The Sun Fire 15K (codenamed Starcat) was an enterprise-class server computer from Sun Microsystems based on the SPARC V9 processor architecture. It was announced on September 25, 2001, in New York City, superseding the Sun Enterprise 10000. General availability was in January 2002; the last to be shipped was in May 2005.
The Sun Fire 15K supported up to 106 UltraSPARC III processors (up to 1.2 GHz), or 72 UltraSPARC IVs (up to 1.35 GHz & 288 total threads) across 18 system boards (Uniboards, containing CPU sockets and RAM slots). With the UltraSPARC III, Sun supported up to 17 dual-socket "MaxCPU" processor cards in place of I/O mezzanine cards, a configuration not supported with UltraSPARC IV. Maximum physical RAM per system is 576 GB. A maximum of 72 PCI I/O slots are available.
The system can be divided into a maximum of 18 secure independent domains, each of which is a separate machine with its own filesystems, root password and the ability to run different versions of Solaris. The E15k, along with other enterprise Sun servers, has the Dynamic Reconfiguration feature: administrators could 8dynamically change the assignment of RAM and processors to the different domains to meet changes in business needs. In addition, the 15K contains two system controllers (duplicated for redundancy), which are embedded SPARC computers running Solaris and used to manage the 15K and perform tasks such as booting and shutting down domains and assigning Uniboards to domains. The 15K contains minimal storage in itself (only system controller boot disks); it is connected via SAN to a separate storage array.
The Sun Fire 12K (codenamed Starkitty), was a reduced configuration version of the 15K, introduced in April 2002. It supported a maximum of 52 processors, and was intended to fill a position in Sun's server product line between the 15K and the Sun Fire 6800. [1]
The Sun Fire E25K (codenamed Amazon 25; the "E" denoting "Enterprise") was announced in February 2004. Its base cabinet is identical to the 15K, with the only difference between the two systems being the processor boards installed. It reached end-of-life in January, 2009, and was superseded by the Sun SPARC Enterprise M9000 server.
The E25K supports up to 72 dual-core UltraSPARC IV+ processors (up to 1.95 GHz). As with UltraSPARC IV-based 15K systems, the "MaxCPU" option was not offered for E25K systems. Overall system bandwidth is claimed as up to 172.8 GB/s aggregate, up to 115.2 GB/s peak, and up to 43.2 GB/s sustained. For overall I/O bandwidth, up to 35.8-GB/s sustained. Up to 64 GB of RAM per board is possible with a maximum of 1.15 TB of RAM for a single domain. Up to 72 hot swappable PCI-X I/O slots; 54 slots are 90 MHz, 18 slots are 33 MHz. It also supports 10/100 BaseT Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, UltraSCSI (LVD and HVD), ATM, FC-AL, HSI and SCI.
HyperTransport (HT), formerly known as Lightning Data Transport, is a technology for interconnection of computer processors. It is a bidirectional serial/parallel high-bandwidth, low-latency point-to-point link that was introduced on April 2, 2001. The HyperTransport Consortium is in charge of promoting and developing HyperTransport technology.
Xeon is a brand of x86 microprocessors designed, manufactured, and marketed by Intel, targeted at the non-consumer workstation, server, and embedded markets. It was introduced in June 1998. Xeon processors are based on the same architecture as regular desktop-grade CPUs, but have advanced features such as support for error correction code (ECC) memory, higher core counts, more PCI Express lanes, support for larger amounts of RAM, larger cache memory and extra provision for enterprise-grade reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) features responsible for handling hardware exceptions through the Machine Check Architecture (MCA). They are often capable of safely continuing execution where a normal processor cannot due to these extra RAS features, depending on the type and severity of the machine-check exception (MCE). Some also support multi-socket systems with two, four, or eight sockets through use of the Ultra Path Interconnect (UPI) bus, which replaced the older QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) bus.
