SPARCs fly at Oracle, but Informix concurs on its policy towards near-copies of sun
Oracle Corp, which likes to boast that its database software runs on all available types of computer – 120 implementations to date – has come under fire from certain quarters of the Unix industry, unhappy about the firm’s licensing policies when it comes to supporting new hardware. For instance, in the UK, a development package that costs UKP2,500 on a personal computer running Santa Cruz Operation Inc Unix may cost up to UKP8,500 for the same application – on a Sparc machine, handicapping vendors of such RISC technology in their increasingly cut-throat marketplace. While Oracle has on-going agreements with Sun Microsystems Inc and Solbourne Computer Inc for licensing and supporting its database technology on their machines, it does not have any corporate policy for dealing with the clutch of new Sparc system builders now bringing Sparcstation-compatible or compliant workstations and laptops to market. Unofficially, some have been offered deals like paying a $50,000, one-off licence fee, plus the provision of free machines in all offices, to get Oracle software on their machines. John Spiers, Oracle UK’s director of strategic marketing, admits that the firm doesn’t know what the commercial considerations of dealing with the rest of the Sparc community – outside Sun and Solbourne – are. We say we run on every platform – but it’s hard work. Although he does not deny that such deals may have been offered to third part ies, Spiers invites anyone interested in licensing Oracle software, to come to the table and talk. The problem, he says, and it’s one that’s reiterated by the likes of Informix Software Inc, is that every machine requires a new implementation, even if it uses the same processor, because even if someone comes along and says they’ve got a machine like some one else’s, usually it isn’t, says Spiers. Oracle prices its personal computer and workstation Unix products on a per-user basis, while MS-DOS and OS/2 software is licensed per-copy. Informix’s Charles Anderson says that implementing on true Sun Sparc station clones is not a problem – Sun and Solbourne editions exist – but the firm will only develop vers ions of its database for compatibles if they have the market share to justify it. In Anderson’s opinion, none of the Sparcstation-compatible builders have this distinction so far, but he admits that Informix will do an implementation – if it is offered enough cash to make the development effort worth its while.
Texas Instruments’ Viking for Sun’s Galaxy multi-processors
It looks certain that Sun Microsystems Inc is to use Texas Instruments Inc’s superscalar Viking Sparc in its forthcoming multi-processing Galaxy system. The 40MHz, 0.8 micron, BiCMOS part is touted at anything up to 80 MIPS performance, but a launch date for the multi-processors has yet to be confirmed. Superscalar is a vague term, but BiCMOS techniques are purported to provide the best of both worlds: bipolar technology for the speed-critical parts of the chip, CMOS elsewhere to reduce overall power consumption and CMOS power levels off-chip, enabling CMOS support components to be used. The line-up of firms fabricating the Sparc in various guises now includes Fujitsu Ltd, which is working on third-generation CMOS technology; Cypress Semiconductor Corp, which is doing CMOS and superscalar Pinochle implementations; Bipolar Integrated Technology Inc, whose parts are used by Floating Point Systems Inc in its high-end servers; LSI Logic Corp, which, in addition to its other Sparc work is developing the superscalar Lightning in conjunction with Hyundai Electronics Co and Metaflow Technologies Inc; Philips Electronics NV, which is doing implementations for embedded systems; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, which has the 64-bit-ish Sparc; and Systems & Processes Engineering Corp, which is designing the Brut Gallium Arsenide Sparc with Sun and Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. Sun claims an installed base of some 330,000 of its own Sparc-based machines – and a
further 50,000 clones: it aims to have a total of 1m systems on the table by the end of next year.
Sunsoft enhances Ssecurity products
SunSoft Inc, the new Sun Microsystems Inc software subsidiary, has enhanced the company recently christened SunShield security products. In concert with the company’s overall pursuit of the commercial market, two new products, ARM and ASET, have been added to enable corporate data processing managers and network administrators to create customised security solution to protect their networks. ARM, or Account Resource Management, enables users to specify their own security parameters such as password length or number of allowable log-ins and handles password ageing, account expiration, access hour restriction and automatic lockscreen. ASET, short for Automated Security Enhancement Tool, enables administrators to adjust the level of their security on their network. SunSoft has also agreed to incorporate the data encryption technology of California-based RSA Data Security Inc in its existing and future products starting with the third party’s network authentication system which will be used in Sun’s Open Network Computing/Network File System. Other companies such as Demax Software Inc, Security Dynamics Inc and Software Security Inc are coming out with security products for the SunOS. Separately, SunSoft is said to be readying a version of SunOS 5.0 – the Unix System V.4 version due in November or December – to license on Intel Corp iAPX-86 machines, in addition to the Sparc.
Sun may license IPX, ELC Technology
While Sun Microsystems Inc may on the one hand be closing its cloners out of the Sparcstation 1 arena before they are even up and running, at the same time it is preparing to license to them the latest onslaught on its technology. Its timetable is still not firm but surely by the end of summer it will have a program in place that will authorise LSI Logic Corp, the original source of the instant Sparc kit the majority of cloners are basing their Sparcettes around, to make available to them all the technology found in the IPX and ELC Sparcstation models it has just announced (CI No 1,722). Whether Sun’s GX graphics accelerator technology – which it jealously guards – will be a part of this process is unclear. This time however, Sun will not limit itself to just LSI Logic. The cloners should have multiple sources of the technology, encompassing the deskset tools, graphics libraries and GX graphics chips as well as the CPU chip, including those from AT&T Co, Fujitsu Ltd, Cypress Semiconductor Corp, Weitek Corp and Texas Instruments Inc. Effectively this means that Sun will be licensing its highest volume desktop machines. One cloner familiar with the plans is amazed that Sun is prepared to make available this technology. At press time, the pricing was reportedly still up in the air but it will be stepped so that cloners that want it at the same time as Sun will pay more than those that want it in six or 12 months. Sun is said to be tying the fate of its SunSoft subsidiary to the success of the clones by structuring its compensation packages around how well cloners do.
