Sun Teams with Energy Star, AMD to Help Identify, Measure and Solve the Issues of Excessive Power Consumption in Data Centers

SANTA CLARA, CALIF . -- January 31, 2006 -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today called on the IT industry to work with Energy Star to drive improved energy efficiency in data center web servers at the “Enterprise Servers and Data Centers: Opportunities for Energy Savings” conference.

“The Energy Star program is one of the most successful public-private partnerships in history,” said Greg Papadopoulos, EVP and CTO, Sun Microsystems. “And Sun is calling on all of our industry colleagues to join us in working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, European Union, and other partners to expand Energy Star to cover all computers, not only on desktops but in data center web servers as well.”

Sun today joins with conference partners US EPA, AMD, end users and other industry leaders to discuss practical avenues to improving the efficiency of data centers as well as work to define industry-standard metrics for energy efficiency. With the number of users on the Web expected to rise by 300 million per year into the foreseeable future, even small improvements in web server energy efficiency hold the promise of massive savings.

“The time has come to define the equivalent of miles per gallon for data centers,” continued Papadopoulos. “Sun has been working to reduce the energy demands of computing and networking for many years and our current product family reflects our commitment to eco-responsible solutions. We are especially proud of the Sun-designed UltraSPARC T1 processor and consider it to be the hybrid engine of the processor world. We’re also thrilled to be working with the EPA, AMD and other industry leaders in addressing barriers to data center efficiency and developing much needed metrics.”

Energy efficiency experts, end users and IT leaders with a clear interest in addressing the issue of increased power-use in data centers will share case studies, participate in workshops and discuss roadblocks to energy efficiency and drive toward identifying solutions at the conference. Sun will also discuss its recently-announced measurement for the next generation of the Internet: the new Sun SWaP (space, wattage and performance) metric that assesses the efficiency and effectiveness of rack-optimized server deployments in a data center.

“The fact that such a wide cross section of industry leaders, end users and energy efficiency experts are joining together to discuss data center power consumption stresses the importance of the issue and the demand for an industry-wide metric to measure efficiency,” said Andrew Fanara, Manager, Energy Star Product Development, EPA. “We’re confident that this meeting of the minds is the first step to establishing clear parameters and expectations for both IT vendors and end users as they innovate and plan for next generation datacenters.”

Keynote speakers Vernon Turner, Group Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Computing, IDC, Greg Papadopoulos, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Sun Microsystems, Bob Sullivan, Senior Consultant, The Uptime Institute, and Ben Williams, Vice President, Commercial Business Microprocessor Solutions, AMD will discuss market trends, the potential energy savings energy-efficient technologies offer, and their views on the best practices for end users looking to lower power consumption in their datacenters.

Sun’s sponsorship of the conference also builds upon the company’s continued effort to address global environmental concerns by delivering innovative and “eco-responsible” products to market. As a technology-driven company, Sun’s prime contribution to eco-responsibility is centered on innovation which not only benefits customer’s business, but also helps to benefit the environment, including improving energy efficiency, choosing less harmful materials, and encouraging reuse and recycling.

Sun launched the UltraSPARC(R) T1 processor in November 2005, the first processor designed for eco-responsibility - with breakthrough innovations in power, cooling, and performance, further demonstrating its commitment to putting innovation to work for the environment. The company is also active in other environmental stewardship programs including the CEO Business Roundtable S.E.E. Change Initiative, ICT & Sustainability Forum and Sustainable Silicon Valley, in addition to the EPA Climate Leaders program

For more information on the “Enterprise Servers and Data Centers: Opportunities for Energy Savings” conference, visit: http://www.energystar.gov/serverconference.

For more information on Sun’s Eco-Responsibility products, visit: http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/environment/promotions.jsp

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

A singular vision -- “The Network Is The Computer” -- 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.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

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Stephanie Hess

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

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