The Monthly Bulletin For Users Of SPARC Based Products

Issue No. 79

I. SPARC NEWS

1. SPARC INTERNATIONAL WELCOMES NEW MEMBER VIRTIUM

2. RAVE COMPUTER ASSOCIATION, INC., ANNOUNCES A NEW RACKMOUNT CHASSIS FOR SUN UltraAXi SPARCengine

3. TADPOLE'S PORTABLE WORKSTATION UltraBookIIi BECOMES MOBILE BUSINESS HUB OF LEADING E-BUSINESS VENDOR BROADVISION

4. NEW RUGGED ENTERPRISE SERVER FROM THEMIS COMPUTER BOLDLY GOES WHERE OTHER MILITARY SPARC SYSTEMS CANNOT

5. RAVE COMPUTER ASSOCIATION, INC. FEATURES RAVES INTEGRATED RACKMOUNT-ULTRA60

II.SPARCSHOP

I. SPARC News

I. A. - SPARC INTERNATIONAL WELCOMES NEW MEMBER VIRTIUM

Irvine, CA--April 21, 2000--Virtium Technology joins SPARC International. Virtium Technology designs and manufactures high-density and high-performance memory for Sun SPARC® and other specific applications. We offer a wide range of memory products that are in full compliance with latest industry standards. Our products are designed for specialized applications: Industrial Automation Computers, Telecommunications, Scientific and Embedded systems.

For more information visit their web site at virtium.com.

I. B. -RAVE COMPUTER ASSOCIATION, INC., ANNOUNCES A NEW RACKMOUNT CHASSIS FOR SUN UltraAXi SPARCengine

Sterling Heights, Michigan--April 12, 2000--Rave Computer Association, a leading Sun Microelectronics Master Value-added Integrator announces a new 2U storage accessible chassis for Suns UltraAXi motherboard. Rave Systems RackMount2U-AXi-C (RM2U-AXi-C) provides four (4) front exposed removable 3.5 low profile drive bays, one (1) 3.5 and one (1) 5.25 drive bay for media such as floppy, 4mm DAT or CD-ROM. The chassis also has four (4) 80mm fans; one (1) 60mm fan and one fan in the power supply area to provide exceptional cooling levels.

Raves new storage enhanced server has been developed to meet critically tight space requirements without sacrificing performance or reliability in any compute intensive environments. Rave Systems RM-2U-AXi-C features original Sun robust UltraAXi motherboard powered by upgradable UltraSPARC-IIi processor, with integrated dual channel Ultra wide SCSI, three (3) PCI slots, and up to 1GB of memory. The system is designed for Ultra3 compatibility, and can be configured for RAID.

Rave Systems enhanced RM2U-AXi-C provides real world solutions for many of our industries space requirements. Because of its size, the system can be considered as field replaceable units in network intensive situations. Unparalleled performance and reliability with storage are the strengths of this system.

Pricing and Availability: Rave Systems RackMount2U-AXi-C will be ready for distribution in mid-May. Contact a Rave representative for pricing and availability at 1-800-966-7283.

I. C. - TADPOLE'S PORTABLE WORKSTATION UltraBookIIi BECOMES MOBILE BUSINESS HUB OF LEADING E-BUSINESS VENDOR BROADVISION

Carlsbad, CA--April 20, 2000-Tadpole-RDI, Inc., the hardware business unit of m-business computing specialist Tadpole Technology plc (EPIC TAD), today announced that e-business applications vendor, BroadVision, Inc. (Nasdaq BVSN, Neuer Markt BVN) has selected the recently-released UltraBookIIi family of portable Unix workstations as the hub of its worldwide customer demonstration and training strategy.

Tadpole's UltraBookIIi is a unique portable computing system that's making increasing numbers of Sun Microsystems' customers more productive and effective in the field at less cost. Weighing just 7.5 lbs and housed in frames the size of a business directory, UltraBookIIi workstations are built to track Sun Microsystems' road maps for its UltraSPARC-IIi processor and Solaris operating environment.

As the hub of its mobile business computing strategy, BroadVision's global sales teams will be equipped with UltraBookIIi workstations to give live, fully-functional customer demonstrations of a suite of personalized e-business applications. Built for delivery via the Web and wireless devices, the applications enable companies in the financial services, electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail and travel industries to launch e-commerce, self-service and enterprise information Web sites for personalized interactions and transactions with consumers, partners, suppliers and employees.

