Sun, Fujitsu boost SPARC enterprise servers with SPARC64 processors

TOKYO, JAPAN & SANTA CLARA, USA: Sun Microsystems Inc. and Fujitsu announced new quad-core SPARC64 VII processors and an enhanced memory controller for the SPARC Enterprise server line.

The faster SPARC64 VII processors deliver up to 25 percent better performance than the previous generation and with new memory access enhancements, the updated SPARC Enterprise systems have delivered outstanding performance on key enterprise benchmarks.

These results further prove the updated SPARC Enterprise servers with the Solaris OS are ideal platforms for consolidation and mission-critical enterprise applications including large-scale databases, BIDW, ERP and human capital management (HCM). The new processors are the second in-box upgrade delivered for this product family and are available as an option for seamless upgrades in existing SPARC Enterprise servers.

Running at 2.88GHz for the SPARC Enterprise M9000 and M8000 servers and 2.53GHz for SPARC Enterprise M5000 and M4000 servers, the new processors provide increased single-thread and overall system performance, while the enhanced memory controller in the SPARC Enterprise M8000 and M9000 servers improves throughput under memory-intensive workloads.

"Our SPARC Enterprise servers with the Solaris OS offer a compelling combination of mainframe class performance and reliability as well as virtualization and consolidation capabilities in an open system," said John Fowler, executive vice president, Systems Group, Sun Microsystems.

“The update we're announcing makes it possible for customers to increase the performance of mission-critical enterprise applications while capitalizing on existing infrastructure investments with upgrades at half the cost of IBM.”

"The enhanced SPARC64 VII processors deliver world class performance. By upgrading to these new processors, customers can grow their business performance without sacrificing existing IT infrastructure investments," said Noriyuki Toyoki, corporate vice president of Fujitsu.

"With new processors and excellent virtualization features built into SPARC Enterprise servers, we are confident customers will achieve dramatic increases in IT resource efficiency. They will also significantly extend the life of their server investment."

With the addition of the new quad-core SPARC64 VII processors, Sun and Fujitsu continue to increase the compute capacity of their SPARC Enterprise servers while extending long-term investment protection. The updated systems stand out from the competition with more than 15 years of binary compatibility and the “mix-and-match” SPARC64 processor architecture as well as virtualization via Dynamic Domains and Solaris Containers.

The SPARC Enterprise servers are also the only systems on the market with the ability to mix SPARC64 VI and VII processors in a single domain, enabling customers to dynamically add processing resources -- without downtime and without requiring other hardware changes.

Additionally, the integration of Oracle Database with Solaris 10's dynamic memory management enables an Oracle database running on these SPARC Enterprise servers to use the additional memory on-the-fly without service interruption.