Sun Introduces 900MHz 4-Way Servers

However, a slow server market could cloud the prospects for the new server in the near-term.

The V480 includes up to four 900MHz UltraSPARC III processors, up to 32 Gbytes of memory, two hot-plug 36-Gbyte Fibre Channel hard drives, and a DVD-ROM drive, all in a 5U rack-mount chassis.

Pricing for the base configuration of two processors, 4.0 Gbytes of memory, and two hard drives starts at $22,995. A bundle incorporating the V480 server with a Sun StorEdge T3 direct-attached array with nine 36-Gbyte hard drives starts at $44,595. They are available to the channel direct to solution providers or via distributors GE Access and Moca.

The new servers are targeted at financial, ERP, education and manufacturing businesses, said Warren Mootrey, director of product marketing for the vendor.

The V480 offers such high-availability features as hot-plug drives, hot-plug n 1 power supplies, a remote service console, and automatic system recovery software, as well as the same interconnect bus as the rest of the company's Sun Fire line from the E15K and down, Mootrey said.

Even so, they are priced aggressively against Wintel-based servers from such vendors as HP and IBM, said Mootrey. "When you compare the Sun pricing, note we are targeting the Intel space," he said. "And Intel servers are traditionally priced under Unix."

The release of the V480 comes during a difficult time for the server industry. Last week, IDC released a study which concluded that, while worldwide server shipments are expected to grow about 4 percent this quarter compared to last, the bulk of that growth will be in the entry-level space, which includes servers priced under $100,000.

Earlier this month, another IDC report found that the market for 4-way and 8-way servers has dropped in favor of 1-way and 2-way models thanks to cutbacks in company IT spending.

Mootrey said Sun is not too concerned about the sales environment for its new servers. The company's new 8-way Sun Fire V880, released late last year, became the No. 1 selling Unix server in terms of revenue during its first full quarter in production. "I agree that purchasing decisions are taking longer than in the past," he said. "But our shipping volumes are up this quarter compared to our forecasts."