Sun Digs in at the Data Center

r

Sun Digs in at the Data Center
r

r

By Rawlson O’Neil King
r

r

This story appeared in the July/August 2004 issue of Web Host Industry Review magazine. Click here to subscribe for free.
r

r

August 6, 2004 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY
r

REVIEW) — Sun Microsystems recently began the process of diversifying
r

its product and service portfolio, in order to fortify its position in
r

the data center and entice new data center customers.
r

r

The company announced plans to release
r

source code from its Solaris operating system under an open-source
r

license. The move would allow developers to customize Solaris for
r

specific corporate applications, and could potentially allow service
r

providers to modify the operating system and even release enhanced
r

versions specifically for Web hosting and data warehousing.
r

r

Sun has yet to release a timetable for
r

the arrival of an open-source version, but we can assume a long wait.
r

The company will no doubt encounter many legal and technical
r

difficulties concerning the software’s release, and will have to work
r

to ensure that all code offered is Sun’s own intellectual property and
r

not contributed by its big name clients.
r

r

Traditionally, Sun has updated the
r

operating system on a quarterly basis, ensuring that every new feature
r

is quality tested. It will now have to accommodate ad hoc developer
r

additions into that product evaluation cycle.
r

The firm, however, is determined to make
r

moves to enhance its business. Sun has lost a significant volume of
r

sales to Linux servers running on inexpensive Intel-based systems.
r

Linux server shipments grew by 57 percent year-over-year in the first
r

quarter of 2004, while sales of Unix servers declined by three percent
r

during that time, according to industry research firm IDC.
r

r

Unix systems, primarily IBM’s AIX, HP-UX
r

and Solaris, all have lost ground to Linux and Windows, the most
r

popular options presently offered to and by hosting providers.
r

Approximately 866,000 Unix operating systems shipped worldwide in 2000.
r

That number declined to 622,000 in 2002 and IDC believes it continued
r

to decline in 2003.
r

r

Those in the hosting industry know that
r

the open-source, Unix-type operating systems, such as Linux and
r

OpenBSD, have been more popular due to their low cost, ease of
r

customization and standardization.
r

While many large enterprises use Solaris to consolidate their server
r

infrastructures, service providers make their money by activating many
r

servers on their networks. The lowered cost of an open-source Sun
r

operating system might be more inviting to these users and make the
r

software’s wider use by service providers a more realistic possibility,
r

as the open-source model would allow more Solaris machines to be
r

deployed at a cheaper cost.
r

r

In the industry’s early days, Solaris was
r

an option provided by many hosting companies, due to the lack of
r

low-cost options. By making its OS more accessible from a price
r

perspective, Sun is attempting to resuscitate its operating system,
r

creating a more affordable and viable option for the hosting and
r

enterprise data center.
r

r

Because analysts remain skeptical that an
r

open-source Solaris would have any major impact on Fortune 500
r

customers, who require support and product stability from Sun, we can
r

assume that the new model will mainly benefit developers and service
r

providers, who can cheaply use the OS to their advantage.
r

r

While an open-source Solaris project
r

remains on the horizon, the company is also vying to build its share of
r

the data center marketplace by introducing a suite of technologies and
r

solutions, entitled N1 Grid that will help make it easier for large
r

companies to deploy and manage enterprise grids and resources to
r

deliver network services.
r

r

Grid computing enables the virtualization
r

of distributed computing and data resources such as processing, network
r

bandwidth and storage capacity to create a single integrated system,
r

granting users and applications seamless access to vast IT
r

capabilities. It brings together heterogeneous resources and allocates
r

them efficiently to applications, within the enterprise and beyond.
r

Using such technology, corporations can make full use of computers that
r

would normally remain dormant across departments or entire geographical
r

regions.
r

r

Under the grid model, computing resources
r

in data centers never need to remain idle, while other resources
r

experience high demand. Using Sun’s new grid solution for data centers,
r

businesses can create balanced demand for computing resources across
r

the entire enterprise, reduce costs, increase product quality and
r

innovation and speed products to market due to their enhanced computing
r

capacity.
r

r

The solutions also allow enterprises to
r

monitor and select the optimal usage of computer resources on most
r

commercial operating systems and platforms, and incorporate accounting
r

and reporting features that can generate usage reports per department,
r

by project, by user, or by host, to make sure that computer resources
r

match business needs.
r

r

Sun’s new technologies are pretty
r

convincing evidence that the company intends to dig in its heels in the
r

data center space. The decision to open-source Solaris, especially,
r

should open Sun’s data center technologies to new horizons, giving
r

hosting firms more control over the OS, and bringing some fresh appeal
r

to the company’s long-standing offerings.
r

No related posts.