Even as Intel Corp. invades Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Unix-based enterprise server territory, Sun is staging a flanking maneuver to attack the low-end and Web-based server markets that Intel has come to dominate.
In a move that sheds light on its future product direction, Sun this week laid out more details of its processor roadmap, revealing a portfolio heavily populated by entry-level and lower-cost front-end server chips.
Specifically, Sun, Mountain View, Calif., said it will soon roll out a lower-cost family of UltraSPARC IIIi chips ranging from 1.1 to 1.4GHz for Web-based and other large access servers. The company also will introduce an UltraSPARC IIIe processor with 1Mbyte of on-die L3 cache that will sell for less than the existing UltraSPARC III, which has 3Mbytes of L3 memory.
David Yen, vice president of Sun's processor products group, additionally disclosed that the company has signed a letter of intent to acquire Afara WebSystems, a San Jose start-up that is designing its own UltaSPARC proc- essor for Web servers. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, is expected to be completed next month.
News source: Silicon Strategies - Sun counters Intel with low-cost UltraSPARCs
