---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash Sun's Hottest, Volume 2, Number 2 SunFLASH Vol 36 #6 December 1991 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the text of a newsletter, "Sun's Hottest", that is being mailed to Sun customers. It is an excellent summary of the products that have been announced over the last few months. -johnj ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- C O N T E N T S Powerful new servers that grow with your business: SPARCserver 630MP: best value for small workgroups SPARCserver 670MP: most expandable office server SPARCserver 690MP: greatest flexibility and functionality The broadest selection of open server software: Online: DiskSuite Online: IPI Dual Port Tools Backup Copilot Sun Database Excelerator SBus Prestoserve Backward and forward investment protection The easiest upgrades in the industry Make way for the future Increase your security In Short: 101-A Keyboard SunVision SunNet High-Speed Serial Interface/SBus SunNet Token Ring Interface/SBus (TRI/S) SPARCengine IPX CD-ROM Only ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Powerful new servers that grow with your business How do you buy computing resources today that have any sort of staying power for the future? You buy smart. You buy Sun. Now Sun has introduced the SPARCserver(TM) 600MP Series, the most cost-effective and expandable general-purpose, multiprocessing server family available. It offers the power, expandability, upgradability and software to suit your specific needs. Power The new servers deliver industry-leading throughput, which is the most important measure of performance for a workhorse server. With better database performance than competing UNIX(R) systems from such companies as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and DEC, the SPARCserver 600MP Series also boosts I/O and network throughput, as well as responsiveness under heavy loads. Expandability With its breakthrough modular design, the SPARCserver 600MP Series enables you to cost-effectively take advantage of next- generation SPARC(R) technology as soon as it's available--simply by adding or replacing economical plug-in SPARC modules. So your SPARCserver 600MP Series server grows right along with your business. Upgradability Offering easy upgrade paths from the Sun systems you own today, the SPARCserver 600MP Series--which comes with our enhanced operating system--gives you multiprocessing. Meaning you can efficiently add more users and more power to your network, while reducing the time it takes to run applications in all areas of your company. Software A complete lineup of new server software products provides enhanced performance, superior system availability, and easy system administration and backup. Keeping you a step ahead Quite simply, the SPARCserver 600MP Series gives you servers that serve your growing needs. With power for heavy loads, software for special needs, and upgrade paths that protect your computing investments, these servers have staying power to keep you a step ahead. For more news on our new server hardware and software family, just read on. Powerhouse servers in small packages The new SPARCserver 600MP Series enhances our SPARCserver product family, helping you select the ideal set of network resources for data management and compute activities--from your desktop to your data center. Each server packs a lot of multiprocessing power into a small package and accommodates your changing business needs. Broad range of servers for a variety of needs Desktop servers: Low-cost workgroup servers SPARCserver 630MP: Lowest-cost multiprocessing solution SPARCserver 670MP: Expandable office server SPARCserver 690MP: Highest capacity and availability Desktop servers 1 CPU 32-MB RAM max 20.8-GB disk max 3 SBus slots SPARCserver 630MP 2 or 4 CPUs 128-MB RAM max 26-GB disk max 4 SBus slots 5 VME slots SPARCserver 670MP 2 or 4 CPUs 640-MB RAM max 26-GB disk max 4 SBus slots 12 VME slots SPARCserver 690MP 2 or 4 CPUs 640-MB RAM max 52-GB disk max 4 SBus slots 16 VME slots The SPARCserver 600MP Series for balanced performance In designing our new line of general-purpose servers, Sun's engineers addressed what's probably the most critical server performance issue today--how to accelerate throughput. Featuring a balanced system architecture with multiprocessing, fast SCSI and IPI disks, and high-performance bus technologies, the SPARCserver 600MP Series gives you industry-leading throughput covering several areas: database transactions; I/O, compute performance; and fast, efficient networking. It also offers the best value for its class in the industry. For example, with its 1.3-GB 5.25-inch drive (available, by the way, on all SPARCserver 2 and new SPARCserver systems), the SPARCserver 600MP Series delivers the lowest-priced, highest-performance mass storage among competing systems. Included with the new servers is our enhanced operating system, SunOS(TM) 4.1.2, which