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There is a lot of news this week, starting with the new workstation and midrange and high-end servers Sun announced this week; article [16861] provides an overview. Some of the servers use the 1.8 GHz UltraSPARC IV+ processor which doubles the memory capacity while others use the next-generation AMD Opteron processor. We will continue to cover the individual servers over the next few weeks until we get them all.
Also making news is discounts on electric bills: PG&E is offering rebates to California businesses that use Sun Fire T1000 or T2000 servers in their datacenters (see article [16867]).
Also new is the Sun StorageTek 6140 array and 6540 array [16855], the first new products created by the combined Sun and StorageTek teams. Get the 6140 array for less in a new promotion [16754] when you purchase a server and the array.
This week we also have more storage and server announcements such as new pricing or support. There's a training class for sys admins who work with the Sun Fire T2000 servers [16835]. For those interested in the Java SE 6 (Mustang), see a new Net Talk online and information on the beta release [16854].
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News
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New World Record-Breaking Servers and Workstation Introduced
Powered by New 1.8 GHz UltraSPARC IV+ Processors or Next-Generation AMD Opteron Processors
Ten new products were added to the Sun Fire server and Sun Ultra workstation families that run the Solaris 10 Operating System (Solaris OS): new midrange Sun Fire V490, Sun Fire V890, Sun Fire E2900, Sun Fire E4900, Sun Fire E6900 servers, and two new high-end servers, the Sun Fire E20K and Sun Fire E25K servers. Sun also introduced entry-level x64 servers: the Sun Fire X2100 M2 server, Sun Fire X2200 M2 server, and an x64 workstation, the Sun Ultra 20 M2 workstation.
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PG&E Offers First Rebate for Sun Fire T1000 and T2000 Servers
Up to $1000 In Savings from New Non Residential Retrofit Program
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is offering a rebate program called the Non Residential Retrofit Program for California PG&E customers who upgrade to Sun Fire T1000 and T2000 servers with CoolThreads technology. Apply now to receive cash savings between $700 - $1,000 per server.
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New Generation of Modular Storage from Sun's StorageTek Acquisition: Two Arrays
Introducing the Sun StorageTek 6140 Array and Sun StorageTek 6540 Array
The first new products from the Sun StorageTek acquisition have been released: Sun StorageTek 6140 array and Sun StorageTek 6540 array. Key features are heterogeneous service and support expertise from StorageTek and end-to-end systems expertise from Sun. A new SPC benchmark shows the StorageTek 6140 array set the world record for SPC-2 price/performance and delivered the best performance in its class.
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Data Centers Get Automatic Refresh with Sun Refresh Service for the Sun Blade 8000 Modular System
Subscription Service Provides the Latest and Fastest AMD Opteron Processors
Sun announced this week (August 15, 2006) the Sun Refresh Service, which enables customers to have the newest and fastest compute modules in the Sun Blade 8000 Modular System. Customers who subscribe to the service will get an automatic refresh of server modules equipped with the latest and fastest AMD Opteron processors as soon as they become available.
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EnterpriseDB to Provide PostgreSQL Support to Sun
Deal underscores the increasing enterprise viability of PostgreSQL
Sun selected EnterpriseDB, an open source database vendor, to provide technical support and related professional services and training for Sun's PostgreSQL offering. Sun recently integrated PostgreSQL into the Solaris 10 Operating System (Solaris OS).
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Hardware
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Hardware Certification Test Suite, Solaris 10 OS x86 Drivers Available
Users Can Download These Products
Several new hardware-related downloads are available from Sun that include the Hardware Certification Test Suite (HCTS) 3.0, Solaris Audio Drivers 1.0 for the Solaris 10 Operating System (Solaris OS) for x86 platforms and the Solaris Device Driver for the LSI MegaRAID Adapter.
