As expected Sun Microsystems Inc decided that one operating system doesn’t necessarily fit all sizes and will use a new 2.6 release of its Solaris Unix as the foundation upon which it will sell a set of technology feature sets tailored for internet workgroups, internet service providers, enterprise customers and workstations users. The basic Solaris […]
As expected Sun Microsystems Inc decided that one operating system doesn’t necessarily fit all sizes and will use a new 2.6 release of its Solaris Unix as the foundation upon which it will sell a set of technology feature sets tailored for internet workgroups, internet service providers, enterprise customers and workstations users. The basic Solaris 2.6 release due in August includes all of the features Sun has previously ascribed for the product, including the integrated WebServer HTTP daemon that will replace current Apache and NCSA basic web servers that come with Solaris. Although Netscape’s web server can be used alongside WebServer, Sun envisages basic web and net functions will be integral Solaris components with appliction services, such as Netscape, being layered on top. 2.6 also includes TCP/IP enhancements, NFS Failover, WebNFS, Java IDL, IIOP, supprot for file sizes up to 1Tb and is claimed to deliver 95% linear performance increases across additional processors with browser- based system installation, administration and documentation to come. A new installer tool can tell an adminstrator which files don’t use regular Solaris APIs during upgrades. 2.6 is claimed to deliver 30% faster database performance, three times faster Java performance, 30% faster web performance and 80% more efficient I/O. Sun’s starting a new two-year subscription pricing scheme for Solaris with 2.6 – conventional unit prices will follow later – which will cost $130 per desktop or $700 per server for an unlimited number of users. The power desktop feature set that’s being layered upon the Solaris base for workstation users will be available with 2.6. Web-based management and documentation, 64- bit file support, plus the intranet and enterprise feature sets will follow by year-end. The intranet technologies are being designed for use on Sun’s forthcoming Tazmo workgroup servers as well as by the Solaris x86 crowd. 1998 will see the introduction of a native Java platform – presumably including the the Servelet technologies for delivering and managing Java applications on network computers and other clients – support for full 64-bit applications, unlimited internet addresses, Full Moon single system image and the ISP feature set. Sun says the modular approach will enable it to maintain multiple product cycles yet retain a core foundation technology layer. Its marketing and engineering resources have been divided across between foundation and feature set product teams.
