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Sun May Use Opteron Chips

Runnin_Rob writes "CNET Nets.com is reporting that Sun is likely (not definite, but likely) to start using AMD's Opteron in the near future. The article also discusses how Linux is pushing for greater acceptability of Solaris x86 because 'All of the sudden it is OK to (put) something other than Windows.'"

5 of 237 comments (clear)

  1. opteron form factor by E.+T.+Alveron · · Score: 4, Informative

    Has anyone heard of commodity motherboards for this chip/chipset?
    It's great that Sun and AMD are together on this, but I'm itching to build a box myself :)

  2. Re:Not likely by E.+T.+Alveron · · Score: 5, Informative

    that's fine for n-way servers, but the high-end workstation market may benefit from a 64bit cpu.
    there are already plenty of dual Itanium 'stations available for $10k and up.
    I bet AMD will undercut Intel's price for 64bit CPU by a lot.

  3. Re:sun needs to drop sparc by randyest · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sun is losing market share and fast

    Oh, really? Who'd you ask to learn this erroneous fact? Maybe your office uber geek or whoever fed you this line of crap can fix your mouse driver, but apparently he's a bit behind on the industry. You (or whoever you're parroting) obviously have no idea what you're talking about.

    The latest research showed a surge in Sun's market share between the last quarter of 2001 and the first quarter of 2002.
    (http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/17758.html)

    The overall Unix server market grew 11 percent, from $5.9 billion in the first quarter of 1999 to $6.6 billion in the same period in 2000, according to research firm International Data Corp. Of that, Sun kept the top spot, increasing its share from 28 percent to 32 percent, with revenue of $2.1 billion in the first quarter of 2000.
    (http://news.com.com/2100-1001-242350.html?legacy= cnet)

    Oh, maybe you meant internationally -- no wait, that doesn't work either:

    Sun Microsystems has increased its market share in the RISC/UNIX server market in India in Q1 2002, according to IDC. Sun's RISC/UNIX server revenue market share in India grew to 48.4% in Q1 of 2002 from the 34.6% achieved in the full year 2001.
    (http://www.ciol.com/content/news/repts/102070105. asp)

    Before you try to complain about the dates, show me more recent data. (I have some, and it's even better for Sun that what you can find on the web right now, but I can't share my Peddie report legally -- go buy your own : http://www.jonpeddie.com/index.shtml ).

    Better yet, try to explain to me what Sun does and exactly which market share they are interested in. Knowing the SPARC acronym is a simple google click away -- that demonstrates nothing, but I guess it is getting you a bit of karma; no respect from the clueful, though.

    It says a lot when you take the top of the line sparc chip, and put it up against a chip a quarter of the price that kicks its butt.

    I'm sorry, what machine kicks a Sun SPARC's butt in the apps they give a damn about? I don't think Sun cares if your Intel box gets more fps in Quake3 than a SPARC. You do realize Sun's are 64-bit machines, right? Do you know what that means? Or why so many corporations with deep pockets care? No, you don't. When's the last time this phantom butt-kicking CPU worked on 16GB of RAM or more?

    not every case calls for a 24 cpu machine

    And not every garage calls for (or can afford) a Ferrari. Duh. But the really profitable ones do. DO you have any idea what the difference in profit between a 1-CPU (or 2!) server and an enterprise server? No, of course you don't.

    Get a clue or STFU.

    --
    everything in moderation
  4. Re:Solaris 9, the best Unix of 1995 by SN74S181 · · Score: 4, Informative

    If he booted off the 'Install' CD and got mired in Webstart, he had already lost. That appears to be something the Sun engineers tricked up for marketing to keep them safe and out of the way. To install Solaris properly you boot off CD1, which is also bootable, and it gives you a regular unkludged Solaris install.

    Stuff like that is detailed in a valuable 'short cut' document from Sun, the wonderful Solaris 80/20 Guide, officially 'Solaris OE Guide for New System Administrators: The 20% of Solaris knowledge that solves 80% of your needs'.

    If there is any chance of you ever wanting to explore Solaris, download and archive this document now . It's a real hassle, I just found out, to locate it on the docs.sun website, so bookmark this. It's one hell of a good cribsheet.

  5. not exactly what I heard on their briefing... by boaworm · · Score: 3, Informative
    I think you are missing one important product, even though you might be right about lowend servers. I attended a Sun marketing meeting a week back, where they showed off all products to come in within a year or so, and I remember the Opterons. Although they did not mention them in lowend servers but rather in blade tech. 12 dual opteron blade servers in a 3U "rack-in-a-rack", perfect for fast calculations.


    So, expect AMD CPUs in blade configurations but not in servers, the SPARC arch is still going strong in SUNs business model (dont remember any AMD cpu's in any server models actually).

    --
    Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities.
    Aristotele