supports multiprocessing. A great plus is the fact that your existing applications--those developed in house as well as any of the more than 3600 available SPARCware(TM) applications--can run on the new systems without modification, taking advantage of the new systems' ability to handle more jobs at the same time. The new servers feature a revolutionary modular design that helps minimize your costs by making possible the industry's easiest upgrade to multiple CPUs and even to future technology. Each new SPARC module currently includes two 40-MHz processors and plugs into the CPU board. Want to increase performance? Just plug in another module. And because the SPARCserver 600MP Series uses standard SBus and VMEbus expansion interfaces, you can choose from hundreds of Sun and third-party products--from I/O controllers to network interfaces to our new buffered Ethernet connection--to optimize our servers for your applications. Servers that help your business work better The SPARCserver 600MP line beats all competing systems, with the best disk access times, transfer rates, and disk capacities. To help your business work better, these new servers also offer significant performance and cost advantages over traditional mainframes. And because they use open technologies, they can expedite your move to the increasingly popular open client-server computing model that Sun pioneered. The new SPARCserver 630MP, 670MP, and 690MP systems replace the SPARCserver 330, 470, and 490 products respectively, and meet the requirements of the widest variety of both technical and commercial server applications. For example, corporate MIS can use the SPARCserver 600MP Series to achieve very high transaction rates while supporting hundreds of users in a networked environment. In fact, any user with high-performance database management system needs will benefit from the large disk capacity and superior I/O of Sun's new servers. Technical users engaged in compute-intensive tasks, such as computational fluid dynamics and finite element analysis, will appreciate the power of these new systems. Meet the individual players: SPARCserver 630MP: best value for small workgroups Delivering the best value for a small workgroup, the SPARCserver 630MP is a very cost-effective compute, file, and database server. It's ideal for batch EDA design simulation, design analysis, fault simulation, and routing. SPARCserver 670MP: most expandable office server The SPARCserver 670MP is designed to be your primary office database server. Add our ALM2 (16-channel Asynchronous Line Multiplexer) to connect terminals, and SunNet(TM) Channel Gateway to hook it up to a mainframe. Now it works as a departmental compute server in a multiuser environment. For example, customer service representatives can have their terminals, PCs, and low-cost workstations connected to the SPARCstation 670MP -- which is, in turn, connected to the corporate mainframe -- for real-time access to the corporate database. Local copies of the database can also be downloaded cost-effectively, as an off-hours batch job. SPARCserver 690MP: greatest flexibility and functionality Sun's most expandable server, the SPARCserver 690MP gives you the power of a high-end super-minicomputer for a lot less money. Add high-availability software, dual port disks, and more storage capacity to make it ideal for mission-critical applications such as telecommunications, and for large database, document imaging, and other data-intensive applications. Add a wide variety of terminals, network coprocessors, and other specialty boards to suit your specific needs. The broadest selection of open server software Sun's family of SPARCserver systems is complemented by a complete line of Online server software, including Online: DiskSuite(TM) for enhanced disk performance and mirroring, Online: IPI Dual Port(TM) Tools for high system availability, and Online: Backup Copilot(TM) for automatic network backup and recovery. In addition, we also offer Sun DataBase Excelerator(TM) for improved database performance, and SBus Prestoserve for accelerated NFS(R) throughput. Online: DiskSuite Online: DiskSuite increases UNIX power and capabilities with disk mirroring for increased system availability, large file system support for system management flexibility, and disk striping for enhanced I/O performance. By automatically maintaining multiple copies of your data, Online: DiskSuite provides transparent recovery from disk or controller failures. When measured by robustness, flexibility, reliability, and completeness, Online: DiskSuite performs the best disk mirroring found in any UNIX system. It gives users increased data availability and eliminates the need for system administrators to intervene when a disk or controller fails. Online: IPI Dual Port Tools Using Online: IPI Dual Port Tools, system administrators can assign a disk to either of two systems, so users can access their data from another server in case of system