Sun Microsystems and Fujitsu have introduced an advanced line of quad-core SPARC64 VII processors. The retooled chips – which run at 2.53GHz and 2.88GHz – reportedly deliver up to 25 percent “better performance” than previous processors.
Sun also announced an enhanced SPARC memory controller, along with a new flash array known as the F5100. The array features up to two terabytes of solid-state Flash and is capable of achieving 1.6 million read-1.2 million write IOPS performance in a single rack unit.
According to Sun, the F5100 utilizes 300 watts of electricity and is comparable to 3,000 enterprise hard disk drives that span 14 data center racks and consume 40,000 watts of power.
As TG Daily previously reported, Oracle’s recent acquisition of Sun has prompted both companies to pledge their continuing support for SPARC architecture. Indeed, Sun Chairman Scott McNealy told reporters at Oracle Open World that SPARC was maintaining a “good momentum.”
“There are 216,000 Sparc-based servers [currently] on the market and we have sold 7 million processors this decade,” said McNealy. “So, we asked Oracle and Larry Ellison, what are your plans for SPARC? Well, Oracle is committed to SPARC and will spend more money than we have on its development.”
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison expressed similar sentiments.
“We are not selling off our hardware business. SPARC is fantastic technology and it can be even better with investment by increasing the rate of innovation,” emphasized Ellison. “We will make it faster and more reliable, while reducing its power consumption. If IBM wants to compete, we are happy to compete. We intend to demonstrate that SPARC is the best [architecture] in the world.”
See Also
Larry Ellison endorses SPARC, criticizes IBM’s Power architecture
Sun: Oracle is “committed” to SPARC architecture
Intel: Xeon 5500 servers are “cash machines”