Julie Stephens, BroadVision's director of field engineering, comments: "With UltraBookIIi, BroadVision's sales teams can work faster, smarter, and leaner. We've turned the page in lugging around or bearing the high-costs of transporting bulky desktops from site-to-site to give live customer demonstrations."

Una Richens, vice president of sales and marketing of Tadpole-RDI, adds: "One of the fundamental roles of portable Unix is helping enterprise software vendors like BroadVision to get their products better understood in the marketplace, in the shortest timeframe, where it counts in front of the customer."

The real world benefits of increased productivity and lower operating costs associated with portability for Sun customers are laid out on Tadpole-RDI's website, www.tadpolerdi.com further information from sales@tadpolerdi.com, or by telephone at 760-929-0992.

One hundred percent binary compatible with Sun desktops, UltrabookIIi can be configured with all the features needed to get the job done. Powered by 400MHz UltraSPARC-IIi/ 2Mbyte E-cache processors (SPECint:17,9-SPECfp: 22.7), standard ECC memory is 256MB and can be extended to a 1GB. Hard drive capacity can range from 8GB to 24GB through innovative use of UltraBookIIi's three removable disk slots. Graphic options are PCI-based ATI cards or Sun Creator 3D buffered 24-bit graphics for demanding CAD/CAM applications.

UltraBookIIi's 14.1-inch TFT active matrix LCD has resolutions up to 1024 x 768 pixels with a contrast ratio of 150:1; its power consumption is some 70% below that of bulky, energy-demanding CRT monitors. With a full-travel 97-key keyboard and 3-button integrated trackpad, UltraBookIIi is built with a full complement of PCMCIA ports, including connectivity ports for external fax/modems, floppy disk drives, monitors, and Sun compatible mouse/keyboards, for example.

UltraBookIIi is shipped with Solaris 7, 2.6, 2.5.1 as operating system, together with OpenWindows 3x, AutoNET software tools plus NTP, NIS+, DHCP, NFS and DNS, as well as Java tools - Java virtual machine and HotJava browser. The portable workstation complies with leading national and international regulations for safety and EMC, including UL and ITE-FCC Part 15.

I. D. - NEW RUGGED ENTERPRISE SERVER FROM THEMIS COMPUTER BOLDLY GOES WHERE OTHER MILITARY SPARC SYSTEMS CANNOT

Fremont, CA--April 26, 2000--Themis Computer announced that the second member of its Rugged Enterprise Server (RES) family is now available. This Sun-based enterprise class server family has been designed from the ground up to withstand military and aerospace service requirements. Based on Sun's E4500 Server technology, Themis' RES-1400s compliments and extends the capabilities of Sun's highly successful enterprise Server. Themis redesigned the system to provide a suitable platform for demanding federal and aerospace markets, including expanded I/O in an open, modular system.

"Sun chose to work with us because of our strong UNIX and systems design capabilities. And, we're 100% focused on UltraSPARC technology," explained Bill Kehret, president of Themis.

The RES-1400s is a shorter version of the Themis RES-1400. Like the RES-1400, the RES-1400s chassis can withstand up to 15G's of shock. All machined and welded mechanical structures have natural vibration modes exceeding 28 Hz. Additionally, all critical electronic components are designed to sustain high shock loads, while heat sinks have been redesigned to minimize unsupported mass and moment of inertia. The 14 U rack-mountable enclosure features heavy-duty tiltable rack slides and an articulated cable support system for ease of maintenance.

Running Sun's Solaris Operating System with advanced real-time features, the Open Systems Architecture-based RES can be configured with up to 14 UltraSPARC II processors with clock rates to 400 MHz, and up to 14 GB memory. It supports SMP and a 100 MHz UPA bus.

Themis uses a configurable I/O bay that supports standard interfaces such as VME. Even when fully configured with 14 processors, the I/O bay can support up to eleven 6U form factor slots.

RES availability features include automatic system recovery and dynamic reconfiguration. It features four hot swap N+1 power supplies, including separate power grids for the processor complex and the I/O bay, allowing complete power isolation. Sun's Symon management environment handles total systems management.

The RES-1400s was designed to operate in environments which have tighter temperature control, than the RES 1400.

