Sun has just introduced the first throughput computing systems in the
industry with its Sun Fire Enterprise Servers that rely on the
UltraSPARC IV processor and the Sun Java Enterprise System. The new
family of servers combines the advances of throughput computing
technology from the processor and SMP architecture with the Solaris
10 Operating System (Solaris OS) and multithreaded applications.
Sun has introduced a server, the Sun Fire V20z, that incorporates
dual AMD Opteron x86 32-/64-bit processors and is capable of running
the Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS) (x86 Platform Edition) as
well as Red Hat and SUSE Linux at price lower than IBM's Opteron
offerings.
The Sun Fire systems family continues to mature with innovations.
A number of new products, features and solutions have been revealed
including Sun's new family of throughput computing systems, the
first Sun Fire system powered by the AMD Opteron processor, new industry
standard blades powered by Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS) or Linux and the N1 Grid
System and more.
Sun is introducing five new Sun Reference Architectures and
Solutions that are designed to help IT departments speed
time-to-service and improve business performance. The Giga Information
Group recently studied four Sun customers who realized gains of up to $7.8
million over a three-year period with the data warehousing Reference
Architecture featuring SybaseIQ highly scalable analytic engine.
At Sun's product launch, CEO Scott McNealy addressed the concern many
customers have about security of computer systems by highlighting the
security features in new Sun products such as the Reference Solution
for Secure Network Access Platform (SNAP), expanded Sun Managed
Security Services and advanced features for the Sun Crypto
Accelerator 4000 board.
Sun previewed the Solaris 10 Operating System (Solaris OS), the upcoming version
of its OS to be available later this year for systems based on x86
UltraSPARC microprocessors. Early access versions will be available
for download this summer. Solaris 10 OS will have over 600 new features.
Sun developers can get a free AMD Opteron-based server when they sign
up for a three-year subscription for the software and hardware.
The Java Enterprise Developer Promotion (US only promotion) ends June
30, 2004. Only members of the Sun Developer Network (SDN) program are
eligible.
The Sun Java Enterprise System 2004Q2 is scheduled for release in
April with a 90-day free evaluation. This upcoming version offers
increased platform support as well as availability, portal, identity,
Web enablement, communications and collaboration services. An automatic
term renewal will be offered each year based on the current number of
employees.
Scaling from 5,000 to more than 52,000 email users during a scalability
characterization test, Sun and Oracle Corporation proved that a single,
enterprise-wide email solution to simplify business communication and
consolidate information is plausible. These tests were conducted using
the Oracle Collaboration Suite on a variety of Sun midrange servers.
Informatica will offer the Sun Java Enterprise System pricing model
for its PowerAnalyzer business intelligence software running on the Sun
Java Enterprise System on Sun platforms.
Sun plans to acquire Kealia Inc., a privately-held advanced server
technology company co-founded by Andy Bechtolsheim who was a co-founder
of Sun. This acquisition will bring to Sun computing technology that
directly applies to Sun's systems business, as well as bring Bechtolsheim back to Sun.
The dual-thread UltraSPARC IV processor marks the first milestone in
Sun's Chip Multithreading (CMT) roadmap. Key highlights include binary
compatibility with previous generations of SPARC processors and up
to two times the application throughput of the UltraSPARC III
processor.
CIO Today writer Lisa Valentine drew some interesting responses from
H. William Howard, CIO of Sun Microsystems, in a recent interview.
Among the issues most important to Howard are reducing complexity,
keeping technology current and maintaining corporate agility.
With a 14 GB database, the Department of Energy Human Genome Project
(HGP) at Los Alamos National Laboratory unquestionably qualifies for
the "heavy computing" label. According to DB Administrator Robert
Sutherland, the database has doubled in size every 15 months since 1989
when sequencing work began. The Los Alamos HGP relies on Sun technology
to keep itself up and running.
Sun is striving to bring something radically new to the
open source desktop in the form of Project Looking Glass. First shown
last month at LinuxWorld, Project Looking Glass offers a 3-D windowing
capability to users that does not stack their windows one upon another
and represent them with icons or buttons. Rather, solution, which
works with both Linux and the Solaris
Operating System (Solaris OS), can display windows in a 3-D environment
that can be manipulated as 3-D objects.
The Sun White Paper "Sun Management Center 3.5 Agent Update" details
the design, benefits and best practices of Agent Update. This agent
deployment solution enables administrators to create software images of
agent packages and patches, which it then automatically installs on
multiple hosts simultaneously.
