| Unix Bumped
from Server Throne - 1st Time in a Decade |
FRAMINGHAM, Mass.
- February 22, 2006 - According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Server
Tracker, factory revenue in the worldwide server market declined 0.2% year over
year to $14.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005.
This was the
first year-over-year quarterly decline in revenue since the first quarter of
2003, as year-over-year quarterly compares become more difficult. Worldwide
server unit shipments growth slowed modestly to 10.6% in 4Q05 when compared with
the year-ago period. Volume systems grew 7.3% year over year and the segment
continue to be the catalyst for growth for the server market overall, gaining
favor with SMB and enterprise customers alike. After four consecutive quarterly
increases, revenue for midrange enterprise servers declined 11.5% year over year
and the high-end enterprise server market showed a 1.7% decline year over year,
the fifth consecutive quarter of declining revenue for high-end enterprise
servers.
Sun's
server revenue declined 10.9% in this quarter to $1.2 billion. By
coincidence Fujitsu's
server revenue declined by exactly the same percentage.
The Windows
server market continued to show solid growth, with factory revenues increasing
by 4.7% year over year. Overall, Windows servers accounted for $4.9 billion in
4Q05, representing 33.6% of quarterly server market revenue. For all of 2005,
Windows server revenues were $17.7 billion, which means that for the first time
the Windows server segment modestly exceeded spending for Unix servers as
customers deployed more fully configured Windows servers in support of scalable
enterprise workloads and server virtualization projects. Linux servers
generated $1.6 billion in quarterly revenue, the fourteenth consecutive quarter
of double-digit growth, with year-over-year revenue growth of 20.8%.
For
the full year, Linux server revenues were $5.7 billion, placing it in third
place for the first time from an operating system perspective as customers
continued to expand the role of Linux servers into an increasingly wider array
of commercial and technical workloads.
Unix servers experienced a 5.9% decline in factory revenue year over
year to $5.0 billion for the quarter with worldwide Unix revenues for the
quarter representing 34.3% of overall quarterly factory revenue. For all of
2005, Unix server revenues were $17.5 billion, moving the platform from sole
possession of first place from an operating system perspective for the first
time in more than a decade. ...IDC profile
Sun Embarks on the Business Recovery Plan We Advocated in 2003 -
Linux on SPARC
Editor:-
February 16, 2006 - Sun is hyping up the prospects of a Linux port to
its UltraSPARC T1 processor.
To facilitate this - Sun has published
details of the SPARC architecture and relevant APIs for free download.
Commenting on this Jonathan Schwartz, President and COO, Sun
Microsystems said "Today we open the door to expanding SPARC onto new
platforms and into new markets, breaking down barriers to innovation and giving
our customers more choice. Having Linux or BSD ports for the UltraSPARC T1
processor will greatly expand the SPARC market, giving customers more
opportunities to reap the benefits of our CoolThreads technology. The OpenSPARC
effort is fostering a community for SPARC-based, 32 thread innovation that will
play a crucial role in redefining industry standards in the data center."
You
can't credit the guys at Sun for original thinking on this. Or fast action
either.
Three years ago in a popular article published in the
SPARC Product Directory called -
What's the Trigger
Event that will Turn Around Sun's Revenue Decline? - I argued why this
would be a necessary step. I also predicted that this would only happen after
Sun brought out some faster processors.
It's not the first time we've
accurately predicted Sun's changes in business direction, 2, 3 or 4 years ahead.
You can see the full list of these on -
SPARC market
articles.
Sun Phases Out Trusted Solaris
Editor:-
February 14, 2006 - an article in ITworld.com yesterday says that Sun
plans to end of life Trusted Solaris.
According to the article Sun
wants to concentrate its resources on improving security for its commercial
server customers, instead of focusing so much resources on the special needs of
its military
SPARC customers.
SPARC
Product Directory commented in earlier years that the defense and military
markets helped Sun to survive the difficult years 2001 to 2003 when its dotcom
and commercial SPARC server business collapsed. The fact that Sun is willing to
risk alienating this market is a sign that Sun is more optimistic about its
business prospects in the civilian server market. ...read the
article
Sun Resurrects SPARC Technology Business
SANTA
CLARA, Calif. - February 8, 2006 - Sun Microsystems, Inc. today
announced it is creating a new business unit to serve the needs of OEMs.
The
unit's goal is to better support Sun's OEM customers by establishing dedicated
sales, support and services for Sun's current products as well as delivering
new, tailored solutions to them. The business covers all of Sun's key hardware
and software technologies, including the Solaris 10 OS, the new Sun Fire x64
servers, the Sun T1000 and T2000 servers with CoolThreads technology, and ATCA
(advanced telecommunications computing architecture) products. Sun will
initially be targeting network equipment providers along with computer platform
vendors healthcare and imaging OEMs.
Editor's comments:- in the
early 1990s Sun had a business unit called
SPARC Technology
Business (STB) - which performed exactly the same functions as the new
business unit created this week. STB was very successful for a number of years -
because Sun's technology offered OEMS a competitive edge compared to alternative
architectures. Sun's new T1 high density SPARC chips provide a similar window
of opportunity.
Industry Collaborates on Remote Direct Memory Access
February 6, 2006 -
Leading technology companies, including IBM, Neterion, Sun
Microsystems and Universal Network Machines today announced that
they have joined forces in the OpenRDMA project to support the open source
software for Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) over TCP/IP and Ethernet
networks.
