Sun pushes x86-based systems to new heights; bolsters family of Intel Xeon-based Sun servers for HPC and Lustre File System, Web 2.0 and enterprise back office applications

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 19 -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. today extended its family of Intel Xeon-based Sun Fire servers with two new offerings for high performance computing (HPC), Web 2.0 and back office computing workloads, including the fastest 1U server for HPC workloads and the most expandable 2U enterprise-class system based on Intel Xeon processors. The Sun Fire X2250 and Sun Fire X4250 servers, powered by one or two dual- or quad-core Intel Xeon processors 5200 or 5400 series, run a variety of operating systems, including the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS), Linux and Windows. To take advantage of special offers and promotions for the Sun Fire X2250 and Sun Fire X4250 servers, including Sun's Try and Buy program and Sun Startup Essentials program, visit http://www.sun.com/tryandbuy and http://www.sun.com/startup.

"Sun's Intel Xeon-based product line has proven to be wildly popular with customers. To keep up with demand, we are already announcing the seventh and eighth Xeon-based systems since our strategic alliance with Intel in 2007," said Bob McGaughey, vice president of product management for the systems group at Sun Microsystems. "Today we're extending the value of the line by introducing fast, energy-efficient systems with larger memory footprints that scale to address the needs of our HPC and Web 2.0 customers."

The Sun Fire X2250 server is a perfect 1U server for HPC workloads such as MCAE, EDA, energy and financial services, giving customers an inexpensive compute engine for highly dense, power-sensitive environments that delivers lightning-fast performance and can easily scale for parallel processing. When used in conjunction with the freely available Lustre file system, customers running these applications can scale to tens of thousands of nodes, petabytes of data, and billions of files. Other key features include:

• Low power consumption: Featuring the low-power Intel Xeon Processor 5400 series, each processor dissipates a maximum of 50W of power, or 12.5W per core -- 35 percent lower than standard 80W parts found on the IBM System X3450 server.
  
  
• Lightning fast speeds: The memory subsystem and Front Side Bus (FSB) bandwidth of the Sun Fire X2250 server are up to 20 percent faster than that of the Dell PowerEdge 1950, allowing HPC users to simulate more realistic, higher-resolution crash tests. In addition, the processing speed of the Sun Fire X2250 server using the Intel Xeon Processor L5420 (2.5GHz, 50W) is 133MHz faster than the fastest 50W processor found on the HP ProLiant DL160 G5 server. This attribute lets energy-conscious datacenter managers save the maximum level of power possible, without compromising the performance their engineers need to meet project deadlines.
  
  
• Ultimate performance: The Sun Fire X2250 server achieved record-breaking integer, floating point and integer throughput scores on the industry-standard SPEC CPU2006 benchmark,(1) which measures the performance of the processor, memory and compiler on the tested system by executing a range of tasks and capturing the time it takes to complete each of them. Sun's server shows versatility by delivering these results under the OpenSolaris and Linux operating systems. In addition to being the industry's first submission under the OpenSolaris OS, the Sun Fire X2250 server used Sun Studio software to deliver a world-record SPECompM2001 score for all systems running four threads(2), clearly demonstrating to start-ups and developers the value and advanced features of the community-developed open-source OS and award-winning compiler tools. For additional details on these benchmarks, visit www.sun.com/servers/x64/x2250/benchmarks.jsp.

For all record-breaking benchmark results on Sun's Intel Xeon-based products, visit www.sun.com/intel/benchmarks.

The Sun Fire X4250 server is the most expandable 2U enterprise-class system powered by Intel Xeon processors, with the highest disk count of any comparable server in the market. It is an ideal platform for customers running Web 2.0, back office and database applications who want the features of the Sun Fire X4150 server, but need more internal storage and PCI Express slots for expandability. Features include:

• Highest disk count: With 16 SAS disk drives, the Sun Fire X4250 server offers the highest disk count of any server of its kind -- allowing local hosting for large database applications so most companies no longer need to purchase a separate storage unit. As a result, operational costs for space, energy and cooling are decreased while more work is performed.
  
  
• More memory: The Sun Fire X4250 server features the highest memory capacity of comparable servers, with up to 16 memory slots delivering 64 GB of fully buffered DDR2 memory.
  
  
• Better expansion possibilities: The Sun Fire X4250 server supports six PCI Express slots, compared to three or four PCI Express slots supported on competitive servers by Dell, HP and IBM.

Customers Drive Demand for Sun Fire Servers Powered by Intel Xeon Processors

Mentor Graphics, Oregon State University and the San Diego Supercomputer Center are among customers currently testing the Sun Fire X2250 server in an HPC environment. To read more news and product reviews about Sun Fire servers powered by Intel Xeon processors, visit http://www.sun.com/x64/intel/perspectives.jsp.

Sun Services and Support Optimize Server Workloads

Sun offers an array of services to optimize Sun Fire X2250 and Sun Fire X4250 server performance and computing workloads, including heterogeneous support, HPC services and training. For more information, visit http://www.sun.com/services.

Availability and Pricing

The Sun Fire X2250 and X4250 servers powered by Intel Xeon 5200 and 5400 series processors are shipping now, with entry-level pricing starting at $1,495 and $3,195, respectively. For more information on the Sun Fire X2250 and X4250 servers, visit http://www.sun.com/x2250 and http://www.sun.com/x4250.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Sun Microsystems develops the technologies that power the global marketplace. Guided by a singular vision -- "The Network is the Computer" -- Sun drives network participation through shared innovation, community development and open source leadership. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com.

(1) Sun Fire X2250 (2xIntel Xeon X5272, 4 cores, 2 cores/chip, OpenSolaris 2008.05): World Record x86 result of SPECfp2006 26. Sun Fire X2250 (2xIntel Xeon X5272, 4 cores, 2 cores/chip, SLES 10): World Record result of SPECint2006 28.5. Sun Fire X2250 (2xIntel Xeon X5472, 8 cores, 4 cores/chip, SLES 10) World Record for all 2-socket x86 systems of SPECint_rate2006 148.

(2) Sun Fire X2250 (2xIntel Xeon X5272, 4 cores, 2 cores/chip, OpenSolaris 2008.05): 4 thread World Record of SPECompM2001 13,934.

-----

Source: Sun Microsystems, Inc.