failure. Once the systems and disks are properly configured, reassignment of disks to systems is controlled completely by software commands. Utilities are provided to help you develop programs that use the commands. Backup Copilot With Backup Copilot, system administrators can perform online remote or local backups of gigabytes of data automatically, reducing administrative effort and costs. Users can read or write to files being backed up without any risk to data integrity, so administrators have greater flexibility in scheduling backups, increasing overall system availability. Sun Database Excelerator If you're using popular databases such as ORACLE(R), SYBASE(R), INFORMIX(R) Online, and ASK/Ingres, you can significantly boost performance with Sun DataBase Excelerator, a specially tuned version of the SunOS operating system optimized for relational database management system servers. In a client-server environment, it improves your database management system transaction throughput and lets you support more users on the network. It's completely transparent to all other applications and system services. SBus Prestoserve Use SBus Prestoserve to increase NFS responsiveness of your SPARCserver systems with heavy workloads. Consisting of an SBus interface card, a UNIX device driver, and utility programs, SBus Prestoserve greatly improves NFS throughput, so heavily loaded fileservers can support more clients and provide better response times. Like Sun Database Excelerator, the easy-to-install SBus Prestoserve is completely transparent to other applications. Backward and forward investment protection Whether you want to cost-effectively upgrade your existing SPARCserver system, or buy affordable new systems that can grow with your business, Sun has the solution. And because our new SunOS 4.1.2 maintains binary compatibility with SunOS 4.1, your existing software will run--without modification and with the added benefit of multiprocessing--on your upgraded or new SPARCserver system. The easiest upgrades in the industry Sun offers the easiest, least expensive upgrade path in the industry, so you can take advantage of multiprocessor performance on your existing Sun systems. Choose from a full line of cost-effective board and system upgrades. For SPARCserver 300 and SPARCserver 400 Series systems, simple board exchange upgrades to the SPARCserver 600MP Series preserve your investment in existing peripherals--tape drives, SunCD(TM) drives, and IPI disk drives--while giving you access to the latest high-performance peripherals. Chassis and backplane exchanges are also available. In addition, we're offering very attractive pricing on our new servers to customers who own previous-generation systems. For example, Sun-2(TM)/260, Sun-3(TM)/160, and Sun-4(TM)/280 deskside systems can be exchanged for a low-priced diskfull SPARCserver 670MP. Sun-3/180, Sun-3/280, Sun-3/480, and Sun-4/280 rackmounted servers can be exchanged for an affordable dual-disk SPARCserver 690MP. Make way for the future We built room for the future right into our new SPARCserver 600MP Series. So you won't have to replace the entire system or boards to achieve higher performance. Using MBus, the SPARCserver 600MP Series lets you simply plug an additional CPU module on to the system board. This way you can easily upgrade to the latest high-performance processor, paying only for the CPU power you need--as you need it. And because the SPARCserver 600MP Series is designed to accommodate the next generation of technology, you can keep up with the latest technological advances while preserving your peripheral, enclosure, and memory investments. Increase your security As the popularity of open, networked computing has grown, so has the need for securing and protecting the information on the network. To meet this growing need, Sun offers the Sun SHIELD(TM) family of software security products. The two newest Sun SHIELD products are Account Resource Management (ARM) and Automated Security Enhancement Tool (ASET), both of which increase security for UNIX networks in commercial, technical, and government installations. ARM enables system administrators to create solutions that meet your organization's unique security needs in login and user account access control. All of ARM's features can be customized and are network extensible. ASET lets your administrators adjust the level of security on your networks--from the most open access to the most restrictive. It provides warnings of potential security hazards and performs system file integrity checks. In Short The new Sun 101-A keyboard provides an industry-standard layout, fully compatible with the IBM PC-AT-101 keyboard. It features a main keypad and separate function keys, cursor, and numeric keypads. The new keyboard retains full connector compatibility with the Sun Type 4 keyboard. SunVision(TM) 1.1 software brings two new key capabilities to visualization: support for the VX and MVX accelerators, and