SPARCstation

Last updated March 16, 2024

SPARCstation Voyager SPARCstation-voyager.jpg — SPARCstation Voyager

The SPARCstation, SPARCserver and SPARCcenter product lines are a series of SPARC-based computer workstations and servers in desktop, desk side (pedestal) and rack-based form factor configurations, that were developed and sold by Sun Microsystems.

The first SPARCstation was the SPARCstation 1 (also known as the Sun 4/60), introduced in 1989. The series was very popular and introduced the Sun-4c architecture, a variant of the Sun-4 architecture previously introduced in the Sun 4/260. Thanks in part to the delay in the development of more modern processors from Motorola, the SPARCstation series was very successful across the entire industry. The last model bearing the SPARCstation name was the SPARCstation 4. The workstation series was replaced by the Sun Ultra series in 1995; the next Sun server generation was the Sun Enterprise line introduced in 1996.

Models

Desktop and deskside SPARCstations and SPARCservers of the same model number were essentially identical systems, the only difference being that systems designated as servers were usually "headless" (that is, configured without a graphics card and monitor), and were sold with a "server" rather than a "desktop" OS license. For example, the SPARCstation 20 and SPARCserver 20 were almost identical in motherboard, CPU, case design and most other hardware specifications.

Most desktop SPARCstations and SPARCservers shipped in either "pizzabox" or "lunchbox" enclosures, a significant departure from earlier Sun and competing systems of the time. The SPARCstation 1, 2, 4, 5, 10 and 20 were "pizzabox" machines. The SPARCstation SLC and ELC were integrated into Sun monochrome monitor enclosures, and the SPARCstation IPC, IPX, SPARCclassic, SPARCclassic X and SPARCstation LX were "lunchbox" machines.

SPARCserver 1000 and SPARC Storage Array disk array SS1000-ssa.jpg — SPARCserver 1000 and SPARC Storage Array disk array

SPARCserver models ending in "30" or "70" were housed in deskside pedestal enclosures (respectively 5-slot and 12-slot VMEbus chassis); models ending in "90" and the SPARCcenter 2000 came in rackmount cabinet enclosures. The SPARCserver 1000's design was a large rack-mountable desktop unit.

Later versions of the SPARCstation series, such as the SPARCstation 10 and 20, could be configured as multiprocessor systems as they were based on the MBus high-speed bus. These systems could accept one or two single or dual central processing units packaged in MBus modules.

Until the launch of the SPARCserver 600MP series, all SPARCstation/server models were also assigned Sun 4-series model numbers. Later models received S-prefix model numbers.

Models are listed within their category in approximately chronological order.

"Pizzabox" systems

Name	Model	Codename	Platform	CPU	CPU MHz	RAM (max)	Announced	End of Sales	End of Support
SPARCstation 1	4/60	Campus	sun4c	Fujitsu MB86901A or LSI L64801	20 MHz	64 MB	April 1989		May 1999
SPARCstation 1+	4/65	Campus B	sun4c	LSI L64801	25 MHz	64 MB	May 1990		May 1999
SPARCstation 2	4/75	Calvin	sun4c	Cypress CY7C601 or Weitek SPARC POWER μP WTL 8601	40, 80 MHz	128 MB	Nov 1990		Dec 1999
SPARCstation 10	S10	Campus-2	sun4m	SuperSPARC I/II or Ross hyperSPARC	33, 36, 40, 50, 60, 75, 80, 90, 100, 125, 150, 180, 200 MHz	512 MB	May 1992	Oct 1994	Oct 1999
SPARCstation 20	S20	Kodiak	sun4m	SuperSPARC I/II or Ross hyperSPARC	50, 60, 75, 90, 100, 125, 150, 180, 200 MHz	512 MB	Mar 1994		Sep 1997
SPARCstation 5	S5	Aurora	sun4m	microSPARC II or Fujitsu TurboSPARC	70, 85, 110, 170 MHz	256 MB	Mar 1994		Dec 1998
SPARCstation 4	S4	Perigee	sun4m	microSPARC II	70, 85, 110 MHz	160 MB	Feb 1995		Jul 1997
SPARC Xterminal 1 ^{[Note 1]}	S114	Perigee	sun4m	microSPARC	50 MHz	128 MB	Feb 1995

↑ The SPARC Xterminal 1 was an X terminal, using the same enclosure as the SPARCstation 4, but a different motherboard. A board-swap upgrade to a SPARCstation 4 was also sold.

