Sun bolsters x86 server line with AMD Opterons

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By Alun Williams

Posted on 26 Jul 2004 at 16:58

Sun has expanded its Solaris x86 range with more AMD Opteron-based servers and workstations. New announcements include the Sun Fire V40z Server, Sun Java Workstation W1100z and Sun Java Workstation W2100z, which are now officially available.

'With Sun offering unparalleled leadership on operating systems, high-performance hardware and the Sun Java System software, including the Java Enterprise System and the Java Desktop System, I'm confident our newest systems based on the AMD Opteron processor will leave our competitors in the dark,' boasted John Fowler, executive VP of Sun's Network Systems Group.'

The Sun Java Workstation W2100z (pictured, top) carries two 200-series Opterons (models 244, 246, 248 or 250), and its specification includes: an integrated dual-channel memory controller with support for up to 16 GB of PC3200 registered ECC memory, up to two 73-GB Ultra320 SCSI internal hard drives, support for Nvidia's AGP-based graphics accelerators (such as the Quadro NVS280, the Quadro FX500, the Quadro FX1100, and the Quadro FX3000), five PCI-X slots, built-in USB 2.0 and IEEE1394a ports, and on-board Gigabit Ethernet.

Possible uses for such a beast include simulation programs, medical imaging, chip design and heavyweight digital media processing. Sun also states that the W2100z is also designed for deployment in a grid computing infrastructure.

You can find more information on the Sun Java Workstation W1100z and W2100z at www.sun.com/desktop/workstation. Pricing for the W1100z and W2100z start from $1,995 and $4,695, respectively.

The V40z (pictured, below) expands the Sun Fire line to include both 2- and 4-way rack-mounted Opteron servers, and more info can be found at www.sun.com/servers/entry/v40z/. Pricing starts from $8,495.

And news of another win for AMD came from Microsoft today. Redmond announced the availability of the SQL Server 2005 Beta 2 and said it would add support for the AMD Opteron with Direct Connect Architecture. This now matches the 64-bit Intel Itanium support within SQL Server 2000.