RDMA technology removes data copy operations and reduces
latency by allowing one computer to directly place information in another
computer's memory with minimal demands on memory bus bandwidth and CPU
processing overhead. Promoting a transport-independent RDMA solution, OpenRDMA
software will support network fabrics other than Ethernet.
Once
implemented, OpenRDMA software will help organizations meet increasing demands
for networking bandwidth and speed that are currently growing faster than the
processing power and memory bandwidth of the compute nodes that process
networking traffic.While exact timelines for the general availability of
OpenRDMA-provided kernel extensions are difficult to predict, the OpenRDMA
partners are expecting to provide these extensions for general evaluation in
2006. RDMA technology enables high-performance server clustering and eliminates
the burden of excessive memory copies when communicating between servers.
...Neterion profile
Engenio Achieves Solaris Ready Certification
MILPITAS, CA -
February 6, 2006 - LSI Logic Corp today announced that storage systems
from its Engenio Storage Group are now certified Solaris Ready within
the Sun Cluster Open Storage Program.
By meeting these
requirements, customers can be assured that Engenio storage products are fully
interoperable with the Solaris 10 OS. This certification allows customers to
design a storage infrastructure utilizing Sun Cluster software and Sun Fire
Servers that takes advantage of the high availability of Engenio storage systems
for mission critical applications.
...Engenio profile,
Sun, SPARC, Solaris
news
Interphase Ships Quad Gigabit Ethernet AdvancedMC
PLANO,
Texas - February 1, 2006 - Interphase Corp today announced the
availability of the SlotOptimizer 364G AdvancedMC Quad Gigabit Ethernet Card.
The new AdvancedMC adapter is designed specifically for converged
next-generation and wireless network applications that require multiple
high-speed, high-bandwidth Ethernet ports directly connected to the processor
blade, and provides optimum performance and CPU utilization for even the most
demanding applications.
Designed for use in AdvancedTCA and MicroTCA platforms, the
Interphase 364G product features 4 independent 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
ports, high-performance Gigabit Ethernet controllers, up to x4 PCI Express 1.0a
links, auto-negotiation and compatibility with PCI Express-compliant host
systems. The 364G also features an Intelligent Platform Management Interface,
enabling the card to be monitored and controlled by remote shelf management
controllers. In addition, the product comes with inherent robustness,
reliability and hot-swap capabilities delivered by the AdvancedMC form factor.
Software support for the 364G includes drivers for Carrier Grade Linux and
Solaris.
...Interphase
profile | |
| . | |
Sun's Server
Revenue Declined 10.9%
Sun Embarks on Linux Port for SPARC
Sun
Phases Out Trusted Solaris
Sun Resurrects SPARC Technology Business
Industry Collaborates on Remote Direct Memory Access
Engenio Achieves
Solaris Ready Certification
Interphase Ships Quad Gigabit Ethernet
earlier news -
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Squeak! -
the Top 10 Fastest Growing Storage Companies
This
is the 5th annual edition of this popular article, and is compiled from
analyzing the reported results from the top 1,000 storage companies in 2005.
The
top 5 companies had over 70% year on year revenue growth. If you're looking to
team with successful storage companies or want to emulate their success, this
article will tell you who they are and the market segments they are in. ...read the article,
storage manufacturers,
storage software,
storage VARS - USA,
storage VARs - UK,
storage VARs - Japan | |
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Squeak! -
Animal Brands and Metaphors in the Storage Market
Animal
marketing metaphors are popular in service industries, but you'd be surprised
how many companies have used animals in their marketing of data storage
products and services.
The storage market was worth over $150 billion
in 2005, and as it gets bigger - more companies will turn to animal brands to
help differentiate their otherwise bland products and lend them artificial
(or deserving) characters and virtues.
The idea behind this type of
marketing is to suggest positive connotations so it's unlikely that anyone will
choose to associate their products with gremlins. But you may be surprised by
the population of the storage ark.
This reference articles lists all
known companies who have furry marketing brands, and also includes some which
are slimy, scaly and scary too. ...read the article,
Mice in storage |
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Sanitization
Methods for Cleaning Up Hard Disk Drives - article by Intelligent Computer
Solutions
Removing the data on old unwanted disk drives has
become a concern for all users.
In 2005
Pointsec found that
they were able to read 7 out of 10 hard-drives bought over the Internet
at auctions such as eBay, for less than the cost of a McDonald's meal, all of
which had "supposedly" been "wiped-clean" or "re-formatted".
This article reviews the various methods available to sanitize hard disks along
with the advantages and disadvantages in each case....read the article,
...Intelligent Computer
Solutions profile,
disk sanitizers | |
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Squeak! -
Why are Most Analysts Wrong About Solid State Disks?
Most
analysts and editors of other computer publications don't really understand the
solid state disk market. They show their ignorance and naivete by prefacing
every discussion of SSDs with a superficial analysis which compares the cost per
byte of storage between flash and hard disk drives. That's the wrong answer to
the wrong question. And it's far removed from why the SSD market is racing to
become a multi billion dollar market seemingly in blithe ignorance of the cost
per byte proposition.
This article tells you what's important to
users and the main applications in which SSDs are already being used and new
applications where they will be used in the next 3 years. ...read the
article, Solid State Disks |
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