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This is the second part of a two part article; the first of which looked at
the highlights in
the first decade of SPARC systems. First published Q3 1996, but
archived here for reference.
see also:-
article:-
Predicting the Next 3 Years in the SPARC Server Market - (2007 to 2009)
We all have our personal views about the shape of the future... These are implicit in the choices we make in our daily lives about where to invest our time and energy, our skills and resources. When it comes to making decisions about computer systems, very few of us can act as totally free agents. The choices we can exercise in the real world are determined as much by our links to the past, as by the promise of the new technologies to come.
To improve the accuracy of the crystal ball gazing in this article, we decided to ask some of the people who run the organizations which have influenced the first decade, what their views were about future developments in the SPARC systems market.
Click or browse to read contributions from the following people:-
James Ludemann - President, Antares Microsystems
Ted Atlee - Chairman, CEO, SPARC International
Chet Silvestri - President, Sun Microelectronics
"The challenges for the next decade in the SPARC systems market come from Intel and Microsoft. Both companies continue to thrive on their tremendous economies of scale. One area where SPARC will continue to excel is in enterprise-level databases, where servers need to run 64-bit databases and operating systems, while clients need to run 32-bit versions of the same software. Only RISC systems offer this scalability.
Another area where SPARC will hold its own is running system-independent software, such as web browsers and Java in particular, where the operating system and the processor architecture become irrelevant. As the chief hardware designer of the SPARCstation 1, I am personally gratified to see how well the SPARC architecture has been accepted, and look forward to another decade of success."
August 1996
The second decade of SPARC systems will be the period of standardization, not only within the SPARC community, but also within the UNIX community. The Open Group is now working on UNIX Application Binary Interface Standards that when adhered to will allow ISV's for the first time to produce "shrink wrap" UNIX applications. Having application software readily available will bring growth within the SPARC community even beyond the Internet.
Use of SPARC processors within embedded systems will account for a large portion of the growth within the SPARC marketplace. This ever growing market segment will play a significant role in our community with many of the major SPARC hardware vendors participating. All of us at SPARC International welcome the second decade and the challenges that it will bring.
September 1996
"The network is the driving force in enterprise, communications, and consumer electronics applications," stated Chet Silvestri, President of Sun Microelectronics. "Over the last decade, we've taken SPARC processor technology forward to deliver the industry's highest levels of multimedia, scalability and bandwidth.
We are now using this technology as a springboard into new areas that the network will take us. UltraSPARC processors will be found in many-way server applications and network hubs and routers delivering the Internet dial tone throughout the network. Java processors will power the web phones, set top boxes and network computers populating this network.
Our multi-processing, multimedia, high bandwidth technology and experience will allow Sun to deliver real time, on-demand performance to customers throughout the network."
September 1996
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