Sun agrees to use Intel chips in servers

Warning: Table 'watchdog' was not locked with LOCK TABLES query: INSERT INTO watchdog (uid, type, message, severity, link, location, referer, hostname, timestamp) VALUES (0, 'php', 'Table 'cache' is marked as crashed and should be repaired\nquery: UPDATE cache SET data = '<p>Sun Microsystems Inc. has agreed to use chips from Intel Corporation, the world\\'s largest computer chip maker, in some of its servers, a blow to Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which is Sun\\'s exclusive source for chips, while a major win for Intel, which has been fighting to reverse plunging profits.</p>\\n', created = 1200403795, expire = 1200490195, headers = '' WHERE cid = 'filter:1:4db8da20d30997b096c627190e78a90c' in /home/admin/domains/themoneytimes.com/public_html/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 120.', 2, '', 'http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20070122/sun_agrees_to_use_i in /home/admin/domains/themoneytimes.com/public_html/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 120

Sun Microsystems Inc. has agreed to use chips from Intel Corporation, the world's largest computer chip maker, in some of its servers, a blow to Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which is Sun's exclusive source for chips, while a major win for Intel, which has been fighting to reverse plunging profits.

Santa Clara, California-based server and software maker would, however, keep making computers based on AMD chips. Under the agreement, Sun will buy Intel's Xeon chips to power its servers, in addition to AMD's Opteron chips that Sun uses, according to a source familiar with the deal.

The deal will also result in Intel's endorsement of Sun's Solaris operating system, the source said. However, it declined to disclose the specifics of the arrangement as the deal had not been yet made public. With the endorsement of Sun's Solaris, Intel will also get rights to sell the operating system.

Intel's endorsement of Sun's Solaris operating system is also beneficial for Sun, as many servers that use chips based on the ‘x86’ micro-architecture often run on Linux or Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Jonathan Schwartz, the chief executives of Sun and Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini are expected to announce a broad partnership, centered on Sun slotting Xeon chips into its servers and Intel backing Solaris x86, between the two companies at a news conference on Monday at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco.

Intel, which has lost more than 5 percent of the overall computer chip market to archrival AMD, is still the world's largest computer chip maker. It began losing the market share several years ago as customers began attracted to AMD-designed chips that were seen as more energy-efficient.

In order to regain the market share and reverse the plunging profit, last year, Intel rolled out a new line of chips based on an upgraded design that industry observers cheered for delivering higher performance while giving off less heat.

Sun Microsystems, an Archrival of Microsoft Corporation, has depended entirely on the Sunnyvale, California based AMD to supply server chips based on the popular ‘x86’ design, used in many personal computers and servers. Nonetheless, Sun also makes its own line of Sparc branded processors.

Sun entered into the partnership with AMD in 2003.

Shawn Dainas and Tom Beermann, spokesmen for Sun and Intel, respectively, also declined to comment on the expected deal.

Once the deal matures, Sun would join the list of those computer makers using both AMD and Intel chips. Until now, three giant computer manufacturers, including Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and International Business Machines Corp., were selling computers based on both companies’ microprocessors.