RES Primary Features:

• Rugged, Integrated Implementation of advanced UltraSPARC E4500 Technology
• Open Systems Architecture
• Sun's Solaris Operating System with advanced Real Time features
• UltraSPARC-II SMP computing platform
• Industry Standard I/O: VME, cPCI, and PCI
• Up to 14 Ultra-II Processors with clock rates to 400MHz
• Up to 14 GB memory *100 MHz UPA Bus
• Modular I/O Bay, Up to eleven 6U
• Modular I/O Connector Panel Operating temperature up to 40c
• Shock up to 15G and Vibration from 4 to 28 Hz.
• Solaris 7/8
• Built-in CDROM *18.2 GB Ultra SCSI System Disk
• Hot-Swap N+1 Power Supply
• Built-in heavy duty tiltable Rack Slides and
• Articulated cable handling mechanism
  

Pricing and Availability:- the Rugged Enterprise Server 1400s will begin shipping in quantity in July 2000. Prices for entry configurations begin at $95K.

For more information visit their web site at www.themis.com

I. E. - RAVE COMPUTER ASSOCIATION, INC. FEATURES RAVES INTEGRATED RACKMOUNT-ULTRA60

Sterling Heights, MI--April 13, 2000--Rave Computer Association, Inc., an authorized Sun Master value-added System Integrator, now offers customers a 4U-rackmountable solution for the SPARCengine Ultra60.

Rave Computer integrates Suns dual processing Ultra60 motherboard into a 4U-rackmountable chassis. Raves rackmount chassis allows for a total of nine peripherals-three external 5.25 drive bays, three external 3.5 hot-swap capable drive bays, and three internal 3.5 drive bays.

The Ultra60 features up to 2 GB of memory, onboard Fast Ethernet, dual Ultra SCSI busses, four PCI slots, three at 33MHz and one at 66Mhz , and two UPA graphic slots. The Ultra60 supports one or two UltraSPARC II processor modules ranging from 300MHz to 450MHz with variable cache sizes, providing binary compatibility with Solaris operating environment applications.

Rave Computers RackMount-U60 is ideally suited for computing applications in telecommunications, medical imaging, graphical imaging, data analysis and networking. All of Rave Computers integrated systems come with a one-year warranty.

Rave Computer Association, Inc., provides a range of system solutions built to customers specifications. Rave Computers relationship with Sun Microelectronics and Sun Solaris software, both divisions of Sun Microsystems Inc., provides Rave Computer access to new technology and product support. Rave Computers other services include hardware depot and maintenance services, technical phone support and private-labeling services. Rave Computer also offers flexible leasing programs through its sister company, Rave Financial Services, Inc.

About Rave Computer Association, Inc. Rave Computer Association, Inc., provides quality-configured systems around Sun's SPARC technology with software, compatible peripherals, and exceptional value-added services. Rave's Signature and integrated systems offer robust processing performance, flexibility, and reliability. Rave Computer's UL test facility and ISO-9002 procedures ensure quality products and services. More information about Rave Computer Association, Inc., and its integration services can be found on their web site at www.rave.net or by calling 1-800-966-7283. E-mail inquiries may be sent to: info@rave.com

II. SPARCSHOP

SPARC-related documents are available through SPARC International's bookstore, SPARCSHOP. Access to SPARCSHOP is available several ways,

1. email sparcshop@sparc.org
2. phone us at 1-408-748-9111 x240

Currently available

Additional information about SPARC International, its members and its certification programs is available via the World Wide Web <www.sparc.org> or via email <info@sparc.org>.

SPARC International promotes the design, development and application of SPARC to computer and peripheral products; establishes hardware and software standards; enables compatibility across SPARC-branded products; and provides, promotes and protects SPARC and SPARC-related brand names.

SPARC International has verified to the best of its ability all of the product information contained in this newsletter. Information in this newsletter has been provided by the vendors. SPARC International has not reviewed claims made about product features or functions, and is not responsible for the accuracy of such claims. Users may want to obtain references, documentation, and/or demonstrations before purchasing any products or services. No vendor is authorized to act as an agent of SPARC International, or to make any representations or warranties on SPARC International's behalf.

The following are Registered^® Trademarks of SPARC International, Inc.:

Other Trademarks that are in use or Pending Registration include:

Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based on an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company, Ltd. All other product names, trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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