much greater RenderMan(TM) functionality, including RenderMan Interface Bytestream (RIB) files, the industry-standard interface between modeling packages--such as AutoCAD and Cadkey--and renderers and support for the RenderMan shading language. With VX and MVX added to its GX support, SunVision 1.1 gives power users the performance they need for image processing, volume rendering, and photorealistic rendering. It also lets developers create applications that run at several price/performance points. A new SunNet product, SunNet High-Speed Serial Interface/SBus (HSI/S) is now available. The low-cost, high-speed synchronous serial communications board can be used as a communications gateway, with a combination of high-speed lines and two or more protocols; as a standalone system, providing communication to PDNs through X.25; and to internetwork remote LANs at high speeds. Another new SunNet Product, SunNet Token Ring Interface/SBus (TRI/S), provides an industry-standard network interface for 4-megabaud IEEE 802.5 token ring connections. Any Sun system with SunNet TRI/S hardware and software can act as an IP router between Ethernet and token ring networks. Sun has announced plans to introduce a 16-megabaud solution soon. The SPARCengine(R) IPX(TM) is a new class of board product: a single board workstation. By integrating the SPARC IU and FPU onto a single chip, and combining the functionality of a GX SBus card into an ASIC, Sun engineers have incorporated all the functions of a workstation onto a single board. Also included are 16 MB of on-board memory (expandable to 64 MB) and SCSI, Ethernet, serial I/O, floppy, and audio ports. No other board-level product available today has the power and functionality of the SPARCengine IPX. CD-ROM Only In 1992, Sun will distribute all software on CD only. Do you have your SunCD drive yet? Sun will be distributing software exclusively on CD beginning in 1992. So you'll need a CD drive for all new Sun software. The transition is well under way. For example, the last three releases of SunOS software were available on CD, with SunOS 4.1.2 released on CD only. Most of our unbundled software comes on CD today. Sun's System Software AnswerBook(TM) includes more than 16,000 pages of Sun systems software documentation on a single CD. We're shipping 90,000 copies of SunSoft(TM) CDware. And we're not alone. ISVs are also moving to CD for their software distribution medium. To take advantage of the CD revolution, Sun customers have already installed tens of thousands of SunCD drives. Join the revolution today-- with a CD drive of your own. Coming soon to your local desktop: OpenWindows 3.0 Stay tuned for increased functionality and integration in the next release of the premier desktop window environment. To desktops around the world, OpenWindows(TM) 3.0 will bring: - Better application integration - New online help and Audio Tool - Enhancements to File Manager, Mail Tool, and Calendar Manager - 24-bit color graphics support for all Sun graphics accelerators - Western Europe localization support Get the full story in the next issue of Sun's HOTTEST. (c) 1991 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, SunOS, Online: DiskSuite, Online: IPI Dual Port, Online: Backup Copilot, DataBase Excelerator, NFS, Sun-2, Sun-3, Sun-4, SHIELD, SunVision, SunNet, SunCD, IPX, AnswerBook, SunSoft, and OpenWindows are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.. All SPARC trademarks and the SCD Compliant logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. SPARCserver, SPARCware, and SPARCengine are licensed exclusively to Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark of UNIX System Laboratories, Inc. ORACLE is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. SYBASE is a registered trademark of Sybase, Inc. INFORMIX is a registered trademark of Informix Software, Inc. RenderMan is a registered trademark of Pixar. All other product or service names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners. Inquiries concerning such trademarks should be made directly to those companies. This product is protected by one or more of the following U.S. patents: 4,777,485; 4,668,190; 4,527,232; 4,745,407; 4,679,041; 4,435,792; 4,719,569; 4,550,368 in addition to foreign patents and applications pending. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For information send mail to info-sunflash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Archives are on solar.nova.edu and paris.cs.miami.edu. All prices, availability, and other statements relating to Sun or third party products are valid in the U.S. only. Please contact your local Sales Representative for details of pricing and product availability in your region. Descriptions of, or references to products or publications within SunFlash does not imply an endorsement of that product or publication by Sun Microsystems. John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. (305) 776-7770.