---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash SunSoft Shipping Solaris 2.4 SunFLASH Vol 70 #6 October 1994 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Electronic Journal For Sun Users Since 1988 John J. Mclaughlin, Publisher & Editor - flash@sun.com ____________________________________________________________________________ 70.06 SunSoft Shipping Solaris 2.4 (SunSoft today announced that Solaris 2.4 is shipping. SMCC will be shipping Solaris 2.4 by the end of the calendar year. -johnj) SunSoft, Inc. announced it has shipped Solaris 2.4, the industry's versatile network-based software environment for running and managing Global 1000 information systems. Solaris 2.4 provides a modern technological foundation for helping businesses best utilize their computing systems and more efficiently and cost-effectively run their client/server environments. (237 lines) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUNSOFT SHIPS SOLARIS 2.4 FOR SPARC AND x86/PENTIUM PLATFORMS Proven Software Environment For New Generation of Processors Significant components of today's Solaris 2.4 announcement: - customers applaud quality and reliability of new Solaris release - identical functionality across SPARC and x86/Pentium platforms - foundation for providing database, PC administration and Internet services to NetWare/Microsoft Windows clients - performance improvements of 25 percent or more - full Motif support and enhanced Windows application support via Wabi 2.0 - attractive new pricing Proven Platform Solaris is an optimal software environment for commercial enterprise environments. For example, Solaris has the proven ability to handle more than 1,000 database users, 300 gigabytes of data and millions of daily transactions - on a single server. "After evaluating the other available server software environments, we selected Solaris, combined with x86-based servers, as the most reliable, cost-effective, and most importantly, proven solution for our business-critical database reporting applications," said Rich Malone, chief information officer for Edward D. Jones and Co., St. Louis based. "We have committed to purchasing one thousand seats of Solaris x86 immediately, with plans for deploying an additional four thousand seats across thousands of nationwide offices over the next few years." Multi-Architecture Today, Solaris 2.4 runs more than 9,300 32-bit solutions. It is the first Solaris release to offer the exact same advanced functionality across both SPARC and x86/Pentium platforms, scaling from inexpensive notebooks to multi-million dollar 64-processor enterprise servers. In the future, this same functionality will be available on PowerPC platforms, making Solaris an optimal solution for how business operates today: multiple system types, running a range of applications, all needing to be connected to the enterprise network. "Our decision to support Solaris x86 was made easy after we realized it only took a few hours to port our products from Solaris SPARC to Solaris x86," said Michael Thuleweir, director Technology Alliances for Software AG. "Solaris x86 users will now benefit from our broad product range." PC Friendly In LAN environments, IS managers need to extend the capabilities of their networks beyond simple file and print services. Customers want a low-cost, "small foot- print" server that is centrally managed and provides access to their backbone network. They would like to deploy new generation Pentium and SPARC multiprocessing systems to achieve the performance and capacity demanded by their users. Combined with SunSoft's SolarNet suite of PC networking, integration and management tools, LAN managers can now easily provide users with the benefits of Windows and NetWare. Users get better performance, improved system and network administration tools and increased reliability on local Oracle, Sybase and Informix databases. In addition, SolarNet provides PC-LAN users Internet services, access to corporate-wide applications and streamlined administration for those clients interested in upgrading to TCP/IP. "With Solaris 2.4, SunSoft has delivered a networked operating environment that takes full advantage of AST's Manhattan family of scalable servers," said Larry Fortmuller, AST's director of server system marketing. "We are excited because the AST/ SunSoft combination offers users the power and connectivity of the Solaris environment combined with the cost and flexibility advantages of AST's Pentium-based multiprocessing platforms." Ideal Platform for MIS Applications Several enhancements have been made that specifically benefit the LAN and enterprise database markets. New features include improvements in storage management, such as robust disk mirroring, better data integrity, nearly instant file system recovery, and a new unattended, automatic heterogeneous network backup facility. With improved database performance, Solaris 2.4 provides a viable reason for companies to move from inflexible proprietary solutions to an open, client/server platform. Solaris 2.4 adds graphical installation tools, simple automatic network install facilities, and integrated C2 security, and reduces the risk and learning curve for developers by providing a rich set of standard interfaces. Solaris 2.4 includes: modem- based internet connectivity (point-to-point-protocol, PPP) to inexpensively tie remote locations into corporate networks; handicap-user keyboard accelerators; and an improved version of SunSoft's Wabi for running popular Windows applications at high performance levels through Wabi 2.0, the company's translation