Sun Microsystems Announces Fastest Blade Server on the Planet and Market-Changing Sun(SM) Refresh Service, Keeping Datacenters at Maximum Performance and Efficiency, at Half the Cost

Sun Blade X8420 Server Module and Sun Refresh Service Harness the Power of

the Solaris(TM) 10 OS so Customers Can Build an 'Always Fresh' Datacenter

    SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sun Microsystems,
 Inc. ( SUNW) today announced the fastest blade server on the planet,
 in addition to the first subscription service that enables blade customers
 to keep their datacenters at peak performance and efficiency at half the
 cost of traditional acquisition methods. Posting three new performance
 world records, the Sun Blade(TM) X8420 server module and the Sun(SM)
 Refresh Service set a new standard for 4-socket servers, especially when
 combined with the Solaris(TM) 10 Operating System (OS), the most advanced
 operating system on the planet.
     The new Sun Blade X8420 server module and the Sun Refresh Service
 provide customers with the fastest, most up-to-date and flexible
 datacenters for years to come. As the only blade systems designed
 specifically to run resource- intensive enterprise business and technical
 applications, the Sun Blade 8000 modular systems are the first blade
 servers available to support the highest- performing AMD Opteron(TM)
 processors with industry-leading x86 performance- per-watt.
     "Today's datacenters are looking for ways to save operating expenses,
 but they also need to stay up to speed with the latest and greatest
 technology to deliver the highest performance levels. Sun changed the blade
 landscape when we introduced the Sun Blade 8000 modular system in July, so
 we decided to create a powerful service to help customers with this
 dilemma," said Lisa Sieker, vice president of marketing for Sun's Systems
 Group. "The Sun Refresh Service gives customers the ability to refresh
 their x64 architecture as soon as new technology becomes available, saving
 on power and cooling costs in addition to millions of dollars in software
 licenses."
     Sun Refresh Service Offers Continuous Refresh Capability
     The Sun Refresh Service is an industry first. No other vendor offers a
 subscription service that allows customers to reap maximum performance and
 efficiency from their datacenters on an ongoing basis at half the cost of
 traditional acquisition methods. The subscription service program includes
 installation of the Sun Blade 8000 modular system with server modules, plus
 three refreshes of server modules over a 42-month period. Customers receive
 automatic upgrades to the latest blade architecture as soon as it becomes
 available. With each refresh, Sun will deliver and install new server
 modules and pick up the old server modules.
     For more information on the Sun Refresh Service, please visit:
 http://www.sun.com/refreshservice. For information on additional Sun
 services and solutions that help datacenters and Sun Blade servers optimize
 their performance and efficiency, please visit: http://www.sun.com/services
     Sun Blade X8420: Fastest Blade Server on the Planet
     The Sun Blade X8420 server module, powered by Next-Generation AMD
 Opteron 8000 series processors, is the only blade server to offer 4-socket
 dual-core 2.8GHz processors and extremely versatile I/O that delivers up to
 16 times the throughput of competing 4-socket blade and rackmount servers.
 These features allowed the Sun Blade X8420 server module to shine on a
 variety of industry- standard benchmarks and set an 8-thread world record
 on SPEC OMPM2001 suite, making it the fastest blade server on the planet.
 The new record result easily surpasses the competing IBM System p5 550 and
 HP ProLiant DL585 scores by 16% and 29%, respectively. Furthermore, the Sun
 Blade X8420 server module posted two x86 world records on both floating
 point and integer-intensive suites of SPEC CPU2006 benchmark. For more
 details, please visit:
 http://www.sun.com/servers/blades/8000/benchmarks.jsp
     Additionally, the Sun Blade X8420 server module offers maximum I/O
 flexibility with unique, externally accessible, hot-pluggable I/O adapters.
 Industry standard PCIe ExpressModules, which support Gigabit Ethernet,
 Fibre Channel and InfiniBand technologies, allow customers to mix
 applications that require different I/O configurations within the same
 chassis and further expand the configuration flexibility of Sun Blade 8000
 and 8000P modular systems. For more information on the Sun Blade 8000
 modular systems, please visit: http://www.sun.com/blades
     Availability and Pricing
     The Sun Blade X8420 server module is available now, with entry-level
 pricing starting at $13,095 per server module. The Sun Refresh Service is
 available now for customers in the United States. Monthly, quarterly and
 annual rates vary. For more information, please visit
 http://www.sun.com/refreshservice or contact your local Sun sales
 representative.
     About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
     A singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer(TM)" -- guides Sun in
 the development of technologies that power the world's most important
 markets. Sun's philosophy of sharing innovation and building communities is
 at the forefront of the next wave of computing: the Participation Age. Sun
 can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com .
     NOTE: Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Sun Blade, Solaris and The
 Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun
 Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. AMD and AMD
 Opteron are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices,
 Inc.
     All prices noted are U.S. list price. All prices quoted are in U.S.
 Dollars.
     NOTE: SPEC, SPECint, SPCfp, SPEComp registered trademarks of Standard
 Performance Evaluation Corporation. Results from www.spec.org as of
 01/05/07. Sun's results were submitted for review. Sun Blade X8420 (4xAMD
 Opteron model 8220, 8 cores, 4 chips, 2 cores/chip, 8 threads, Solaris10):
 SPECompM2001 - 23224; IBM System p5 550 (POWER5+, 4 cores, 2 chips, 2
 cores/chip, 8 threads, AIX5L V5.3): SPECompM2001 - 19,983; HP ProLiant
 DL585 (4xAMD Opteron model 880, 8 cores, 4 chips, 2 cores/chip, 8 threads,
 RedHat EL AS): SPECompM2001 - 17948. Sun Blade X8420 (4xAMD Opteron model
 8220, 8 cores, 4 chips, 2 cores/chip, 8 threads, SLES 9): SPECint_rate2006
 -93.1. Sun Blade X8420 (4xAMD Opteron model 8220, 8 cores, 4 chips, 2
 cores/chip, 8 threads, Solaris10): SPECfp_rate2006 - 87.3.
      FOR MORE INFORMATION:
 
      Rebekah Johnson
      Sun Microsystems, Inc.
      650-585-5473
      rebekah.johnson@sun.com
 
      allpress@sun.com
      650-786-7377
 
 

SOURCE Sun Microsystems, Inc.