"Lunchbox" systems

Name	Model	Codename	Platform	CPU	CPU MHz	RAM (max)	Announced	End of Sales	End of Support
SPARCstation IPC	4/40	Phoenix	sun4c	Fujitsu MB86901A or LSI L64801	25 MHz	48 MB	Jul 1990		Dec 1999
SPARCstation IPX	4/50	Hobbes	sun4c	Fujitsu MB86903, Weitek W8701, or Weitek SPARC POWER μP WTL 8601	40, 80 MHz	64 MB	Jul 1991		May 2000
SPARCclassic ^{[Note 1]}	4/15	Sunergy	sun4m	microSPARC	50 MHz	128 MB	Nov 1992	May 1995	May 2000
SPARCstation LX	4/30	Sunergy	sun4m	microSPARC	50 MHz	128 MB	Nov 1992	Jul 1994	Jul 1999
SPARCclassic X ^{[Note 2]}	4/10	Hamlet	sun4m	microSPARC	50 MHz	96 MB	Jul 1993	May 1995	May 2000
SPARCstation ZX	4/30	Sunergy	sun4m	microSPARC	50 MHz	96 MB	Aug 1993		March 1994

↑ The SPARCclassic was originally to be called the SPARCstation LC but was renamed shortly before launch to avoid confusion with the SPARCstation ELC.
↑ The SPARCclassic X was a stripped-down SPARCclassic (no hard drive or diskette drive, and only 4 or 8 MB of memory) sold as an X terminal. Kits were sold to upgrade it to a SPARCclassic.

Integrated monitor/portable systems

Name	Model	Codename	Platform	CPU	CPU MHz	RAM (max)	Announced	End of Sales	End of Support
SPARCstation SLC	4/20	Off-Campus	sun4c	Fujitsu MB86901A, LSI L64801 or LSI LSIS1C0007	20 MHz	16 MB	May 1990		Nov 1996
SPARCstation ELC	4/25	Node Warrior	sun4c	Fujitsu MB86903 or Weitek W8701	33 MHz	64 MB	Jul 1991		Oct 1998
SPARCstation Voyager	S240	Gypsy	sun4m	microSPARC II	60 MHz	80 MB	Mar 1994	Dec 1995	Dec 2000

Server systems

Name	Model	Codename	Platform	CPU	CPU bus	CPU MHz	RAM (max)	Announced
SPARCserver 330	4/330	Stingray	sun4	Cypress CY7C601	—	25 MHz	72 MB
SPARCserver 370	4/370	Stingray	sun4	Cypress CY7C601	—	25 MHz	72 MB
SPARCserver 390	4/390	Stingray	sun4	Cypress CY7C601	—	25 MHz	72 MB
SPARCserver 470	4/470	Sunray	sun4	Cypress CY7C601	—	33 MHz	96 MB
SPARCserver 490	4/490	Sunray	sun4	Cypress CY7C601	—	33 MHz	96 MB
SPARCserver 630MP	S630	Galaxy	sun4m	Up to four Cypress CY7C601 or SuperSPARC I	MBus	40, 50, 60 MHz	1 GB	Sep 1991
SPARCserver 670MP	S670	Galaxy	sun4m	Up to four Cypress CY7C601 or SuperSPARC I	MBus	40, 50, 60 MHz	2.5 GB	Sep 1991
SPARCserver 690MP	S690	Galaxy	sun4m	Up to four Cypress CY7C601 or SuperSPARC I	MBus	40, 50, 60 MHz	3.5 GB	Sep 1991
SPARCserver 1000/1000E	S1000	Scorpion	sun4d	Up to eight SuperSPARC I/II	XDBus ×1	40, 50, 60, 85 MHz	2 GB
SPARCcenter 2000/2000E	S2000	Dragon	sun4d	Up to 20 SuperSPARC I/II	XDBus ×2	40, 50, 60, 85 MHz	5 GB
Cray Superserver CS6400	CS6400	SuperDragon	sun4d	Up to 64 SuperSPARC I/II	XDBus ×4	60, 85 MHz	16 GB

Note that the above configurations were those supported by Sun Microsystems. Various third-party processor upgrades were available for SPARCstation/server systems, for instance the 80 MHz Weitek POWER μP for the SPARCstation 2 or IPX, or the Ross hyperSPARC MBus modules rated at clock speeds up to 200 MHz. As mentioned above, some models listed as SPARCstations were also available in SPARCserver configuration and vice versa.

The CS6400 was developed by an outside group working cooperatively with, rather than competitively against, Sun Microsystems;^[1]^[2] as a result, although sold by Cray Research as the Cray Superserver 6400, all of its components had Sun OEM part numbers and the machine was documented in Sun's System Handbook.^[3] In 1996, when Cray Research was bought by Silicon Graphics, the CS6400 development group was sold to Sun, and released the 64-processor Sun Ultra Enterprise 10000 "Starfire" the following year.

Sun timeline

Related Research Articles

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The SPARCstation 1 is the first of the SPARCstation series of SPARC-based computer workstations sold by Sun Microsystems. The design originated in 1987 by a Sun spin-off company, Unisun, which was soon re-acquired. The SPARCstation 1 has a distinctive slim enclosure and was first sold in April 1989, with Sun's support ending in 1995.

