Vol 103 Issue 4: September 25th to October 1st, 2006

When you need a new server, you can look to Sun's line up of new Sun Fire servers and find one that will suit your performance needs and IT budget. We follow up on the Sept. 14 launch with more details about the new Sun Fire V445 (see article number [17035]), the economical Sun Fire V125 server [17042] and the Sun Fire V215 server [17038].

The IDC reports on Sun's storage growth [17058]. Many recent customer wins and success story highlights are compiled in one place for you: article [17084]. Another new resource showcases what you need to know about Sun Ray devices, Sun Secure Global Desktop and other secure solutions for mobile workers [17057].

Helping protect your data center is the new Sun Secure Application Switch N1000 [17070] that filters inbound and outbound traffic. Also in our Security section are updates on UNIX, OpenSSL, and Firefox vulnerabilities.

Developers will find a free Java programming class [17051] and an Ask the Experts session coming up soon on Swing [17060].

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Vol 103 Issue 3: September 18th to 24th, 2006

Following up on last week's announcements, this issue features more details on the new storage products: Sun StorageTek Crypto Key Management Station that encrypts data while it is being recorded (see article [17015]), the Sun StorageTek Virtual Tape Library [17016], and the advantages of the Sun StorageTek T10000 Tape Drive [17017]. These and other storage products will be discussed further at the upcoming Forum 2006 storage event in Las Vegas [17032].

New online resources keep popping up like prairie dogs - always ready: the Solaris ZFS online learning center boasts multimedia how-to guides [16999], and the Sun Virtualization Learning Center [16998] offers more on Solaris Containers and the benefits of virtualization.

Jonathan Schwartz has been making the rounds to interviewers. We link you to two recent interviews from eWeek and BusinessWeek [17018] where Schwartz talked about Sun's growth and upcoming products like the Niagara 2.

A new promotion is encouraging you to make a video telling Sun how you would use the Sun Fire X4500 "Thumper" server [17025]. There will monthly prizes until the contest ends in December. Maybe you can show off that server at the company holiday party.

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Vol 103 Issue 1: September 4th to 10th, 2006

What if you saved your company $10 million a year? Learn how the Scottish Water utility did it by switching to Sun servers and storage (see article [16945]). Other customer wins featured this week: Sun Ultra 20 workstations selected for CAD/CAM design work in Germany [16941]; Java CAPS in the Infonet call center [16944]; and Sun Fire servers and Java technology help keep the EZ-Link online payment service running smoothly for over 200,000 transactions per day [16948].

Our multimedia selections of the week are video of Scott McNealy talking about security [16967], and Greg Grohoski's presentation on the Niagara 2 processor [16964].

Service and support plans abound -- for storage: [16957] and [16952]; for the Solaris OS Education market [16915]; hardware-only support [16962]; and spare parts for DIY maintenance [16958].

Halloween is still a while off, but that's good because you have until October 31 to get free help on Solaris 10 OS questions from the Sun Developer Expert Assistance program [16946]. Don't wait - email today to get started.

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Vol 102, Issue 5: 28 August, 2006 - 03 September, 2006or

Sun kicks off its 9th worldwide "Sun Tech Days" series of technical seminars. The Atlanta OpenSolaris User Group will host Ryan Matteson talking about the "DTrace Toolkit" on September 12th.

Fostering communities: that's what the new OpenSPARC and Italian OpenSolaris online portals are doing. Each gives developers and others the opportunity to participate and contribute to these open source projects. See articles [16900] and [16942] for details.

More awards for Sun this week, this time for the Sun Java Composite Application Suite (Java CAPS), a flexible and scalable integration solution that enables financial institutions to make the most of new solutions; see [16920].

We cover more of Sun's new Sun Fire mid-range servers: the E4900 and E6900 servers [16919], the Sun Fire E2900 server [16914], and the Sun Fire X4100 server [16905], an x64 server. Also in News, read how Sun's x64 servers beat out HP when a genome research center re-evaluated its server needs [16931].

To keep everything up and running better, Sun has enhanced its SunSpectrum Service Plan coverage without adding to the cost [16894]. The Sun i-Runbook Service is designed to help customers manage their data center operations more effectively; see article [16913] for details.

