Sun Introduces Its First Nebs Level 3 Rack Server Powered By The AMD Opteron Processor, Offering Industry's Broadest OS Support, Including Solaris 10

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today introduced the Netra X4200 M2 server, Sun's first Network Equipment Building Standard (NEBS) Level 3 Certified Rack Server powered by the AMD Opteron processor and offering the industry's broadest operating system (OS) support, including the Solaris 10 OS, Red Hat and SUSE Linux, and Windows. Based on the Sun Fire X4200 M2 server announced in October 2006, the Netra X4200 M2 server is Sun's first Netra rackmount server developed with industry-standard x64 (x86, 64-bit) architecture.


The Netra X4200 M2 server offers some of the industry's highest storage and memory capacity in a 2U, 20-inch package -- with up to four, 146GB SAS drives and up to 32GB of memory -- and ships ready to support the new Sun Multithreaded Networking Card to enable significantly higher network throughput. Sun will be adding support for the Sun Multithreaded 10 GbE Networking Technology to the Netra family of servers, delivering application performance improvements of up to four times Sun's current network interfaces when paired with x64 or SPARC multi-core servers. The Sun Multithreaded 10 GbE Networking Technology is designed to take advantage of the Solaris OS' threaded design for optimized throughput, regardless of the processor.

"Adding x64 rackmount architecture to the Netra server family extends the choice of platforms for our customers and partners in the telco space," said Mark Butler, Netra systems product line director, Sun Microsystems. "Now telco companies that want industry-standard hardware can develop their solutions on Sun ATCA blades or rackmount servers, the broadest offering of carrier grade platforms in the industry."

"This next deployment of the Sun Netra platform -- the X4200 M2 -- is quite impressive, both from a performance and quality point of view. It not only leverages the throughput and power of AMD64 technology with Direct Connect Architecture but demonstrates Sun’s commitment to our continuing relationship," said Peter Robinson, telecom segment manager, AMD. "Sun and AMD have a long history of providing industry-standard x86 hardware to many vertical markets, and we will continue to work together to extend such offerings to the telco industry."

Customers and ISVs Show Support for Sun Netra Family

The Netra X4200 M2 server can be used to create solutions such as media servers, voice over IP (VoIP), signaling gateway controllers, element management systems, network traffic analysis systems, operation management systems and data management systems. Siemens Networks is deploying Netra X4200 M2 servers to run its VoIP applications.

"Siemens Networks has been validating the Netra X4200 M2 server in our laboratories for several months now," said Joachim Ungruh, Senior Vice President, VoIP Solutions, Siemens Networks. "While we are still in the platform verification phase, it has exceeded our performance expectations. The Netra X4200 M2 will significantly enhance the competitiveness of our Consumer and Business VoIP solution offerings, continuing to reinforce Siemens' strategy to leverage the technology advancements of market-leading computing platforms."

A number of ISVs are developing applications for the Netra X4200 M2 server, including Adax, AppGate Network Security, Appium, jNetX and Surf. In addition, Sun's ATCA products are being used to create solutions for large wireless OAM&P systems, multimedia messaging servers, next-generation IMS platforms, wireless access and next-generation gateways. Sun intends to make its leading Multithreaded 10 GbE Networking Technology available across the ATCA portfolio in the near future. The Netra Data Plane Software Suite announced in December is also gaining support from leading ISVs, including SDC Labs, Surf and Teja Technologies. For more information on ISV support of the Netra X4200 M2, please visit: http://www.sun.com/servers/netra/x4200/perspectives.xml. For more information on ISV endorsements for Sun's ATCA products, please visit: http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/boards/cp3060/perspectives.xml

Availability and Pricing

The 2-socket version of the Netra X4200 M2 server is available now, with entry-level pricing starting at $9,845. The 1-socket version is scheduled to be available in May with entry-level pricing starting at $6,145. For more information on the Netra X4200 M2, please visit: http://www.sun.com/netra/x4200. To learn more about Sun's entire Netra ATCA blade server family, please visit: http://www.sun.com/atca. For more information on support for Sun's OEM customers, please visit: http://www.sun.com/oem/