operating System for SPARC, x86 and AMD Opteron-based systems redefines the operating system as a services platform by combining traditional OS functionality with application services and identity management. The Solaris 9 OS can deliver the security, manageability and performance that IT professionals need to help increase service levels and decrease costs and risk. The Solaris OS also serves as the foundation for the new Sun Java Enterprise System, an integrated, open, standards-based software system delivered using a new predictable approach for development, testing and servicing. It offers a simple business model that provides a single subscription and price for the software system, maintenance, support, consulting and education services. For more information, visit: http://www.sun.com/solaris

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” — has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris, Java, Sun Fire, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open Company Ltd.

Solaris 10 To Be Premiere Operating System For AMD Opteron(TM) Processor and Intel-based Systems, Where HP/UX and IBM AIX Don’t Play

Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced the sixth update to the Solaris 9 Operating System (OS) for SPARC and x86 systems, and the availability of next generation Solaris functionality through the next release of Software Express for Solaris. With the Solaris 9 update, customers will benefit from improvements to Solaris volume manager, performance enhancements and additional platform support for the new Sun AMD Opteron(tm) processor and UltraSPARC IV processor-based systems. Additionally, Software Express allows customers to begin early usage of new, innovative enhancements coming to the OS, including N1 grid containers, dynamic tracing (DTrace) and a cryptographic framework with process rights management, which can enable system administrators to achieve higher levels of utilization, performance and tighter controls for system and data security. To date, there have been more than 10,000 downloads of Software Express for Solaris.

“As the only Enterprise-class UNIX available on the x86 platform, Solaris 10 is uniquely positioned as the logical alternative for HP/UX and AIX customers that have been abandoned by their vendors on AMD Opteron processor-based and Intel systems,” said John Loiacono, executive vice president, software, Sun Microsystems, Inc. “Sun is able to help customers ensure a consistent, secure and high quality migration to the x86 platform on AMD Opteron processor-based systems, or expansion and growth on the SPARC platform.”

As Sun prepares to release Solaris 10 later this year – one Solaris for SPARC and x86 platforms – it continues to see growth and increased demand for the Solaris OS on x86 systems. Currently there are more than one half million registered licenses for Solaris 9 x86 and approximately 200 compatible third-party hardware systems, further enabling flexibility and choice for customers. In addition, through Sun’s alliance with AMD, the two companies plan to provide customers with a seamless growth path to 64-bit x86 computing at compelling price points, while enabling 32-bit and 64-bit application co-existence. Customer adoptions are also showing that Solaris x86 is providing the reliability and uptime that customers are looking for.

“As a long distance provider to more than 11,000 customers, bigredwire can offer some of the lowest rates in the country by keeping costs down and managing customer interactions through our Web site – including customer service, billing, services and account maintenance,” said Chris Cheshire, manager of software development and network operations, bigredwire. “The ability to offer lower rates and still remain profitable is a key competitive edge for bigredwire. To keep overhead costs down, we chose Solaris x86 as our operating system of choice, to protect our investment and help ensure future scalability and reliability. With the launch of Solaris 10 just around the corner, we expect to see new, innovative features that can offer additional cost savings and improved performance.”

Solaris 10 OS Released Through Software Express For Solaris

Today’s release of the latest update to the Solaris 10 OS is available through the Software Express program, which has provided customers with access to the latest code base from the Sun development team through regular monthly updates since last fall. New features in Solaris 10 include N1 grid containers, which can allow administrators to divide a given system into more than 8000 software partitions per single instance of the OS; predictive self healing technologies that enable isolation, diagnosis, and self-healing of both software and hardware faults; process rights management technology for new levels of security; and a new suite of dynamic tracing capabilities for analyzing and diagnosing elusive problems in real-time. New features added in the latest updates to Software Express for Solaris help reduce complexity and risk of the OS. These include an innovative web interface for installing and patching software, new technology that reduces SPAM email as it arrives from the network, and automatic file system logging which, by default, will increase performance and disaster recovery resilience.

Solaris 9 OS for SPARC and x86 Systems

The newest release of the Solaris 9 OS, designed to help customers drive down their cost of operations while delivering higher service levels, includes:

• Significant Performance Improvements: Nearly double the performance for scientific workloads on x86-based systems and in many cases double the throughput on Sun’s new UltraSPARC IV-based systems. These improvements are mainly attributable to the inclusion of additional architecture-specific optimizations: SSE/SSE2 instruction support in both the kernel and the Java Virtual Machine delivers improved performance for both Xeon and AMD Opteron processor-based systems; Hyper-Threading support is now fully implemented for the Pentium 4 Xeon processor. In addition, the Solaris 9 OS has support for Sun’s Throughput Computing utilizing the chip multithreading (CMT) architecture of the UltraSPARC IV-based processors, multithreaded applications and Sun software which creates the most tightly integrated computing system available, with the power to double customer productivity at a fraction of the cost of competitive systems.
• Improvements to the Solaris volume manager – Helps customers reduce complexity and risk through a simple yet powerful way to combine multiple disks into one new volume. Customers will no longer be tasked with knowing which disks are available, how they are configured and their attributes. Instead, a user can specify the service levels the data requires based on business needs and the Solaris volume manager creates the required configurations.
• Expanded platform support: Solaris 9 now supports new Sun hardware platforms, from the Sun Blade(tm) 1500 and 2500 workstations and the Sun Fire V20z Opteron based server to the new Sun Fire E25K server, bringing all the benefits of Solaris to these new, high-performance, high-throughput systems.

Availability

The March release of Software Express for Solaris is available at: http://wwws.sun.com/software/solaris/solaris-express/sol_index.html. The April release will be available after April 12th. The sixth update to Solaris 9 is available immediately for download at: http://sun.com/solaris/binaries/get.html.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” — has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, Solaris, N1, Sun Blade, Sun Fire, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.