Sun Enterprise is a range of UNIX server computers produced by Sun Microsystems from 1996 to 2001. The line was launched as the Sun Ultra Enterprise series; the Ultra prefix was dropped around 1998. These systems are based on the 64-bit UltraSPARC microprocessor architecture and related to the contemporary Ultra series of computer workstations. Like the Ultra series, they run Solaris. Various models, from single-processor entry-level servers to large high-end multiprocessor servers were produced. The Enterprise brand was phased out in favor of the Sun Fire model line from 2001 onwards.
HPE Integrity Servers is a series of server computers produced by Hewlett Packard Enterprise since 2003, based on the Itanium processor. The Integrity brand name was inherited by HP from Tandem Computers via Compaq.
Sun Microsystems' UltraSPARC T1 microprocessor, known until its 14 November 2005 announcement by its development codename "Niagara", is a multithreading, multicore CPU. Designed to lower the energy consumption of server computers, the CPU typically uses 72 W of power at 1.4 GHz.
Rock was a multithreading, multicore, SPARC microprocessor under development at Sun Microsystems. Canceled in 2010, it was a separate project from the SPARC T-Series (CoolThreads/Niagara) family of processors.
Sun Microsystems' UltraSPARC T2 microprocessor is a multithreading, multi-core CPU. It is a member of the SPARC family, and the successor to the UltraSPARC T1. The chip is sometimes referred to by its codename, Niagara 2. Sun started selling servers with the T2 processor in October 2007.
The AMD 700 chipset series is a set of chipsets designed by ATI for AMD Phenom processors to be sold under the AMD brand. Several members were launched in the end of 2007 and the first half of 2008, others launched throughout the rest of 2008.
The Ultra 5 and Ultra 10 are 64-bit Sun Microsystems workstations based on the UltraSPARC IIi microprocessor available since January 1998 and last shipped in November 2002. They were introduced as the Darwin line of workstations.
The Sun Microsystems Ultra 80 is a computer workstation that shipped from November 1999 to 2002.
Logical Domains is the server virtualization and partitioning technology for SPARC V9 processors. It was first released by Sun Microsystems in April 2007. After the Oracle acquisition of Sun in January 2010, the product has been re-branded as Oracle VM Server for SPARC from version 2.0 onwards.
The SPARC Enterprise series is a range of UNIX server computers based on the SPARC V9 architecture. It was co-developed by Sun Microsystems and Fujitsu, announced on June 1, 2004, and introduced in 2007. They were marketed and sold by Sun Microsystems, Fujitsu, and Fujitsu Siemens Computers under the common brand of "SPARC Enterprise", superseding Sun's Sun Fire and Fujitsu's PRIMEPOWER server product lines. Codename is APL.
The ES7000 is Unisys's x86/Windows, Linux and Solaris-based server product line. The "ES7000" brand has been used since 1999, although variants and models within the family support various processor and bus architectures. The server is marketed and positioned as a scale-up platform where scale-out becomes inefficient. Typically the ES7000 is utilized as a platform for homogeneous consolidation, large databases, Business Intelligence, Decision Support Systems, ERP, virtualization, as well as large Linux application hosting.
The Ultra 24 is a family of computer workstations by Sun Microsystems based on the Intel Core 2 processor.
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 SPARC T3 microprocessor is a multithreading, multi-core CPU produced by Oracle Corporation. Officially launched on 20 September 2010, it is a member of the SPARC family, and the successor to the UltraSPARC T2.
The Ultra 60 is a computer workstation in a tower enclosure from Sun Microsystems. The Ultra 60 was launched in November 1997 and shipped with Solaris 7. It was available in several specifications.
The Ultra 30 is a family of Sun Microsystems workstations based on the UltraSPARC II microprocessor. It was the first Sun workstation to use the industry-standard PCI bus instead of Sun's proprietary SBus, and is a member of the Sun Ultra series. It launched in July 1997 and shipped with Solaris 2.6. The Ultra 30 reached its end-of-life in May 1999.
The SPARC T-series family of RISC processors and server computers, based on the SPARC V9 architecture, was originally developed by Sun Microsystems, and later by Oracle Corporation after its acquisition of Sun. Its distinguishing feature from earlier SPARC iterations is the introduction of chip multithreading (CMT) technology, a multithreading, multicore design intended to drive greater processor utilization at lower power consumption.