Vol 102, Issue 4: 21 August, 2006 - 27 August, 2006

Servers lead the news again this week: Sun gained server market revenue year-to-year, IDC reported, surpassing Dell [16907]. A new benchmark shows how the new Sun Fire V490 server beat an IBM server [16901]. Upgrade to a Sun Fire server with the UltraSPARC processor in this promotion [16873]. For details on the Sun Fire V490 and the Sun Fire V890 servers, see article [16864]. This week we also feature technical details of the Sun Fire X2200 M2 server in article [16882] and the Sun Fire E25K and Sun Fire E20K servers [16871].

What will Sun make open source? The Java SE, the Java ME CLDC and CDC [16885]; an audio link of the announcement is included in the article.

The recently announced storage products, the Sun StorageTek 6540 array is covered in article [16875] and the Sun StorageTek 6140 array is detailed in [16859].

The Java Enterprise System team is looking for participants in its beta 5 program [16860]. Participants will receive early access to the JES 5 software and more.

For a detailed look at DTrace and other process tools in Solaris 10 OS, see the sample chapter from the Solaris Performance and Tools book [16870]. Another book featured this week is a guide to native LDAP implementation [16869]. If you are just getting up to speed on DTrace and want to know more about the features in Solaris 10 OS, there's a free web-based course available [16868].

Vol 102, Issue 3: 4 August, 2006 - 20 August, 2006

There is a lot of news this week, starting with the new workstation and midrange and high-end servers Sun announced this week; article [16861] provides an overview. Some of the servers use the 1.8 GHz UltraSPARC IV+ processor which doubles the memory capacity while others use the next-generation AMD Opteron processor. We will continue to cover the individual servers over the next few weeks until we get them all.

Also making news is discounts on electric bills: PG&E is offering rebates to California businesses that use Sun Fire T1000 or T2000 servers in their datacenters (see article [16867]).

Also new is the Sun StorageTek 6140 array and 6540 array [16855], the first new products created by the combined Sun and StorageTek teams. Get the 6140 array for less in a new promotion [16754] when you purchase a server and the array.

This week we also have more storage and server announcements such as new pricing or support. There's a training class for sys admins who work with the Sun Fire T2000 servers [16835]. For those interested in the Java SE 6 (Mustang), see a new Net Talk online and information on the beta release [16854].

Vol 102, Issue 2: August 7th, 2006 — August 13th, 2006

If you've been wondering what Scott McNealy has been up to lately, see article [16831] to read about his continuing push to eliminate the digital divide by including open source applications in schools. Before the kids head back to school, they might want you to take them to see the film "Barnyard"; since its computer graphics were made with Sun technologies [16830], it could be considered work-related fun.

In our Education section this week, we feature StarOffice software training resources [16834], especially good for schools that recently implemented the software. Solaris Service Plans are also explained [16773].

A new migration guide is available from Sun for developers who are migrating JBuilder to NetBeans [16827]. The recently announced Sun Blade 8000 comes with free services as part of a new promotion [16839], and a download is available for the blade [16815].

Vol 102 Issue 1: July 31st, 2006 — August 6th, 2006

We've got a developer's wish list fulfilled: Grab a special deal before it expires on the Sun Fire T1000 server (See article [16802]). Need support? No problem: The S3P -- Sun Software Service Plans -- are an all-in-one comprehensive package [16779]. Working with Sun Studio 11? Got it covered with another support plan [16774]. Questions about JavaServer Faces? Ask the Experts in [16814]. Want to comment on ODF? Click on [16812].

Sys Admins need to be happy too: BrandZ from the OpenSolaris community extends Solaris Zones to accommodate Branded Zones that can contain non-native operating environments (see [16788]). Get maximum performance on CMT architectures with the tech tip in [16786]. If you need a book on LDAP, we've got two for you in [16803].

Where would we all be without storage? The 1,000th Sun StorageTek SL8500 tape library was just delivered. Everyone's got one, even the people who did production work for the "DaVinci Code" movie [16799]. No mystery about it: if you need it, Sun's got it.

Top Ten Articles for Vol 101 Issue 3

Each week, we determine which articles have been most frequently referenced by logged-in subscribers to provide you with a list of the most popular articles for each of the last four issues.

