DUBLIN, CA -- Sybase, Inc. (NYSE: SY), a leading enterprise infrastructure and integration company, and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced Sun Cluster(TM) 3.0 support for Sybase® Adaptive Server® Enterprise (ASE) 12.5. Powered by Sun's advanced SunPlex(TM) technology -- a clustering platform delivering continuous and rapid access to data, devices and the network -- Sybase's relational database management system, ASE 12.5, now provides increased service levels, enabling customers to reduce costs and minimize risks. Sun Cluster software, a key component of the SunPlex clustering technology, is designed to deliver high availability application services to the data center or enterprise. A SunPlex environment supported by the Sun Cluster 3.0 software augments and complements Sybase ASE 12.5 by providing end-to-end high availability for the Sybase deployment infrastructure. The Sun Cluster 3.0 software monitors and provides fail-over capabilities for all components of the Sybase environment -- from the hardware system components and the Operating Environment to the ASE database manager itself. ``Sybase ASE 12.5, with support for Sun Cluster 3.0, further extends Sybase's commitment to providing our customers with robust, tightly integrated high availability solutions,'' said Tom Traubitz, Senior Marketing Manager of Sybase's Adaptive Server Enterprise. ``Customers will benefit from the simplified management of their transaction-intensive environments, while reducing risk and cost.'' Key benefits of the SunPlex environment for Sybase solutions include: -- Higher service levels for Sybase clients: Recovery from hardware/software component failures is transparent to clients -- clients never have to reconnect -- Simplified manageability for the entire infrastructure, thus reducing deployment costs -- Joint Sun and Sybase support for customers (via SunVIP) ``It is imperative in today's highly competitive business climate that e-Business environments be available to customers, suppliers, partners and users 24 hours a day, seven days a week,'' said Jim Sangster, Sun Clusters Group Marketing Manager for Sun Microsystems, Inc. ``Sybase ASE 12.5 in the SunPlex environment provides more than just high availability. These deployments deliver an extremely resilient service level management solution that meets the e-Business demands of our joint customers.'' Sybase ASE includes a companion server option that allows the configuration of two ASE servers as companions in a symmetric (active/active hot standby) companion configuration to create a hot standby capability that can further reduce unplanned downtime. If a node within the cluster is unavailable, others automatically take on the workload, reducing downtime and providing a consistent service level for mission-critical deployments. This provides unmatched, end-to-end availability for all ASE solutions -- from the servers and storage to the public network interfaces, interconnects, operating environment and the ASE database itself. These advanced features create an easily managed application environment for ASE deployments that provide more than just high availability. Sybase ASE 12.5 deployments on Sun Cluster 3.0 software provide consistent service levels to ASE clients.