Sun Increases Affordability of Network Computer With New Sub $3,000 SPARC/Solaris Servers

Sun Fire V210 and Sun Fire V240 Servers Offer 10 Times the Value Over HP Server; Entry-Level Systems Get Performance Boost up to 60 Percent

SAN FRANCISCO, April 8, 2003 -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today expanded its affordable network computing offerings with two new dual processor-capable entry-level systems -- the Sun Fire(TM) V210 server and the rack-optimized Sun Fire V240 server. Both servers run the UltraSPARC(R) IIIi processor on the Solaris(TM) Operating System (OS) and ship with a full suite of integrated and integrateable Sun ONE software. Sun also enhanced the performance of its entry-level products including the Solaris-based Sun Fire 280R server, the Netra(TM) 20 server and the Sun Blade(TM) 2000 workstation with the UltraSPARC III 1.2 GHz processor.

"Today we're delivering the availability and reliability of SPARC/Solaris servers with Sun ONE software starting at less than $3,000 -- comparable to PC server prices," said Neil Knox, executive vice president, Volume Systems Products, Sun Microsystems.

"Sun is delivering ever-increasing value to customers by including industry leading features such as four GB Ethernet ports, the Sun ONE software stack, remote management capabilities, and mobile server identity. These features are all standard in our entry-level servers, unlike HP who charges 20 percent or more for these offerings."

Sun Fire V210 and V240 Beat Wintel With True Systems Approach

Through a combination of Sun's UltraSPARC IIIi processor, the Solaris Operating System, comprehensive systems management and Sun ONE Web services software, the 1U Sun Fire V210 and 2U Sun Fire V240 servers demonstrate Sun's true systems approach, delivering a complete solution out of the box, which entry-level Wintel systems cannot offer. With this approach, Sun offers more value than Wintel systems through lower acquisition costs and quicker deployment time.

As one of the industry's first servers to feature four integrated gigabit Ethernet ports for superior I/O, and an optional integrated SSL card for added security, the Sun Fire V210 and Sun Fire V240 servers deliver leading innovations to the entry-level server market in an ultra-dense, rack-optimized package. These systems offer one of the industry's best values in dual-processor servers, with at least 10 percent less of the total cost of acquisition than the comparable HP ProLiant DL360 G3 server solution, and all starting at under $3,000 (US).(1)

The Sun Fire V210 and Sun Fire V240 servers are ideally suited for front-end, enterprise and technical computing applications. Top enterprise applications are supported on these new systems from Sun's iForce partners including BEA Systems, Check Point, Callisto, iVAST, Kasenna, Mentor Graphics, Oracle, SAP, and VERITAS Software.

Pricing and Availability for the Sun Fire V210 and V240

An entry-level configuration of the Sun Fire V210 server starts at $2,995 U.S. list price and is available May 20, 2003. An entry level configuration of the Sun Fire V240 server is available May 20, 2003 for $3,495 U.S.

Both the Sun Fire V210 and V240 servers come standard with the Solaris 8 OS and the Sun ONE software stack, with Solaris 9 OS available as an option.

Sun Servers, Workstations Crank Up the Performance

The Sun Fire 280R server, the Netra 20 server and the Sun Blade 2000 workstation, based on the new 1.2 GHz UltraSPARC III processor and the Sun ONE Studio 8 Compiler Collection also announced today, now deliver up to 60 percent higher performance with up to 29 percent lower power consumption -- at lower price points.

The Sun Fire 280R server takes price-performance to a new level, delivering up to 60 percent performance improvement with a drop in price of up to 40 percent. Additionally, the 1.2 GHz Sun Fire 280R server outperformed the Dell PowerEdge 2650 running Intel Xeon processors at 2.8 GHz by 36 percent on the Spec CPU2000 floating-point performance benchmark.(2)

Sun's NEBS Level 3-certified Netra 20 server, now standard with a 1.2 GHz processor, gives customers a performance boost and an up to 16 percent price cut. The 1.2 GHz Netra 20 server garners a 55 percent performance boost on the SPECfp2000 benchmark (3) and outperforms the HP Carrier Grade Server cc3300 by as much as 20 percent on the SPECint2000 performance benchmark.(4)

The Sun Blade 2000 is the first Sun workstation to utilize the new processor, delivering application performance gains of up to 20 percent and floating point performance up to 37 percent with reduced power consumption. Overall price-performance was improved by 63 percent when compared to the UltraSPARC III 1.05 GHz processor. Delivering SPECfp2000 performance of 1344, the new Sun Blade 2000 workstation running 1.2 GHz also stands above the competition with 72 percent faster floating point performance than the HP Workstation J6750 at a 43 percent lower cost.

Pricing and Availability for 1.2 GHz Sun Fire 280R Server, Netra 20 Server and Sun Blade 2000 Workstation

Pricing and availability for the Sun Fire 280R, Netra 20 servers and the Sun Blade 2000 workstation, featuring UltraSPARC III 1.2 GHz processors, will be available on April 30, 2003. All Sun Fire entry-level and volume servers and workstations are available through authorized Sun Resellers and directly from Sun at http://www.sun.com.

(1) Total cost of acquisition for HW and SW: HP ProLiant DL360 G3 configured with 1CPU/512MB memory = $31,580; source HP.com, as of 3/27/03; Sun Fire V210 configured with 1CPU/512 MB memory = $2995.The Sun Fire V240 configured with 1 CPU/512MB memory = $3495.

SPEC and SPEC CPU2000 are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. Competitive benchmark results stated above reflect results published on http://www.spec.org as of 3/25/2003. The comparison (2) above is based on the head to head comparison of SPECfp2000 scores for the Sun Fire V280R 1.2GHz result and the Dell 2650 Xeon 2.8GHz.

The comparison (3) above is based on the Sun Netra 20 1.2GHz system compared to the Netra 20 900 MHz system.

The comparison (4) above is based on the head-to-head comparison of SPECint2000 scores for the Sun Netra 20 1.2GHz result and the HP Carrier Grade Server cc3300.

For the latest SPEC CPU2000 benchmark results, visit http://www.spec.org/cpu2000/.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer(TM)" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.

NOTE: Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Sun Fire, Netra, Sun Blade, Solaris, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

CONTACT: Jo Chun of Sun Microsystems, Inc., +1-650-786-5543, or jo.chun@sun.com; or Eric Doyne of Alexander Ogilvy, +1-310-248-6195, or edoyne@alexanderogilvy.com, for Sun Microsystems, Inc.

SOURCE Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Web Site: http://sun.com