Sun Microsystems Inc duly unveiled its Flapjack ‘rack and stack’ server for internet, web, application and other service providers as the Netra t1. Sun is hoping the likes of Digex and GTE Internetworking will buy them by the boatload. Sun claims 15 of the top 20 service providers and 80% of internet backbone traffic run on its servers.
Sun says that up to 40 of the 1.75 Netra t1 units can be stacked in a 19 rack; that’s twice as many HP, three times as many Compaq or four times as many Dell servers that can be accommodated in the same rack space, it says. The low-end $5,000 variant uses a 360MHz UltraSparc IIi, comes with 1Mb L2 cache and 64Mb RAM. The 440MHz model comes with 2Mb L2 cache and 256Mb RAM.
Sun says the servers include lights-out management which provides for remote management of the system in the event the Solaris Unix operating system goes down; auto restart; hot plug SCSI disks; front and rear indicator lights which enable system errors to be easily seen; removable host ID, enabling administrators to swap systems in and out of racks; and labels for server names for easy identification of particular servers. Sun identifies Check Point firewalls, Funk Software authentication servers, Inktomi caching server, Legato Systems’ Full-Time cluster software and Veritas file system and backup software as the kind of applications the Netra t1 has been designed to run.
The Netra t1 is the entry-level offering in a series which includes dual-processors and high-end systems designed for use in telecoms and storage subsystems networks. The t1 server is not, however, compliant with the NEBS network equipment building standard level 3 like the Netra t 1200, ft 1800 or st A1000. It includes RJ45 console and serial ports – eliminating the need for special connectors – and two built-in Ethernet ports for attaching to backup networks.
