GOVERNMENT

SANTA CLARA, CA -- Delivering on its strategy to provide a complete telecom solution stack that promotes 5 x 9 (99.999) application availability, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced the beta program for its new Netra(TM) High Availability (HA) Suite 2.0 software. The new suite comprises a set of HA services that, combined with Sun's Netra servers, offers a complete, open, carrier-grade high availability (CGHA) system solution. This platform is designed to help network equipment providers (NEPs) reduce the time and costs associated with developing next-generation network infrastructure elements, such as softswitches and core wireless network infrastructure. ``Building on our existing HA initiatives, such as the NEBs-compliant Netra server line, today's announcement furthers our goal to help NEPs deliver continuous service availability over next-generation network infrastructures,'' said Pat Deagman, vice president and general manager of the NEP Group of Sun Microsystems. ``Sun's Netra carrier-grade integrated stack is one of the industry's only solutions providing ready-to-use, NEBS-compliant telecom servers with integrated HA services.'' New HA Middleware for a Fully Integrated Telecom Stack The Netra HA Suite 2.0 beta is the first stage in a new HA software product line from Sun. The Netra HA Suite, an open, off-the-shelf series of HA software services, offers a foundation for bringing next-generation network services to users who require continuous, connection-based services free from interruption. Participation in the beta program allows Sun's customers to test Netra HA Suite 2.0 in advance of its release, helping them speed the development of HA infrastructure elements based on the proven SPARC(TM) and Solaris(TM) platform. ``When developing Lucent's Flexent(TM) Mobility Server platform, a key criteria was identifying the most capable platform vendor whose technology could be integrated into a carrier-class product,'' said Lori Craven, vice president of product management for Lucent's Mobility Solutions Group. ``We chose to integrate Sun's Netra systems with our FMS platform because they are designed to meet the capacity and performance demands of third-generation wireless networks, which is critical for our customers who want to roll out IP-intensive applications. The new HA Suite is only going to enhance Sun's carrier-grade HA offering.'' The beta program also enables Sun's partners, such as GNP Computers, Hughes Software Systems and Ulticom, to test their products on Netra HA Suite 2.0, helping them ensure additional value to customers upon the software's availability. Customers will then benefit from a range of third-party applications that are optimized to work with Sun's platform. ``Building a CGHA solution is not a trivial task,'' said Roger Baar, president of GNP Computers. ``We see Sun moving to the next level of availability with Netra HA Suite 2.0. As a beta program participant, we have been able to integrate Netra HA Suite Foundation Services as ready-to-use, highly available services within our embedded telecom solutions.'' For more information visit www.sun.com