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Hardware Briefs: LOD Extensions for Switches and HBAs
New FC Channel Cable Also Introduced
Sun has issued revised Last Order Dates (LOD) for several hardware products. In some cases, price reductions have been included as well to reduce inventory. These items include the Sun FC 2Gb Fibre Channel switch; selected non-RoHS compliant FC and SCSI Host Bus Adapters for sale to the US/APAC markets only. A new RoHS compliant .4 meter LC-to-SC FC Channel Cable is also part of this announcement.
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Sun Consolidates Sun Fire Server Board Upgrade Program
Discounts Set at 25 Percent
Sun is transitioning its Sun Upgrade Advantage Program (UAP) for the Sun Fire Server Accelerated Board Upgrade, which offered up to a 40 percent trade-in allowance for single-generation processor board upgrades. The standard Sun UAP board upgrade program, which offers up to a 25 percent trade-in allowance for all Sun Fire enterprise server board upgrades, replaces it.
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Servers
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Performance, Resource Efficiency and Manageability Features of Latest Sun Servers
UltraSPARC IV+ Processors and AMD Opteron Increase Performance
Increase data center utilization and get the computing power you need to keep pace with increasing demands with Sun's newest Sun Fire systems and Sun Ultra workstations. These new products leverage the latest UltraSPARC IV+ and Next-Generation Opteron processors to deliver better performance, efficiency and investment protection.
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Sun Fire X2100 M2 High-performance 2-way 1-RU server
Get AMD Opteron 1000, LOM, Shared Network Access for the Service, More Ports
The Sun Fire X2100 M2 (for Model 2) is a high performance 2-way 1-RU server in Sun's line of x64 rack-optimized servers. The Sun Fire X2100 M2 can run Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS), Linux or Windows. It is an ideal solution for HPC/grid computing, web infrastructure and application development uses that demand flexibility, scalability and maximum return on their investment.
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Time To Repair Support for Sun Fire T1000 and T2000 Servers
Repair Time Agreement to Meet SLAs
A new Time To Repair support option is now available for Sun Fire T1000 and Sun Fire T2000 servers. This specialized service offering is designed for customers such as multi-national corporations and those with heterogeneous server environments who need a hardware support agreement that delivers a firm commitment on repair time rather than response time.
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Enhanced Performance Netra T2000 Server, DC Version
With CMT, CoolThreads Technology and UltraSPARC T1 Processor
The Netra T2000 server (DC version) is Sun's first Netra server to incorporate the Chip Multi-Threaded (CMT) UltraSPARC T1 processor, powered by the latest CoolThreads technology. The Netra T2000 is a 2RU carrier-grade rackmount, ruggedized NEBS Level 3 certified and ETSI compliant server, making it ideal for the most demanding applications in the toughest environments.
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x86 and x64 Server Market Survey Assesses Sun's Impact in this Market
Opteron-based Galaxy Servers Rated Well
The Gabriel Consulting Group worked with ITJungle on a survey of the x86 and x64 server market. They asked what vendor is the leader in technical factors, how the vendors rate on business criteria, and customer attitudes about their own x64 server vendor. The survey found that "Sun seems to have capitalized on its massive UNIX installed base to establish a solid beachhead in the x64 market with its Opteron-based 'Galaxy' servers."
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Storage
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Sun StorEdge 9900 8-Port iSCSI Blade Introduced
Enables SCSI on TCP/IP Ethernet for Sun StorEdge 9990 and 9985 Arrays
The newly released Sun StorEdge 9900 8-port iSCSI (SCSI over TCP/IP ethernet networks) Blade for the Sun StorEdge 9990 and Sun StorEdge 9985 systems expands the connectivity and consolidation options for these arrays and gives the customer the option to add Gbit iSCSI ports in standard feature form factor with as many as eight ports per feature.
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Sun Releases Sun StorEdge 9900 Series HiCommand Device Manager (HDvM) 5.1 Software
New Release Includes Numerous Improvements and Enhancements
Sun is making available the Sun StorEdge 9900 Series HiCommand Device Manager(HDvM) 5.1 Software for the Sun StorEdge[Tm] 9910, 9960, 9970, 9980, 9985, 9990 and T3 Systems. This new version includes a large number of improvements in a variety of areas.
