As part of the technology package it acquired from Encore Computer Corp, Sun Microsystems Inc has become the latest resting place for Reflective Memory, Encore’s high speed, low latency distributed shared memory interconnect technology that, despite high praise in technical circles, has never really found a place in mainstream product lines. Reflective Memory was co-developed by Gould Computer Systems in the mid-1980s in conjunction with one of its customers, flight simulation company Rediffusion Simulation. Encore acquired Gould, and sold some of the rights for Reflective Memory to Digital Equipment Corp, which used it in its AdvantageCluster products. Sun says it had to come to terms with DEC over the acquisition. Sun hasn’t yet decided what to do with it, though it says it’s impressed with what it’s seen.
