Sun Unveils First of "Niagara" Servers

Sun Microsystems Inc. on Tuesday unveiled the first of its Niagara series servers powered by its new multicore UltraSPARC T1.

UltraSPARC T1’s eight processing cores can run 32 parallel instruction sequences called threads while consuming a maximum of 72 watts--considerably lower than most competing chips.

The latest systems are a crucial part of Sun’s attempt to restore its financial fortunes and respect in the server market. The company is aiming the servers chiefly at Dell, IBM and Hewlett-Packard - and both higher-end Unix servers and lower-end x86 servers using Intel and AMD chips.

``We are betting not only the future of the company but the future of the industry on these systems,’’ said Larry Singer, senior vice president and strategic insights officer of Sun. ``We are now introducing a server architecture that others won’t be able to catch up with for three to five years.’’

"We believe this is the finishing up of the reinvention of the product line," said Chief Marketing Officer Anil Gadre. "I believe Niagara will instill vast amount of new confidence in the direction of Sparc long-term."

Sun positioned Tuesday’s OpenSparc announcement as "open sourcing UltraSparc T1," referring to the chip’s design specifications as "hardware source code." On its Web site, Sun defines open sourcing hardware as "providing free and open tools that are essential components to developing a new chip."