The focus of the Sun Journal, Web Edition 2, is data centers. The article, "Data Center Trends," by Steve Campbell discusses server consolidation and mainframe application rehosting within a framework of TCO.

The economic climate today requires IT managers to rethink infrastructures. High-end data centers are experienceing trends in consolidating servers and rehosting mainframe applications to more open flexible systems.

Server consolidation benefits include an increase in resource utilization, improved performance and manegeability, and more efficient operations and planning. Costs can be saved in terms of floor space, heating, power, and maintenance. Complex systems can be simplified and skills of IT staff can be leveraged across the data center. Consolidating onto one operating environment also helps avoid recompiling applications.

Rehosting mainframe applications on high-end UNIXR platforms helps customers take advantage of networked applications that are not written for mainframes.

Companies that feel locked into the high cost of their legacy mainframe platforms may also want to consider deploying new applications or rehosting CICS applications on UNIX systems. SunTM Mainframe Transaction Processing Software protects mainframe application assets and provides a mainframe-CICS-compatible software environment on SolarisTM Operating Environemnt (Solaris OE). Sun Mainframe Transaction Processing Software demonstrates the ability to support enterprise applications without extensive rewriting or reengineering of the original application.

High-end UNIX systems offer many of the same features as mainframes such as full hardware redundancy and hot CPU upgrades; dynamic system domains and automatic dynamic reconfiguration to help manage workloads and resources to meet fluctuating demands; and high-capacity systems supporting multiple processors in a single, scalable, SMP environment.

IT managers can also take advantage of integrated stacks which decrease the risk of patching together various system components that need to run together smoothly in the data center.

An architecture with a common operating system can increase service levels and decrease costs. Other aspects for IT managers to consider are CPU capacity and memory, speed of databse processing, and the indirect costs of downtime.

The Sun FireTM server product line brings many mainframe features to Sun Midframe servers. On the high end, Sun continues to innovate with the recent announcement of the Sun FireTM 15K Server, the largest computer that Sun has ever built, with a focus on effectively managing application lifecycle TCO.

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