Preview an upcoming version of the Solaris Operating System
(Solaris OS) with Sun's Software Express program. With this program,
downloading prerelease software allows users to experience true
cutting-edge technology. Software developers and system administrators,
who either port their applications or support Solaris OS environments,
will find this application useful.
Achieve higher levels of system availability with the Sun Configuration
and Service Tracker 3.5 . This Web-enabled application tracks
critical hardware and software events continuously allowing system
administrators to perform root cause analysis, track system
availability, detect system configuration changes and more.
Free and Open-Source Software Developers' European Meeting (FOSDEM) is
scheduled for February 21-22, 2004, in Brussels, Belgium. This
free event offers the latest on free and open-source software
developments. Six tracks are slated for FOSDEM's third annual meeting
including accessibility, Java technology, Linux kernel, scripting languages,
security and X & Co.
Decision-makers associated with businesses leveraging open-source
software (OSS) may be interested in attending the Open Source Business
Conference (OSBC), which will be held March 16-17, in San Francisco.
Information will focus on the role and opportunities OSS has in
current and future markets.
KDE 3.2 is now available with an integrated desktop and a comprehensive
set of applications. As a leading open-source desktop software solution
for Linux and UNIX, KDE 3.2 can be downloaded for free along with all source
code and vendor supplied and supported binary packages.
Open-source software (OSS) is commonly referred to as "free", but it
involves costs. But those costs are still less than proprietary
software. This was the topic of discussion at the Nasscom 2004
technology forum titled, "Open Source-The Next Generation," which
outlined the true costs and proven benefits of using OSS. The three-day event hosted over 900 delegates who debated over the industry's latest issues.
Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) has issued Data Center Linux (DCL)
Technical Capabilities, version 1.0, a set of technical guidelines for
the use of the open source operating system in running mission-critical
enterprise applications on server platforms. With this document, and
the forthcoming DCL requirements document for use by Linux
distributors, enterprise users and developers of the Linux kernel, OSDL
hopes to promote the adoption of Linux for large-scale IT initiatives.
Belgium's Notre-Dame de la Paix University, one of Europe's largest
Jesuit Universities, finds computer technology to be a vital element
for developing new research programs and evolving course content. When
the university recently needed to upgrade chemistry and physics
departments' computer systems, it turned to Sun for an 100 percent,
end-to-end hardware and software solution.
Caron Carlson reports in a recent eweek.com article that George Washington
University is one of the latest institutions of higher learning to
commit its data center resources to replacing the resident Microsoft
infrastructure technology with Linux. George Washington's CIO David
Swartz explained that the continuing cost and burden of security
patching Microsoft solutions drove the decision.
The Java Research License (JRL) is a new class of license designed by
Sun to serve universities and researchers wishing to use Java
technology as subject matter for research. The new class of license
results from a relaxation of the term "research" as it previously
applied to Sun Community Source Licensing (SCSL).
Sys Admin, a journal for UNIX and Linux system administrators,
recently published an article about IP Quality of Service (IPQoS).
IPQoS is designed to allow management of network traffic, and aims to
control how much network bandwidth each application can use.
A recent Sun BluePrints OnLine article, "Design, Features, and
Applicability of Solaris File Systems," provides the reader with a
taxonomy of file systems and highlights both the strengths and
weaknesses of the different file systems. Author Brian Wong also offers
some insight into the issues one should consider when making decisions
regarding how to apply the set of file systems that are available for
specific applications.
Check Point has announced a security vulnerability in the Check Point
Firewall-1 that could allow a remote hacker to execute arbitrary code
with administrative privileges. The exploit allows an attacker to take
control of the firewall, and, in some cases, control the server it runs
on.
A 37-page Sun BluePrints article, "Enterprise Network Design
Patterns: High Availability," details how to create highly available
network designs using Sun technologies and network switching/routers.
A new book by author Bruce W. Perry aims to provide useful tips and
techniques that can be used every day, along with complete solutions to
significant real-world Web application development problems. Readers
can place these solutions directly into their own applications, and
have over 230 code examples to choose from.
Ken O. Burtch's new book, "Linux Shell Scripting with Bash," aims to
highlight professional scripting solutions through the use of
structured programming and standard Linux development tools. The text
delves into the Linux environment and the strong set of tools it
contains.
A new book from O'Reilly takes a close look at Postfix, a Mail Transfer
Agent (MTA) software that mail servers use to route mail. The book
takes the reader through basic configuration issues to the full power
of Postfix, discussing an array of tasks, from virtual hosting to
controls for unsolicited commercial email.
