Sun puts Opteron to work in high-end x64 servers

Sun's modular X4600 server offers a maximum 128GB of RAM and eight CPU sockets

Sun Microsystems announced three ground-breaking new high-end x64-based servers last week. Paul Leonard, Sun’s datacentre manager, said the three new models extend Sun’s range of servers based on AMD’s 64bit Opteron processor. “Datacentre guys have power, heat and space issues,” he added. “The new servers are built around the requirements of datacentre managers.”

The Sun Fire X4600 is Sun’s new top-end model in the x64 range. It is a modular design with a maximum RAM capacity of 128GB and it can be upgraded from four processor sockets to a maximum of eight. When fitted with dual-core chips, an eight-socket system can be fitted with a maximum of 16 processor cores. Leonard said organisations could consolidate fifty x86 servers onto one X4600 system.

Sun also launched the Sun Blade 8000 Modular System blade servers, offering enough I/O capabilities to handle big back-office applications. Leonard said each blade has an I/O bandwidth of 190Gbit/s, and a fully configured chassis would draw a maximum 9kW. The modular design means the bandwidth can be used by various modules, including InfiniBand and Gigabit Ethernet.

“We’ve done web-tier blades, and we’ve done telco blades, but this is our first high-end enterprise class blade,” Leonard said. He added that the blades’ I/O performance makes them ideal for running SAP and Oracle grid software.

A third new server, the Sun Fire X4500, boosts storage options. Martin Warren, Sun’s storage product manager, said the X4500 is based on Sun’s Galaxy 4000 series of servers, but the new offering will solely come with 48 disk drives in the 4U rack-mountable server chassis.

Initially the options are for 250GB or 500GB capacities, and larger capacity options will be added as they come to market. A typical server configuration wou ld be priced at about £20,000 + VAT, said Warren. “This gives a cost per gigabyte of less than $2, including the server hardware. Tape storage normally comes in at about $1.25 per gigabyte,” he added.

The X4500 can be fitted with a maximum of four processor cores and 16GB of RAM, and would normally be sold complete with application software to make use of the device’s huge disk capacity. The disk drives are hot-pluggable, single-connector Sata devices, Warren added.