Sun fires up new Opteron-based servers

Sun Microsystems has expanded its range of entry level Solaris x86 systems with the introduction of new servers and workstations based on AMD 64-bit Opteron processors.

The Sun Fire V40z server, available immediately priced at $8,495, is designed to add a four-way server to the existing recently unveiled two-way Sun Fire V20z system.

The V40z is designed for customers requiring 32- and 64-bit architectures for high performance computing and enterprise applications, including web services, data management, workgroup collaboration and grid-structured database management.

In addition, the company unveiled Sun Java Workstation W1100z and W2100z, also based on AMD Opteron processors, with graphics technology from nVidia. The devices have list prices of $1,995 and $4,695 respectively.

The workstations are offered with the latest release of the Java Desktop System running on either Solaris x86 OS or Linux.

"Our strong foundation in industry-standard computing architectures and long-standing experience in 64-bit computing provide customers with enhanced application system performance and enterprise expertise that mirrors the quality they've come to expect from Sun - at a much lower cost," said John Fowler, executive vice president of Sun's network systems group, in a statement.

As part of what Sun describes as "disruptive sales offerings", the Sun Fire V40z server will offered as part of a limited one-week promotion to customers through a special eBay auction.