Authors Cyrus Peikari and Anton Chuvakin penned "Security Warrior" to
better inform readers on how their systems can potentially be
threatened. The book covers a range of topics, such as reverse
engineering, SQL attacks, social engineering, antiforensics, and
advanced attacks against UNIX and Windows systems.
Beta 1 release of Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) 1.5
("Tiger") is now available for public download. New features include
Java language updates, monitoring and management support, and a focus
on rich clients for the desktop. The improvements are to support faster
and more secure coding.
In a recent CNET News.com interview with James Gosling of Sun, Gosling
talked with Martin LaMonica about the Java Tools Community and making
tools easier for developers.
According to a report on mobile gaming by Juniper Research, SMS
text-based games and rich-media Java technology based games are
projected to generate over $9.7bn in mobile revenues by 2008. SMS based
game downloads accounted for $1.5bn last year.
For information on the packages in the Java 2 Platform, Standard
Edition (J2SE) version 1.5.0, see the list of all classes and
packages on the java.sun.com Web site. Each package is described, as
well as an interface summary and a class summary.
The theme for February for the JavaOne Online Program Web site is
"Java in Communications," which will focus on APIs and applications
that interact with emerging feature-rich communications networks. Log on to check out the sessions available.
Log on to the JavaOne Online program Web site for a free Webinar on
February 25, featuring Carol McDonald of Sun as she discusses best
practices for the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE)
using real-life examples.
Java technology is everywhere, improving the digital experience for
everyone. It all starts at the JavaOne Conference, your source for
cutting-edge knowledge and proven solutions. Registration will open at
the end of February.
SimBionic for Java, developed by Stottler Henke, is a
new Java technology-based tool kit that uses Artificial
Intelligence (AI) to enable the easy definition of intelligent,
real-time monitoring and decision-making logic in Java applets and
client-side or Web server-based games and applications.
Sun has certified the Vignette Application Portal 7.0 on the Test and
Compatibility Kit (TCK) for compliance with recently adopted Java
Specification Request (JSR) 168 portlet interoperability standard.
Vignette Corp. aims to deliver standards-based portal solutions that
scale and evolve from department level to enterprisewide deployments.
Compuware Corporation is releasing the 3.1 version of the Compuware
OptimalJ development platform, which includes support for Web Services
security, a broader set of options for the Compuware OptimalJ's
integrated testing environment and enhanced features for legacy
integration. Compuware is also currently working with BEA, Sun and
Oracle to form the Java Tools Community (JTC).
AmberPoint 2004, a Web Services management system, addresses the need
to incorporate Web application traffic (HTML/HTTP) and administer
complex Web Services systems. AmberPoint 2004 gives customers
end-to-end visibility across heterogeneous systems, including non-WSDL
Web Services, non-SOAP XML, HTML, Java servlets and JavaServer
Pages (JSP) technology. AmberPoint integrates into any Web
Services environment. AmberPoint runs natively in the .NET and the
Java platform. No additional coding to the Web Services themselves
is required.
A provider of Java technology browser and Java technology Web
access software, ICEsoft Technologies Inc., has had its ICEreader
solution chosen by InstallShield Software Corporation for integration
with InstallShield MultiPlatform. InstallShield MultiPlatform is a
powerful and flexible solution that is capable of deploying software
onto any client or server platform, including Mac OS X, OS/400,
Windows, AIX, Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS), Linux, HP-UX
or any other flavor of UNIX system.
The white paper "Architecture for Sun Netra CT 820 Server and Telecom
Blades" describes the Netra Telecom Blade platform, which consists
of the carrier-grade Netra CT 820 server and Netra CP2300 Telecom
Blades. With the improvements in per-server energy consumption and
space delivered by the Netra Telecom Blade platform, organizations can
increase resource utilization by flexibly responding to customer needs,
leverage a shared infrastructure to increase availability, and reduce
cabling complexity through a modular, plug-and-play platform.
The Sun and Alcatel Development Certified Platform (DCP) Program
ensures that end users receive the best-of-breed products and
solutions. The Alcatel 5620 Network Manager is a carrier-class,
multi-service network manager, capable of configuring and managing
wireline and wireless networks.
To deliver advanced mobile data, information and entertainment services
to over 90 million China Unicom wireless subscribers, Sun has announced
a new agreement with China Unicom and Beijing ZRRT Communication
Technology (ZRRT). They will also develop a Java Technology
Lab to evaluate the market and develop next-generation UniJa services.
Two software downloads are available for Netra servers: System
Management Software for Netra ct 400/800 servers; and 64-bit
Alarms software for the Netra t 1120/25 servers.
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