Sun lines up partners for Grid launch

Sun's retail grid was launched on Wednesday for users in the US

Sun Microsystems has started parading a series of customers and partners in a bid to promote its newly unveiled retail grid. 

The grid was launched on Wednesday for users in the US, and a UK version is expected within the next six months.

The service offers access to computer power at a rate of $1 per CPU hour. Units can be purchased through a verified PayPal account.

As the term suggests, a CPU hour represents one processor running for one hour at full speed.

However, as processors become more powerful, customers will effectively receive more computing power for their money, according to Aisling MacRunnels, senior director of utility computing at Sun.

As part of the official launch, Sun is highlighting several applications for which partners are currently using the grid.

A service using text to speech recognition, for instance, will allow consumers to turn their daily newspaper into a podcast that they can listen to during their morning commute.

Sun suggested that the grid offering could allow start-up companies to quickly ramp up production without having to worry about building a data centre first.

The server maker also promoted an endorsement from long-time partner Oracle. The vendors promised to build in support for the services into Oracle's On Demand products for hosted applications.

Frank Gillett, a principal analyst with Forrester Research, told vnunet.com that the offering is a "very interesting experiment", but warned that it has only a narrow market at present. 

"For the public utility, it is less obvious if there is a large market. For most companies the more interesting alternative will be the commercial grid, where you can work out more details about service levels," he said.

The launch of the retail service comes more than a year after Sun officially launched its grid. The offering has been available to enterprise customers as an outsourced service with predetermined contracts and service level agreements.

The retail grid, however, is different in that it allows users to access its computing power when they need it without signing contracts.

But the inability to predict the kind of tasks that would be submitted to the service, as well as concerns over US export controls, caused delays in the launch, Sun president and chief operating officer Jonathan Schwartz said earlier this week.

The numerous delays in the rollout gave rise to criticism, especially as Sun remained vague about the issues holding up progress.

"Sun's difficulties are in part because of its willingness to experiment and take chances," noted Gillett.

"Some of the criticism has been too harsh. But Sun also has to recognise that it is making some outrageous claims, so of course it is going to get some grief for it."