• Sun Fire X4600 Server Features in Detail [16468]
• Free AJAX Programming Online Course [16743]
• Sun's New Blade Meets the Demands of High-Performance Applications [16719]
• Upgrade to Sun Fire X4600 Server [16721]
• Newest Sun Servers Keep Server Rooms Cool in Dubai [16742]
• Avnet Technology Solutions to Offer Sun StorageTek Solutions [16746]
• Adding Device Drivers to the New Boot Install Image in the Solaris 10 OS for x86 [16715]
• Collaboration Creates a Strategic Alliance: AMD and Sun Partnership [16617]
• Sun Update Connection - Enterprise: Active Dependency Patch Services for the Data Center [16725]
• Ron Goldman on the Essence of Open-Source [16720]

Vol 101 Issue 4: 24th - 30th July, 2006

Sun's earnings report for the recent quarter posted an increase of 29% [16782]. For a look at who is choosing Sun technology, see article [16781].

The new Sun Blade 8000 server is available from Sun's trade-in program [16772] with savings up to 20%.

Everyone working with StarOffice software will want to know how to get the latest updates and fixes to prevent having a vulnerable application [16753].

For anyone who works on Solaris OS. UNIX or Linux, you can now get Adobe Reader on your system; check out the features in article [16758].

New from the Sun Java System people is the Sun Java Composite Application Platform Suite (CAPS) 5.1.1 for developing enterprise SOA applications (see [16748]).

Top 10 Articles from Last Issue

Each week, we determine which articles have been most frequently referenced by logged-in subscribers to provide you with a list of the most popular articles for the last issue:

Top Ten Articles for Vol 101 Issue 2

• World's First Hybrid Data Server Sun Fire X4500 Server Ideal for High-bandwidth Applications [16716]
• Sun Fire X4600 Server: 4-Way Server Provides Huge Consolidation Benefits [16718]
• Sun Blade 8000 Modular System Supports Linux, Windows or Solaris OS [16717]
• Installation Guide for Solaris 10 OS 0/06 [16696]
• Improving Single-threaded Web Server Performance Using Zones in the Solaris 10 OS [16695]
• Sun Ups Trade-in Allowances on Sun Fire V210, V240 Servers [16691]
• Sun Upgrade Advantage Program for Sun x64 Servers [16692]
• Trade Up from SGI and Save [16690]
• Sun Fire X4100 Server Benchmark in Decision Support/Data Warehousing [16706]
• Sun and Imation to Jointly Develop Sun StorageTek T9840 Tape Drive [16694]

-johnj

Vol 101, Issue 3: July 17th— July 23rd, 2006

Following up on last week's announcement from Sun of their new AMD based servers and the new blade server, we delve more deeply into the technical specs of the Sun Fire X4600 server (see article [16468]) and the Sun Blade 8000 [16719]. New promotions for these servers provide even more incentives ([17623] and [16721]).

Sun also continues to expand its presence in the storage market by making their Sun StorageTek products more available [16746].

Java technology developers can take advantage of a free online course in AJAX, starting August 4th [16743].

Ron Goldman continues his discussion of the values of open source [16720]. The OASIS organization has ratified a new standard to improve communications for emergency response workers [16698].

AMD and partners design systems to keep the Canadian Hockey League's web site in top shape [16616] while Sun and AMD recount how their relationship evolved into the dynamic powerhouse it is today [16617]. If you are looking for examples of how others are harnessing the power of grid technology, see AMD and Altair's success story [16578] in this week's AMD section

-johnj

Generating the newsletter in PDF

When you are a subscriber to "System News for Sun Users", you can use this link: Generate a Custom PDF of this Issue to create a very nice printable version of the newsletter. Note that the link has the volume and issue built into it. If you go to the main website, you will be able to use the "Generate a Custom PDF" to make a PDF of the current issue.

Volume 101, Issue 2

Sun showcased new Sun x64 enterprise systems powered by the AMD Opteron processor: the Sun Fire X4600 server (the world's first 16-way x64 server in a single 4U chassis, see article [16718]), the Sun Fire X4500 server (the world's first hybrid server, see [16716]), and the Sun Blade 8000 blade (modular for investment protection, see [16717]).

While the energy savings of the servers is just one of their many features, Sun's eco-responsibility is built into its philosophy and hardware from the ground up [16671]. "Try before you buy" is still the mantra with more servers on the promotion list [16692] and [16691]. Telecom customers can see what the Netra 1290 server had to offer [16705] in this week's Telco section, which also discusses the challenges of merging OSS after an acquisition [16704].

We bring you news from around the world on Sun's efforts in the education field [16701] and [16702]. Also check out our software articles and developer tips.