software. Wabi 2.0 will be co-packaged with Solaris 2.4 at no additional charge. SunSoft also offers WorkShop, an award-winning suite of development tools geared specifically for the largest software projects, making large development teams more effective. In addition, more than 700 development tools are available from independent software vendors (ISVs), making Solaris the industry's richest native 32-bit development platform. Further, Solaris has a clear path to an even more advanced environment that uses distributed object oriented technology. In the first half of 1995, SunSoft will deliver its Distributed Objects Environment (DOE) on top of Solaris 2.4. DOE will be the fastest and most advanced way of developing and deploying distributed applications. The Favorite Technical Environment Technical workstation users require a wide range of packaged 32-bit applications and software development tools that get the most out of their high-performance graphics and multiprocessing systems. Solaris now provides CDE-compliant Motif runtime libraries and Window Manager as fully supported components, and incorporates advanced 2-D/3-D libraries, Display PostScript (DPS), and Kodak PhotoCD for high performance, high-quality graphics, font, imaging, and "pre-press" applications. In 1995, SunSoft will deliver the complete CDE (Common Desktop Environment) standard tools, window system, and desktop applications base on top of Solaris 2.4, delivering the most portable, powerful desktop available on UNIX platforms. Performance Through Tuned Software Solaris 2.4 delivers on performance. With its multi-threaded foundation, Solaris 2.4 has furthered its database and Network File System (NFS) performance lead, increasing DBMS benchmarks by approximately 15 percent according to internally documented tests, and LADDIS network throughput by 26 percent compared to previous releases on identical hardware configurations. Even more impressive, internal testing documents that TCP/IP throughput was improved by more than 40 percent. Additionally, according to AIM benchmarks, Solaris 2.4 has the fastest published multiuser performance on a Wyse five CPU Pentium-based server hosting a 887-user load. Solaris 2.4 also offers significantly improved desktop performance, such as text scrolling, window manipulation and graphic image display speed. Internal testing indicates that Solaris 2.4 exceeds all previous releases, including SunOS, by typically 25 percent on the same hardware. Solaris also includes the Cache File System (CFS) that uses local disks to store remote data, speeding response times up to 40 percent, reducing network loads by 50 percent or more, and increasing the number of clients a server can support, according to internally documented testing. "SMCC is very pleased with the high performance and quality of Solaris 2.4," said Jay Puri, vice president of product marketing for SMCC. "We plan to ship Solaris 2.4 with our entire product line later this quarter." Pricing and Availability SunSoft announced attractive new customer-driven pricing for Solaris 2.4. Solaris Desktop: includes NFS, TCP/IP, 15 desktop productivity tools (mail, print services, file management, audio, etc.), C2-level security, Display PostScript, Motif. Wabi 2.0 is co-packaged. The price is approximately US $450 for up to two simultaneous clients. Solaris Workgroup Server Lite: includes uniprocessor support, NFS, TCP/IP, Telnet/ FTP, C2 security, naming services and remote system administration. The price is approximately US $900 for unlimited users on a uniprocessor system. No client access or per-user charges for workstation, PC, or terminal connections to servers are required. Solaris Workgroup Server: includes all features of Lite edition, plus from 1-4 processor support and is co-packaged with Online DiskSuite disk management tools, NetWorker automatic online backup and recovery, and AnswerBook online documentation. The price is approximately US $1,400 for unlimited users on systems with 1-4 processors. Solaris Enterprise Server: includes all features of Workgroup Server, plus support for up to 32 processors, 5 gigabytes memory and over one terabyte disk storage, data availability and file system expandability. Enterprise Server is an OEM product, available from leading systems manufacturers. Solaris 2.4 is now shipping to x86 customers and SPARC OEMs, with local- language versions for Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Swedish. SunSoft also announced promotional pricing of US $495 (through February 28, 1995) for the Solaris Developer Pack for x86/Pentium. This includes the Solaris x86 Desktop Software, Solaris x86 Developer Kit (SDK) and SunSoft Workshop for C++ comprised of ProWorks development tools, ProCompiler language systems for C and C++, and ProWorks/TeamWare code management tools. SunSoft, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc., with offices worldwide. SunSoft's charter is to design, market, sell and support the industry's highest-quality software environment for enabling businesses to gain a competitive advantage through information systems. SunSoft delivers a suite of solutions that easily and cost-effectively connect, integrate and manage large enterprise environments. The products are licensed by SunSoft and distributed through major computer manufacturers and resellers worldwide. # # # (c)1994 Sun Microsystems Inc. Sun, SunSoft, Solaris, and NFS are registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open com- pany, Ltd. All other products or service names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.