Sun's 'Cherrystone' server hits market

Sun Microsystems has released its four-processor "Cherrystone" server.

Dubbed the Sun Fire V480, it runs up to four 900MHz UltraSparc III processors and is designed to take on competition from Intel servers running Windows and Linux.

The V480, which will support Solaris 8 and Solaris 9, will replace the UltraSparc II-based 450 although it will cost more - starting at $22,995 for a two-processor server with 4GB of memory.

A four-processor version of the server with 16GB of memory will cost $46,995, and a four-processor model with 32GB of memory will go for $99,995.

Sun is also plannning to sell V480s bundled with its T3 midrange storage products.

The company will use its faster 900MHz UltraSparc III processors on the V880, which used the earlier 750MHz processors.