DENVER, CO -- Seizing the emerging trend toward a more collaborative model for computing to enhance return on investment (ROI) and total cost of ownership (TCO), Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW - news), today announced the iForce(SM) Technical Computing Portal (TCP) solution, a specialized service offering for the high-performance technical computing market that delivers supercomputing applications alongside typical enterprise portal applications and content. The iForce TCP solution can help save enterprises time and money by providing users a single, secure, Web-based point of delivery to easily access services, content and complex applications through a standard Internet browser and simple point-and-click interfaces. The iForce TCP solution integrates the capabilities of the iPlanet(TM) Portal Server, Sun(TM) Grid Engine resource management software, other Sun high-performance computing technologies, as well as products from third-party iForce partners to make available a new class of Web Services -- HPTC Services. By design, the iForce TCP solution is integratable and provides ``plug-in'' functionality for delivering high-performance computing applications alongside typical enterprise portal applications and content, such as calendar and e-mail applications. Greater ROI and Economies of Scale for HPTC Enterprises The iForce TCP solution helps the quick deployment of technical applications across the Internet, combining portal capabilities, resource management software, and new point-and-click tools. The solution enhances ROI and TCO by providing more efficient, centralized management of compute resources and extreme user ease of use. By using forms instead of mastering cumbersome UNIX® syntax, new users become productive immediately. The iForce TCP solution is a pillar of the company's new HPTC solutions, designed to jump-start applications access, improve cross-platform connectivity, and enhance data access, management, and control, allowing disparate commercial and scientific communities to work together simply and seamlessly across the globe. HPTC Users Experience the Benefits The iForce TCP solution helps lower the time, cost and effort of administering technical applications and can significantly increases user productivity, by enabling users to: -- securely submit jobs from a remote location -- manage job submission via forms (no UNIX skills required) -- dynamically check on the status of jobs -- receive e-mail notification when jobs are complete -- upload files with the click of a button -- download/visualize output files remotely -- easily share results with collaborators -- quickly add new and legacy applications for remote use and sharing make HPTC resources available to additional users without having to duplicate the investment ``We're embarking on a new era of computing based on fostering greater interaction among enterprises, customers, suppliers and partners,'' said Joanne Masters (formerly Heider), Solution Manager for High Performance and Technical Computing at Sun Microsystems, Inc. ``By bringing advantages of cost-effective portal technology to the HPTC community, we are helping our customers take advantage of true collaboration to increase productivity, to reduce costs and to help streamline business efficiency.'' ``We are thrilled with the flexibility and productivity boost that we've received from deploying Sun's iForce TCP solution,'' said Professor Kevin Burrage of the University of Queensland, Australia. ``It allows us to securely share HPC Facility resources and applications across the University and with affiliated institutes. And, access is 'personalized' for each audience, offering extensive databases and forms that simplify job setup, execution and monitoring.'' The iForce TCP solution can benefit traditional HPTC customers, including government, R&D supercomputing centers, electronic design and analysis (EDA) users, the energy industry for seismic processing and reservoir simulation, and the manufacturing industry for crash simulation tests. The new iForce TCP also addresses a number of hot emerging markets, such as life sciences, which encompasses genomics, proteonomic research and clinical informatics for drug discovery, and clinical trial development. Simpler Management, Greater Productivity By switching the focus from managing user accounts to managing a centralized suite of applications, administration is greatly reduced. The TCP builds on the capabilities of iPlanet LDAP Directory Server as well as the Sun Grid Engine resource manager. The result is that resources can be centrally managed and users are guaranteed access to their projects and resources. New machines may be added or subtracted dynamically without reconfiguration, keeping users as productive as possible. Finally, engineers are immediately notified (via e-mail) with error diagnostics when a job fails, which can help to significantly reduce the time that engineers usually spend on determining the cause of job failures. Reducing Risk and Speeding Time to Deployment The iForce TCP solution is one of a growing number of solutions available as part of the company's iForce Initiative. Through its iForce Initiative, Sun works with its best-in-class iForce partner community to deliver customer-driven solutions that solve business problems and help customers reduce risk and time-to-service. The iForce Initiative plays a key supporting role in Sun's HPTC solution strategy by providing a collaborative community for building and testing proven solutions on Sun technology platforms that leverage the expertise of Sun Professional Services and the iForce partner community. For further information visit www.sun.com