New Sun priorities could speed Niagara servers

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replace several independent machines.

In contrast, the UltraSparc IIIi+, which had been scheduled to arrive in 2005, has a single processing core that can execute a single thread. It will be used to update current low-end Sparc servers such as the V440, V240 and V210.

Sun doesn't have the resources to simultaneously test and qualify servers using both processors, Ingram said. In particular, government requirements called "reduction of hazardous substances" is requiring Sun and its suppliers to switch many new electronic components that must be retested, he said.

Niagara doesn't necessarily execute a single task faster than more-conventional processors, but it's designed to rapidly switch from one task to another so the chip can stay gainfully occupied while one task waits to fetch data from relatively slow memory. The result is that it can perform more tasks at the same time, giving it 15 times the "throughput" of an UltraSparc IIIi processor. The UltraSparc IIIi+, in contrast, will have only double the throughput.

Ingram hinted that Niagara might exceed that factor of 15. "The performance will be at least 15x. It might be even better," he said.

Niagara systems will have a single processor, but Sun plans different server models with various memory and expansion capacities, Ingram said.

Power consumption is a big part of the Niagara sales pitch.

The processor consumes 56 watts of power, Sun has said. Opterons consume 95 watts, and Xeons consume between 90 and 130 watts, Brookwood said. "Everyone in data centers these days is focused on power," he said.

Also coming in the second half of this year are new high-end systems with the UltraSparc IV+, a sequel to the current UltraSparc IV. Those systems could help lagging high-end system sales that have hurt Sun of late, Ingram said.

Sun also plans to release Opteron-based systems in the second half. High-end servers have great profit margins but don't ship in large volume; low-end servers have the opposite properties, but the Opteron machines will be comfortably in between, Ingram said.

"That's the sweet spot," Ingram said. "That's where Sun has always made most of its money."

[DavidHalko]

IIIi+, IV+, Niagra, Niagra-II

While Sun had traditionally made most of it's money in the mid-range area, it is important to realize what brings the mid-range customers...

Sun had always had some of the best price-performance metrics in the industry - often driven by it's low-mid range servers.

Customers know they can pay a price and scale to mid-range and high-end servers. That price... the ability to scale up, if the business dictates the need, is what drives Sun's existance.

While the UltraSparcIIIi drove best-in-class price/performance for many months, the UltraSparcIIIi+ offers the opportunity to compete in that arena with Opteron.

While the UltraSparcIV drive best-in-class price/performance for many months, the UltraSparc IV+ offers the opportunity to re-gain some lost ground to IBM with it's Power 5+ in the low-mid range. With the IV+ release, SUN had sufficiently buried IBM Power 5+ since IBM could not re-engineer the high-end machines in a reasonable timeframe.

Niagra offers what no chip on the market can offer - 32 processing threads on a single chip. There IS NO REASON to scale horizontally with multiple cheap boxes when Niagra exists.

It is clear why the likes of Google and eBay are engaging Sun again. It also makes sense why the financial arena is showing interest again.

Niagra is a killer technology which shows up no-where on any other chip makers timeline until the turn of the decade.