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The SPARCstation 20 or SS20 is a discontinued Sun Microsystems workstation introduced in March 1994 based on the SuperSPARC or hyperSPARC CPU. It is one of the last models in the SPARCstation family of Sun "pizza box" computers, which was superseded by the UltraSPARC design in 1995.

The SPARCstation 10 is a workstation computer made by Sun Microsystems. Announced in May 1992, it was Sun's first desktop multiprocessor. It was later replaced with the SPARCstation 20.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SPARCstation 5</span>

SPARCstation 5 or SS5 is a workstation introduced by Sun Microsystems in March 1994. It is based on the sun4m architecture, and is enclosed in a pizza-box chassis. Sun also offered a SPARCserver 5 without a framebuffer. A simplified, cheaper version of the SS5 was released in February 1995 as the SPARCstation 4. Sun also marketed these same machines under the "Netra" brand, without framebuffers or keyboards and preconfigured with all the requisite software to be used as web servers. An estimated 400,000+ SPARCstation 5s were sold.

Sun-4 is a series of Unix workstations and servers produced by Sun Microsystems, launched in 1987. The original Sun-4 series were VMEbus-based systems similar to the earlier Sun-3 series, but employing microprocessors based on Sun's own SPARC V7 RISC architecture in place of the 68k family processors of previous Sun models.

The Cray Superserver 6400, or CS6400, is a discontinued multiprocessor server computer system produced by Cray Research Superservers, Inc., a subsidiary of Cray Research, and launched in 1993. The CS6400 was also sold as the Amdahl SPARCsummit 6400E.

The SPARCstation 2, or SS2 is a SPARC workstation computer sold by Sun Microsystems. It is based on the sun4c architecture, and is implemented in a pizza box form factor.

The Ultra 1 is a family of Sun Microsystems workstations based on the 64-bit UltraSPARC microprocessor. It was the first model in the Ultra series of Sun computers, which succeeded the SPARCstation series. It launched in November 1995 alongside the MP-capable Ultra 2 and shipped with Solaris 2.5. It is capable of running other operating systems such as Linux and BSD.

The Sun Microsystems Ultra 80 is a computer workstation that shipped from November 1999 to 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sun4d</span> 1992 computer architecture

Sun4d is a computer architecture introduced by Sun Microsystems in 1992. It is a development of the earlier Sun-4 architecture, using the XDBus system bus, SuperSPARC processors, and SBus I/O cards. The XDBus was the result of a collaboration between Sun and Xerox; its name comes from an earlier Xerox project, the Xerox Dragon. These were Sun's largest machines to date, and their first attempt at making a mainframe-class server.

The SPARCclassic is a workstation introduced by Sun Microsystems in November 1992. It is based on the sun4m architecture, and is enclosed in a lunchbox chassis. It shares the code name Sunergy with the SPARCclassic X, SPARCstation LX, and SPARCstation ZX. It was replaced by the SPARCstation 4 in February 1994.

The SPARCstation LX is a workstation that was designed, manufactured, and sold by Sun Microsystems. Introduced in November 1992, it is based on the sun4m architecture and enclosed in a lunchbox chassis. It shares the code name Sunergy with the low-end range of SPARCclassic, SPARCclassic X, and SPARCstation ZX.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SPARCstation IPC</span>

The SPARCstation IPC is a workstation sold by Sun Microsystems, introduced July 1990. It is based on the sun4c architecture, and is enclosed in a lunchbox chassis.

The SPARCstation IPX is a workstation that was sold by Sun Microsystems, introduced July 1991. It is based on the sun4c architecture, and is enclosed in a lunchbox chassis.

References

↑ How the Sun Enterprise 10000 Was Born
↑ "Scaling Solaris for Enterprise Computing", Cray Users Group 1995 Spring Proceedings
↑ "Sun System Handbook v2.1, 2003 March". Archived from the original on 2012-11-30. Retrieved 2012-08-12.

External links

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[ref1-1] The SPARC Xterminal 1 was an X terminal, using the same enclosure as the SPARCstation 4, but a different motherboard. A board-swap upgrade to a SPARCstation 4 was also sold.

[ref1-2] The SPARCclassic was originally to be called the SPARCstation LC but was renamed shortly before launch to avoid confusion with the SPARCstation ELC.

[ref2-3] The SPARCclassic X was a stripped-down SPARCclassic (no hard drive or diskette drive, and only 4 or 8 MB of memory) sold as an X terminal. Kits were sold to upgrade it to a SPARCclassic.

[4] How the Sun Enterprise 10000 Was Born

[5] "Scaling Solaris for Enterprise Computing", Cray Users Group 1995 Spring Proceedings

[6] "Sun System Handbook v2.1, 2003 March". Archived from the original on 2012-11-30. Retrieved 2012-08-12.

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