NZ Launch For Sun's Next Generation Systems

Sun's New Technology, Products, Services Address Rapid Growth Of The Net And The Opportunities It Creates

WELLINGTON -- October 2, 2000 -- Sun Microsystems has announced its next-generation products and services to help companies leverage the exponential growth and increasing opportunities of the Internet. The announcement included a sophisticated microprocessor and an array of systems, software and services optimised for the network, forming the foundation of the company's network computing strategy for the next five years.

As the number of users, devices, services, data and demand for high availability multiply, companies feel the pressure to keep pace. The effect of the Net is to force a new way of thinking about how systems are designed and built and how companies will use these systems to meet the demands of their customers. The so-called "Net Effect" will call for new tools to help companies keep pace with and capitalise on these changes, and for developing and deploying myriad new network services and applications.

"The Net is having an impact on everything -- from computers to mobile phones to televisions," said Murray McNae, managing director of SolNet, Sun Microsystems' independent sales organisation in New Zealand. "Network technology is the catalyst for a new wave of opportunities for businesses - a phenomenon we're calling the Net Effect."

"Sun has always been ahead of the curve," McNae continued. "We've always thought network first. Now, Sun is announcing the first of many new products that will help our customers get the most from this dynamically changing environment".

Specifically, Sun's announcements include next-generation the widely anticipated the UltraSPARC III processor; two new systems, a high-end workstation and entry-level workgroup server, offering twice the performance of Sun's previous systems; software that can harness all the computers on a network to make compute power a true network resource for greatly improved performance; programs for easy transition to the new technologies; remote Web-based system monitoring; and a 100% binary compatibility guarantee to ensure that applications written for previous generations of the UltraSPARC processor will run today.

The Processor for the Net Effect

The cornerstone of Sun's announcement is the UltraSPARC III microprocessor, Sun's second-generation 64-bit architecture. Designed to meet the demands of the Net Effect, the UltraSPARC III processor is one of the most complex processors available today, comprising 29 million transistors and features such as an on-chip memory controller and 32 kilobytes of on-chip memory to provide industry leading scalability, data bandwidth and advanced reliability and high availability.

Its guaranteed 100-percent binary compatibility with the entire SPARC processor family provides the investment protection required in .com computing and is in sharp contrast with competing processors that fail to match the needs of net-centric, multiprocessing computing.

The UltraSPARC III processor will be available with clock speeds of 750 and 900 MHz. Using such advanced process technologies as copper interconnect, clock speeds should reach the 1.5-plus-GHz range for the UltraSPARC III processor in the future.

Systems for the Net Effect

The first implementation of the new UltraSPARC III processor is the high-end Sun Blade 1000 workstation. The new desktop system has twice the performance of Sun's current high-end workstation and offers exceptional room for growth, allowing for processing performance increases of two to five times and graphics performance increases of up to 10 times, providing customers a significant return on their investment.

The SunGrid Engine software, also announced today, brings the Net Effect to technical computing as it lets users leverage the untapped compute resources available on their networks. Typically, workstations are idle as much as 60 to 75 percent of the time. The Sun Grid Engine software lets users harness the hundreds or thousands of computers on their networks to deliver network-wide compute power to the desktop. Such compute-intensive applications as simulations, fluid dynamics and realtime animation can now be done more quickly and cost-effectively than before with faster time to market. The software can be downloaded free of charge via the Web.

Continuing its leadership in delivering solutions to the datacentre and service provider markets -- where availability, reliability and compactness are called for -- Sun also announced the new, rack-mountable Sun Fire 280R server. Based on the UltraSPARC III processor, the robust Solaris 8 Operating Environment and the blazingly fast Sun Fire Plane interconnect technology, the Sun Fire 280R server offers enterprise-class features in a compact, rack-optimised package, making it ideal for service providers or enterprise environments where space is at a premium.

Also announced was Sun Remote Services Net Connect software, the newest offering in the Sun Remote Services portfolio. Sun Remote Services Net Connect software is a self-service, Web-based tool designed to help drive higher availability, provide customers with faster problem detection and "Net-time" reporting for data collection, alarm collection and availability reporting. Sun Remote Services Net Connect software will be available free to Sun customers via the Internet.

Compatibility Guarantee, Easy Transition

In spite of these new technologies and enhancements, Sun doesn't break compatibility with customers' existing applications. The free-of-charge Solaris Application Guarantee announced today assures that applications written to the Solaris Application Binary Interface (ABI) will run without modification on the Solaris 8 Operating Environment.

Sun also introduced training and consulting expertise to help organisations quickly and effectively deploy the latest UltraSPARC III systems, based on the Solaris 8 Operating Environment. Sun's Solaris Adoption Services, IT skills curriculum and mentoring allows customers to confidently move and take advantage of Sun's operating environment faster, with greater system performance.

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About Sun Microsystems, Inc. Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- The Network Is The Computer -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to dot-com their businesses. With US$15.7 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.au

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Sun Microsystems, Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Fire, 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.

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

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Amanda McVitty Marketing Communications Manager SolNet Ltd. PO Box 397 Wellington New Zealand

Phone: 64-4-462-0700 Fax: 64-4-462-0775 DDI: 64-4-462-0724 Mobile: 021-898-798 Email: amandam@newzealand.sun.com

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