Sun Microsystems has released its first general purpose Linux-based server.

Sun chief executive Scott McNealy announced the LX50 at the LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco.

It is an Intel-based system that Sun is positioning as an entry-level server. The 1U-high rack-mounted hardware comes with one or two 1.4 GHz Pentium 3 processors, 512MB or 1GB of memory and up to three 72GB SCSI disk drives.The LX50 runs Sun Linux, a version of open-source specialist Red Hat's Linux product that Sun says is optimised in areas such as security and device drivers, but it can also run Solaris, Sun's version of Unix.

The server comes with a software bundle that includes Sun's Open Net Environment (Sun ONE), a Java 2 standard edition (J2EE) standard development kit, Apache web server, MySQL database, Sendmail email server and Sun's grid engine application.

Historically the vendor has based its product strategy around the use of Solaris and the proprietary Ultrasparc chip technology across its entire range, but it has faced increasing competition from Intel server suppliers at the low-end.

And Tony Lock, senior analyst at Bloor Research, says that Sun remains less than enthusiastic about the open source operating system.

'Sun has tried to avoid Linux for the last two years,' he said.

'This is a defensive move. Sun has been forced into supplying Linux, and it gives an idea of how strong the open software movement has become.'

But the backing of another major supplier for Linux is a good sign, says Lock.

'There is a lot of confusion with so many varieties of Linux. Sun is giving unified support with a big name to back it up,' he said.

The starting price for a single-processor LX50 is £2150 with shipments beginning immediately.