Sun Microsystems has introduced a reference architecture
and product bundle for setting up Intel-based computing grids. It
also announced a four-processor UltraSparc IIIi server and the
company's first tower server in five years.
Launched at the SunNetwork 2003 conference in San Francisco, the
Sun Fire V60x Compute Grid is a reference platform featuring an
integrated hardware and software combination for technical
customers in design automation, mechanical computer-aided
engineering, petroleum and life sciences markets.
It will feature Sun Control Station 2.0 management software and
Sun Grid Engine Enterprise Edition, preloaded on a Cluster Grid
Manager management node for simplifying grid management and
improving compute resource utilisation.
"We'll be able to ship to the customer under one model number
everything integrated into [the grid]," said Neil Knox, Sun
executive vice-president of volume systems products.
A rack consisting of 32 dual-2.8 GHz or 3.06 GHz x Intel Xeon
processors, Sun Fire V60x servers and integrated management
software starts at $185,000 (£116,000).
A Sparc-based grid reference architecture is planned for
2004.
Among the UltraSparc IIIi boxes being rolled out is the Sun Fire
V440 Server, a four-processor, rack-optimised UltraSparc server
priced at $9,995 (£6,289).
The system was described by Knox as a "very aggressively
architected, low-cost, four-way system" intended to compete with
Intel boxes.
The Sun Fire V250 Tower Server is priced at $2,995. The system
features a SunPCI III Coprocessor Card, enabling users to run
multiple separate operating environments including Solaris, Linux,
and Windows on a single sever. Samba, also included, provides
open-source code for running workgroup file and print applications.
The V250 is Sun's first tower release in five years.
"We became very rack-optimised during the [economic] boom but we
found a lot of our customers in Europe, Middle East, Africa and
Asia-Pacific are used to tower configurations," Knox said.
Sun's new Sun Fire 1500 technical workstation is intended to
beat Hewlett-Packard and IBM on price performance. It starts at
$2,995.
"It's going to give us an UltraSparc IIIi implementation for the
64-bit workstation marketplace," said Knox.
Sun also is announcing enhancements to its Sun Ray thin-client
product line, including Sun Ray Building Blocks and a Sun Ray
system. Sun Ray Building Blocks is a desktop offering that combines
15 Sun Ray 1 clients and a Sun Fire V210 or V250 sever with smart
cards for a workgroup offering.
The Sun Ray 1g client features resolutions of as much as
1,920-by-1,200 dpi at full 24-bit color resolution, for use in EDA,
publishing, software development, and network operations
centres.
Paul Krill writes for InfoWorld