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Get Sun StorEdge 3000 Family Software and Documentation on CD-ROM
Includes Installation, Configuration and Diagnostic Programs
Sun has released the CD-ROM version of Sun StorEdge 3000 Family Software and Documentation version 2.3. This CD contains Sun StorEdge Configuration Service Management and Diagnostic Reporter Software, installation and configuration documents, along with documentation for the Sun StorEdge 3000 product family.
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Top10
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Top Ten Articles for Last 4 Issues
Vol 101 Issues 3 and 4; Vol 102 Issues 1 and 2
Each week, we determine which articles have been most frequently referenced by logged-in subscribers to provide you with a list of the most popular articles for each of the last three issues. The Web version of this article lists the top 10 articles for each of the last four issues. The top articles from the last issue - Vol 102, Issue 2 - were:
- Animated Film "Barnyard" Gets Better CGI with Sun Fire Servers and Sun StorageTek Data Management Systems [16830]
- DTrace to be Included in Next Mac OS X [16842]
- McNealy Continues Mission to Eliminate Digital Divide with New Educational Initiative [16831]
- Creating Highly Available Database Solutions: Oracle RAC and Sun Cluster 3.x Software Book [16826]
- OpenSolaris Announcements: Xen Project, Wireless UBS, XEN and Other Projects [16769]
- Maintain Your Solaris OS with the Sun Update Connection [16832]
- Online Training Offered for Sun Fire T2000 Server [16785]
- Try and Buy: Sun Ultra 20 or Sun Ultra 40 Workstation [16840]
- Get the Most out of Your StarOffice Purchases for Your School [16834]
- Three-tier Solaris Service Plan Announced [16773]
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Sysadmin
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Training for Sys Admins Using the Sun Fire T2000 Server
Covers Server Architecture, Installing and Configuring the Server
Sys Admin training to help users get the most out of their Sun Fire T2000 servers is available from classroom training and live virtual classes. The courses cover server architecture, installing the server and configuring the server processor. The training also covers troubleshooting and replacing internal components.
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Sun N1 System Manager 1.3.1 Release is Available
Simplifies Server Reprovisioning During Product Lifecycle
The Sun N1 System Manager 1.3.1 release is designed to simplify the task of system administrators who find it necessary to reprovision servers during their lifecycles while assigning them to various end uses or moving them from one grid to another. Provisioning, monitoring, patching and managing Sun systems is made easier through the use of this single point of integrated hardware and software management for Sun x64 and SPARC systems.
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Sun Java System Access Manager and Sun Java System Identity Manager:
Installing, Managing and Using on the Solaris 10 OS
Jonathan Gershater, Suveer Chainani, Abdi Mohammadi and Jan Vanhaecht are the authors of a how-to entitled "Installing, Managing, and Using Sun Java System Access Manager and Sun Java System Identity Manager on the Solaris 10 OS," a Big Admin System Administration Portal article. The steps outlined by the authors take advantage of the Solaris Zones and Service Management Facility features of Solaris 10 Operating System (Solaris OS) software.
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Java Technology
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Net Talk on the Java SE 6 Mustang: 10 Minute Overview
Java SE 6 Beta also Available
A 10-minute Net Talk is available online covering features and functionality of Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) 6.0 (now the Java SE 6, code name Mustang). Bill Curci discusses enhancements in diagnostics and monitoring, XML and web services, database support, native look and feel and more.
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Class in Developing Mobile Phone Applications with J2ME Technology
Use CLDC and MIDP
Learn how to develop mobile applications on the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME, now Java ME) using Connected, Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) and the Mobile Interface Device Profile (MIDP) with class number DTJ-365.
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Security Annotations and Authorization in GlassFish and the Java EE 5 SDK
Using Security Annotations and Deployment Descriptors
The technical article from Shing Wai Chan explains the security annotations defined in JSR 250 and demonstrates how to use them for securing an application with authentication and authorization in GlassFish and the Java EE 5 SDK (formerly called the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition, or J2EE).
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