Sun Microsystems and Fujitsu Unveil Next-Generation SPARC Enterprise Servers

New Quad-Core SPARC64-Based Servers Deliver up to 80 Percent Performance Increase, Provide Massive Scalability, Consolidation and Virtualization for Enterprise and HPC Applications
TOKYO, SANTA CLARA, CA .- Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) and Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) today announced an enhanced line of SPARC Enterprise servers - M4000, M5000, M8000 and M9000 -- that delivers a highly scalable, enterprise-class virtualization and consolidation platform with up to 80 percent better performance on commercial applications and 2x better performance on HPC workloads and using 44 percent less energy per core. Based on the quad-core SPARC64 VII processor and the Solaris Operating System (OS), the new SPARC Enterprise servers are ideal platforms for high-availability, mission-critical enterprise applications including large-scale databases, BIDW, ERP and CRM. The new processor is also available as an option for seamless upgrades in existing SPARC Enterprise servers.
“The new SPARC Enterprise systems up the ante on performance and deliver the flexibility to address the most demanding enterprise workloads,” said John Fowler, executive vice president, Systems Group, Sun Microsystems. “Today, we’re freeing customers from the constraints of the mainframe with open systems that deliver the scalability, consolidation and virtualization they want along with long-term investment protection features that can future-proof their datacenters.”

“The SPARC Enterprise servers advanced to a new stage with the SPARC64 VII processor, which provides spectacular performance, reliability and eco-efficiency and benefits from Fujitsu’s unparalleled mainframe heritage,” said Tatsuo Tomita, corporate senior executive vice president and a board member at Fujitsu. “We are confident that the SPARC64 VII processor which powers the world’s most scalable and flexible systems, not only protects but also increases the value of our customer’s investments.”

New Servers Provide Massive Scalability and Virtualization with Investment Protection

The SPARC Enterprise servers announced today build on the existing systems co-designed by Sun and Fujitsu and extend long-term customer investment protection through binary compatibility, industry leading hardware and software partitioning and the ultra-flexible “mix and match” SPARC64 processor architecture. These SPARC Enterprise servers are the only systems on the market with the ability to mix SPARC64 VI and VII processors in a single domain, enabling customers to increase performance - without downtime and without requiring other hardware changes. Customers can also minimize upgrade costs by using the new SPARC64 VII option in current SPARC Enterprise servers.

With the addition of the new quad-core SPARC64 VII processor, the SPARC Enterprise servers also offer unmatched scalability in a single symmetric multi-processor system (SMP) system - from 16 to 256 cores. The SPARC64 VII processor also delivers the RAS functions of SPARC64 VI, including hardware instruction retry, dynamic degradation and parity-protected processor registers, to maintain the levels of performance and reliability needed in mission-critical systems.

The new processor consumes 44 percent less energy per core than the SPARC64 VI chip, enabling customers to consolidate and minimize energy consumption. Leveraging built-in hardware partitioning features and Solaris Containers, the new SPARC Enterprise servers form an ultra-high density environment that provides exceptional virtualization capabilities. As a result, customers can increase system utilization by supporting larger application workloads and services on their existing infrastructure, while controlling operating costs and reducing environmental impact.

More information on the SPARC Enterprise server line is available at http://sun.com/sparcenterprise and http://www.fujitsu.com/sparcenterprise/.

SPARC Enterprise Systems Best The Competition

* The SPARC Enterprise M9000 server running Solaris 10 OS, the SAP ERP application Release 6.0 and Oracle Database 10g achieved a world record result on the SAP Sales and Distribution (SD) Standard Application Benchmark by achieving 39,100 SD Benchmark users. The SPARC Enterprise M9000 server result beats the IBM Power 595 POWER6 server with 35,400 SD Benchmark users by 10.5% and outperforms the HP Integrity Superdome SD64B with 30,000 SD Benchmark users by 30.3%, as well as demonstrates the ability to run both the application and database software in the highly scalable and reliable way.[1]
* The SPARC Enterprise M9000 server, based on SPARC64 VII processors, and using Sun Studio 12 software with Solaris 10 OS delivers a score of 2.023 TFLOPS on the Linpack’s Highly Parallel Computing benchmark. The SPARC Enterprise M9000 outperforms the IBM Power 595 POWER6 by nearly 2X and beats the HP Integrity Superdome system by 2.7X.[2]

For additional information on Sun and Fujitsu’s leading benchmarks please visit: http://www.sun.com/servers/sparcenterprise/benchmarks/index.html and http://www.fujitsu.com/global/services/computing/server/sparcenterprise/key-reports/benchmarks/.

Customers Tout the SPARC Enterprise Servers

SPARC Enterprise customers span the globe and industries including HPC, financial services, retail and Web 2.0. Customers include: China Mobile Communications Corporation, CIMB Group, Core Services, HPCVL, Qualcomm, SuccessFactors and Weight Watchers International.

Product Availability and Services

The new SPARC Enterprise systems are available immediately directly from Sun and Fujitsu and their authorized resellers. Continuing to provide investment protection for customers, the SPARC64 VII processors will also be available as upgrades for existing systems. For more information visit: http://www.sun.com/tradeins/offerings/sse/index.jsp and http://www.fujitsu.com/sparcenterprise.

Sun and Fujitsu also provide a full suite of services to help customers maximize their infrastructure investments. More information is available at http://www.sun.com/service and http://www.fujitsu.com/.

Both Fujitsu-branded and Sun-branded SPARC Enterprise servers will be marketed worldwide. All features are identical.