Sun Integrates with,
Enhances Microsoft
Customer
Environments
New Server, Storage, Desktop
Products Enable Sun and
Microsoft Interoperability
NEW YORK - September 9, 1998 - Sun Microsystems,
Inc.
revealed its most significant plans to date to provide
interoperability and compatibility between SunTM and
Microsoft systems without sacrificing the industrial-strength
reliability and scalability that are key attributes of the
SolarisTM operating environment. Today's announcements,
made at the company's Enterprise Computing Forum in New
York, include:
A technology agreement with AT&T that allows both
SPARC- and Intel-based Solaris systems to provide
native Windows NT services, opening up a vast new
market for Sun's fast-growth Sun EnterpriseTM servers
A new add-in card that enables users of Sun's newest
UltraTM workstations to run Microsoft Windows and
DOS applications at native speed performance
Efforts to link its entire line of Sun StorEdgeTM network
storage arrays and tape libraries directly into Microsoft
Windows NT environments
"Our customers have been asking us for better Microsoft
interoperability while at the same time expressing concern
about the absence of reliability and scalability in Windows
NT
environments," said Masood Jabbar, president of Sun
Computer Systems. "With these announcements, we deliver
on both. Not only will Sun systems interoperate with
Microsoft systems, but we've figured out a better way to
deliver NT services in Windows environments. Our
two-pronged approach creates a unique opportunity that
could translate into incremental server, storage and desktop
revenue for Sun."
Sun Servers Deliver Native Windows NT Services on Solaris
Operating Environment Codenamed "Project Cascade,"
this
technology is a result of an agreement inked between Sun
and AT&T and incorporates AT&T's Advanced Server for
UNIX Systems. It allows Solaris servers to deliver the exact
same network services that Windows NT servers offer in PC
environments, such as authentication, directory services and
file/print. Sun achieves this by running native Windows NT
services on top of the powerful Solaris operating
environment, thereby enabling Sun to pursue a sizeable
portion of the Windows NT server environment. According to
International Data Corporation, 54 percent of Windows NT
server licenses sold in 1997 supported file and print
services(1). Sun is now poised to take advantage of this new
market opportunity with its Sun Enterprise servers, armed
with a distinct advantage: its expertise in building the crucial
enterprise "backbone" or network infrastructure, where
scalability and reliability are of utmost importance. Project
Cascade technology will be available on the Solaris
operating environment for both the SPARC and Intel
platforms. (See separate release entitled "Sun Brings Proven
Reliability and Scalability to Windows NT World" for details.)
Best of Both Worlds:
Combining Workstation
Performance & PC Interoperability
Previously, many technical computing customers
using Sun's
newest Ultra workstations also had a PC on their desk, or
used emulation software, to run PC office productivity
applications. A new high-performance card, called the
SunPCiTM co-processor card, plugs easily into Sun's Ultra
workstations and lets users run Microsoft Windows and DOS
applications natively on their SunTM workstations - integrating
Solaris and PC operating environments in a single desktop.
This new technology complements Sun's existing suite of PC
interoperability solutions, which satisfy a full range of
customers' cost and performance needs - everything from
viewing applications to sharing applications to running
Microsoft Windows applications. (See separate release
entitled "Sun Customers Experience the Best of Both
Worlds: Workstation Performance and PC Interoperability"
for details.)
Leveraging Sun's
Storage Success into Windows NT
Market
Sun intends to leverage its success as
the No. 1 UNIX.
storage provider into the vast Windows NT market, bringing
its noted competence in price/performance and reliability to
Microsoft environments. Today, Sun announced that it is
working toward linking its entire line of storage systems -
from the entry-level Sun StorEdge A1000 array and the fibre
channel-based Sun StorEdge A5000 to the high-end Sun
StorEdge A7000 Intelligent Storage ServerTM system and
Sun StorEdge tape libraries - directly into Microsoft Windows
NT environments by year end. This will enable customers to
connect Sun storage devices to either Solaris or NT servers,
providing maximum flexibility and investment protection since
customers can purchase from Sun the same enterprise-class
storage for their Solaris or NT servers. In addition, when
used with "Project Cascade" technology, Sun StorEdge
systems can support not only Solaris-based Windows NT
network services, but Windows NT application servers as
well. (See separate release entitled "Sun Microsystems
Extends Microsoft Windows NT Compatibility Across Entire
Line of Sun StorEdge Arrays" for details.)
About Sun Microsystems,
Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular
vision, "The Network Is
The ComputerTM," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc.
(NASDAQ: SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of
high quality hardware, software and services for establishing
enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the
Internet. With more than $9.5 billion in annual revenues, Sun
can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World
Wide Web at http://sun.com. @Macarlo, Inc. @Macarlo's Shareware & Web OS/2 Java Lobby Member
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