Monday Sun Microsystems will launch a new server with four Opteron processors dubbed the V40z. Even though Sun does make their own processors demand hasn"t been that great (if any). Since Sun started offering Opteron processors in its servers sales have dramatically increased. Still Sun is pretty far behind the current x86 leaders HP, Dell, and IBM.
Sun Microsystems on Monday will launch a server with four Opteron processors, sources said, the latest step in the company"s effort to expand its product line beyond its own processors.
After years spent resisting the move, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has begun selling servers with x86 chips, such as Advanced Micro Devices" Opteron and Intel"s Xeon. The four-Opteron model is called the V40z, said John Fowler, head of Sun"s x86 server group, in an earlier interview. The V40z is the second Opteron system, coming after the dual-processor V20z Sun launched in February. While announcing a return to revenue growth Tuesday, Sun executives said they were pleased with the Opteron sales, though the revenue is not yet materially significant. Sun declined to comment for this story.
Chief Executive Scott McNealy has said on several occasions that Sun was mistaken not to recognize the market popularity of x86 servers earlier. Now the company is using Opteron and Solaris, Sun"s version of the Unix operating system, to try to make up lost time, but it still trails far behind x86 server leaders Hewlett-Packard, Dell and IBM. Sun sells servers base on Intel"s Xeon, too, but is far more gung-ho about Opteron. It acquired Opteron specialist Kealia earlier this year, a move that brought Sun co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim back into the fold.