---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash HOT OFF THE PRESS SunFLASH Vol 39 #23 March 1992 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is an edited version of an internal newsletter that I have been given permission to post to this mailing list. Note that I posted the previous edition (Feb) of this newsletter at the beginning of this month. -johnj ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recent News March, 1992 Published by Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation Public Relations SMI Highlights --------------------------------------------------------------- - Sun has received the Corporate Philanthropist of the Year Award from the American Red Cross. The award was given in recognition of Sun employees' involvement in several different emergency relief efforts and blood drives, as well as the overall breadth and track record of Sun's community involvement programs. SMCC Highlights -------------------------------------------------------------- - SMCC and Sybase reported the industry's best price/performance on the highly regarded TPC-A benchmark. The SPARCserver 690 system running the SYBASE SQL Server 4.8 relational database management system (RDBMS) performed at 95.41 transactions per second (tps), with a cost/tps of just $8,836. This beats all TPC-A price/performance results for all systems, including all comparable UNIX systems. - Arrow Electronics, the world's largest distributor of electronic components, systems and related products, will become SMCC's first master reseller to distribute SPARCengine board products in the United States. Arrow currently carries SMCC's complete line of workstations and servers, and its Commercial Systems Group will now add the SPARCengine 2 and SPARCengine IPX boards to the list of products. The addition of these boards will enhance Arrow's ability to further service the growing embedded board market, which includes medical and laboratory equipment, computer-integrated manufacturing, telecommunications and commercial applications. - SMCC and P.INK America, a Time Magazine Inc. company and a leading reseller of high-end publishing solutions, signed an agreement under which P.INK America will bundle Sun's SPARC computers in its electronic publishing solution, called P.INK Press. The new P.INK system will be one of the few of its type to manage editorial and advertising functions in the publishing industry using a client-server model of computing that is based on a structured query language (SQL) relational database management system (RDBMS). It gives users the ability to quickly and easily retrieve and edit page elements such as text, color, style sheets and pictures. Running the Sybase SQL Server RDBMS on SPARC workstations and servers, P.INK Press systems will offer users very high performance at a low cost. - SMCC opened new customer training centers in Dallas and New York City. SMCC now has a total of 65 training centers worldwide, which includes locations leveraged through agreements with its service partners around the world. SMCC training centers offer more than 50 courses for software developers, application and graphics programmers, system programmers and hardware maintainers. SunSoft Highlights ------------------------------------------------------------- - Dozens of developers endorsed SunSoft's ToolTalk, interapplication communication software for next-generation application development, making it the most widely used solution for network-based interoperability between applications. Companies currently supporting ToolTalk include: Frame, Interleaf, Applix, Island Graphics, Harris Scientific Calculations, Visix, Softool, CaseWare, QualTrak, SunPro, Digital Tools, TeamOne Systems, Procase, Lotus Development Corp., Cadence Design Systems, Cadre Technologies, Clarity Software, Interactive Development Environments (IDE), CenterLine Software (formerly Saber Software) and Silvaco International. - SunSoft also announced that Silicon Graphics will ship ToolTalk software on its IRIS 4D systems by the end of 1992. - SunSoft announced the creation of the CASE Interoperability Alliance, a group made up of leading hardware and software vendors and end users, including Silicon Graphics, SMCC, SunPro, Interleaf, Frame, Cadre, IDE, CenterLine, Visix, Softool and Digital Tools. The alliance will define common messaging mechanisms between applications in the CASE market, and has published The CASE Interoperability Series, which outlines common messaging formats using ToolTalk for a range of business and technical markets. - Leading hardware and software vendors -- Novell, Borland, Lotus and AST Research -- endorsed SunSoft's new Transport-Independent Remote Procedure Call (TI-RPC) Toolkit for client-server application development. Called the ONC RPC Application Toolkit, this advanced development platform enables software developers to create a single version of a client-server application that runs unmodified across a range of operating systems, hardware platforms and networks. Sun Microsystems Laboratories Highlights --------------------------------------- - Sun Laboratories entered a cooperative research agreement with Boris Babayan, who heads the computer division of the Institute for Precision Mechanics and Computing Equipment in Moscow. Babayan is a world-class computer scientist and has been described as "the Seymour Cray of Russia." Of the 2,000 scientists Babayan manages in Moscow, 50 will be working on the Sun project. This is a long-term research agreement, whereby Sun will provide SPARC systems and funding to this group of scientists, who will do joint research on the SPARC architecture and superscalar technology. - Sun Laboratories reported the name of Bill Joy's project group, Sun Aspen Smallworks. It is not another SMI subsidiary, it is a part of Sun Laboratories, which develops and investigates new technologies and provides long-range vision for all SMI companies. The name stems from the fact that Joy wants to do smaller systems that make a big difference. The intention is to keep the project group small (less than 20 employees). STATE OF THE BUSINESS ---------------------------------------------------------- - SMCC shipped a record 49,000 units in Q2. Cumulative installed base is more than 550,000 units. - Sun is truly global: half of Q2, FY92 revenues were derived outside the U.S. (U.S. = 50%; Europe = 28%; Other = 22%) - Q2 revenues per employee hit a record level of $279,000, which is the highest revenue per employee of any computer company utilizing a direct sales business model. - Sun's FY91 revenues were $3.22 billion, up 31% from the $2.47 billion reported in FY90. - Net income for FY91 increased more than 70% to $190.3 million, or $1.85 per share, from $111.2 million, or $1.21 per share, of FY90. - Sun is ranked #181 on the 1991 Fortune 500 list (Sun is approximately 140 at present run rate). - Sun is ranked as America's second largest exporter as a percentage of sales (45%), according to the Wall Street Journal, Dec. 1991. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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, paris.cs.miami.edu, uunet.uu.net, src.doc.ic.ac.uk and ftp.adelaide.edu.au 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.