SYSTEMS

SANTA CLARA, CA -- Shipping in volume worldwide for months, organizations such as Clearstream Services, Mid-Sweden University, Ocwen Technology Xchange, Tai Fook Securities Group, and Uppsala University have already seen the benefits of the Sun Fire 15K server in their enterprise data centers. With fifth-generation dynamic system domains, the Sun Fire 15K server allows IT organizations to simplify data center resource management while adapting to changing application requirements. Up to 106 processors and over one-half terabyte of memory, two to four times more memory than competitive products, make the Sun Fire 15K server the world's largest single cabinet UNIX® server. To match the system's technological advances, Sun acquired software technology for rehosting mainframe applications, reportedly the industry's first proven, cost effective alternative to mainframe computing, with the total cost of ownership and application access benefits of a modern open systems platform. The Sun Fire 15K system was also recently recognized by receiving two IT awards in China - China Computer World's RISC Product Award of 2001 in the server category, and China Internet Weekly's CIO Choice Award of 2001 in the Best IT Product category. Sun also recently introduced the Sun StorEdge[tm] 9960 system which is reportedly making a significant impact in the data center storage market. The system combines a switched architecture with sophisticated reliability, availability and serviceability features to provide non-disruptive performance and availability for mission-critical services. The Sun StorEdge 9960 system has 64 data paths delivering 6.4 GB/second bandwidth and extreme system resiliency. Customers are able to maximize their ROI by optimizing their storage utilization, increasing performance and availability and simplifying management of storage resources. In related news, another key component of Sun's high-end strategy, the Cluster Platform 15K/9960, will begin shipping in two weeks. The Cluster Platform 15K/9960, is ideal for customers looking to reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO). A combination of some of Sun's most reliable server, storage, and clustering technologies, the Cluster Platform 15K/9960 delivers a highly available architecture inherent in a redundant, failover system design.. Sun's compute infrastructure experts pre-select, architect, and interoperability test the optimal cluster hardware and software combinations to simplify the upfront evaluation and design processes. The platform integrates two Sun Fire 15K servers and a shared Sun StorEdge 9960 system with Sun Cluster[tm] 3.0 software. Pre-integration leaves less room for people, process, and product errors. And best of all, customers can deploy a fully integrated, tested system in just days, enabling them to reduce their TCO by significantly reducing on-site deployment time and resources required. The Cluster Platform 15K/9960 is ideal for high-end system users who would like to upgrade to next-generation products and mainframe customers who have decided to embrace open systems. It is also a great fit for server and storage consolidation. "When combined with the Cluster Platform 15K/9960, Oracle9i Real Application Clusters deliver a superior infrastructure for deploying a mainframe-class system, without the restrictions of the traditional mainframe. Customers have a viable alternative and no longer need to be limited by a proprietary environment, the diminishing pool of mainframe expertise and the lack of new applications," said Doug Kennedy, vice president, Global Platform Parnterships, Oracle Corporation. Additionally, for customers not requiring a clustered compute infrastructure, Sun today announced bundled server and storage standard configurations, designed for easy procurement at attractive price points. These bundles allow for simplified procurement by eliminating configuration complexity and consist of a Sun Fire 15K server and the option of 5.8 terabytes, 13.7 terabytes, or 20.9 terabytes of 9960 storage. "The demand we are witnessing for the Sun Fire 15K server, much of which is from first time buyers of high-end Sun servers, is a result of successfully executing on our vision to lower customer TCO," said John Shoemaker, executive vice president, Computer Systems, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "And now with the Cluster Platform 15K/9960 and standard configuration bundles to ship in two weeks, Sun provides yet another option for customers looking to reduce TCO in their IT infrastructures."