This is a short overview of Sun's Systems history. There are a lot of interesting things in the past which help us understand current technologies and even predict their future.
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1. SUN SPARC SYSTEMS: HISTORIC VIEW
Pavel Anni
Sun Microsystems
2. Executive Summary
According to historical data, typical life expectancy of Sun
SPARC systems family is 6.5-7.5 years
Systems families usually have 1.5 years overlap to allow
customers make a smooth transition
Systems have processor speedbumps over their lifetime; starting
from Sun Fire family (2001) it is possible to have processor with
different speeds in one system
Technologies used in the systems families evolve over time,
becoming more and more mature
3. Industry Leading ROI 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
2012 UltraSPARC I, UltraSPARC II UltraSPARC III, IV, IV+ SPARC64
VI, VII } 6 years 7 months }7years 9 months ~ 6 - 7years 4. Systems
Transition Periods 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012
UltraSPARC I, UltraSPARC II UltraSPARC III, IV, IV+ SPARC64 VI, VII
1.5 years 1.5 years Consistent transition period 5. Domains story
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012
E10K
Since 1997
Up to 16 domains per system
Granularity: 4 CPU + I/O (together only)
Dynamic Reconfiguration
Smallest system with domaining: E10K, 64-way
Sun Fire 25K
Since 2001
Up to 18 domains per system
Granularity: 4 CPU and/or I/O board
Dynamic Reconfiguration
Smallest system with domaining: SF 4800,12-way
SPARC Enterprise
Since 2007
Up to 24 domains per system
Granularity: 1 CPU, I/O board, 8 DIMMs
Dynamic Reconfiguration
Smallest system with domaining: M4000,4-way
Better granularity,More domains,Domains go mid-range Even better
granularity,Even more domains,Domains go entry-level SPARC 6. RAS
story 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012
E10K
No single point of failure
POST and Automatic Reconfiguration
Redundant systems boards, power supplies
Hot-swap system boards, control boards, power supplies, disk
drives