Solaris Operating System

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Solaris

Solaris 10 using Java Desktop System
Website: http://sun.com/solaris/
Company/
developer:		 Sun Microsystems
OS family: Unix
Source model: mixed open source / closed source
Latest stable release: 10 11/06 / 11 December 2006
Supported platforms: SPARC, x86 (including x86-64)[1]
Kernel type: Monolithic kernel
Default user interface: Java Desktop System
License: Proprietary software
Working state: Current

Solaris is a computer operating system developed by Sun Microsystems. It is certified against the Single Unix Specification as a version of Unix. Although Solaris is still proprietary software, the core OS has been made into an open source project, OpenSolaris.

Contents

[edit] History

In the early 1990s Sun replaced the BSD-derived SunOS 4 with a version of UNIX System V Release 4 (SVR4), jointly developed with AT&T. The underlying release name was SunOS 5.0, but a new marketing name was introduced at the same time: Solaris 2. While SunOS 4.1.x micro releases were retroactively named Solaris 1 by Sun, the name Solaris is almost exclusively used to refer to SVR4-derived SunOS 5.0 and later.[2]

Solaris is considered to be the SunOS operating system plus a graphical user environment, ONC+, and other components. The SunOS minor version is included in the Solaris release name; for example, Solaris 2.4 incorporated SunOS 5.4. After Solaris 2.6, Sun dropped the "2." from the name, so Solaris 7 incorporates SunOS 5.7, and the latest release SunOS 5.10 forms the core of Solaris 10.

[edit] Supported architectures

Solaris uses a common code base for the architectures it supports: SPARC and x86 (including x86-64). It was also ported to the PowerPC architecture (PowerPC Reference Platform) for version 2.5.1, but the port was cancelled almost as soon as it was released. Support for Itanium was at one time planned but never brought to market.[3] Sun also plan to implement support for the ABI of the Linux platform in a future update to Solaris 10, allowing Solaris to run native Linux binaries on x86 systems. This feature is called "Solaris Containers for Linux Applications" or SCLA.[4]

Solaris has a reputation for being well-suited to SMP, supporting a large number of CPUs.[5] It has historically been tightly integrated with Sun's SPARC hardware, with which it is designed and marketed as a combined package, and has included support for 64-bit SPARC applications since Solaris 7. This has often led to more reliable systems, but at a cost premium over commodity PC hardware. However, it has also supported x86 systems since Solaris 2.1 and the latest version of Solaris, Solaris 10, has been designed with AMD64 in mind, allowing Sun to capitalize on the availability of commodity 64-bit CPUs based on the AMD64 architecture. Sun has heavily marketed Solaris with its AMD64-based workstations and servers, which range from dual-core to 16-core models as of December 2006.

[edit] Desktop environments

The first Solaris desktop environment was OpenWindows, previously bundled with SunOS 4.1.x releases. It was superseded by CDE in Solaris 2.5 onwards. Sun's Java Desktop System, which is based on GNOME, is included with Solaris 10.

[edit] License

Solaris's source code (with a few exceptions) has been released under the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) via the OpenSolaris project.[6] The CDDL is an OSI-approved license.[7] However, it is considered by the Free Software Foundation to be incompatible with the GPL.[8]

OpenSolaris was seeded on June 14, 2005 from the then-current Solaris development code base; both binary and source versions are currently downloadable and licensed without cost. Source for upcoming features such as Xen support is now added to the OpenSolaris project as a matter of course, and Sun has said that future releases of Solaris proper will henceforth be derived from OpenSolaris.

[edit] Versions

Notable features of Solaris currently include DTrace, Doors, Service Management Facility, Solaris Containers, Solaris Multiplexed I/O, Solaris Volume Manager, ZFS, and Solaris Trusted Extensions.

In descending order, the following versions of Solaris have been released as of December 2006:

Solaris version SunOS version Release date Description
Solaris 10 SunOS 5.10 January 31, 2005 Includes x64 (AMD64/EM64T) support, DTrace (Dynamic Tracing), Solaris Containers, Service Management Facility (SMF) which replaces init.d scripts, NFSv4. Least privilege security model. Support for sun4m and UltraSPARC I processors running at speeds lower than 200 MHz removed. Support for EISA devices removed, including EISA-based PCs. Adds Java Desktop System (based on GNOME) as default desktop. Solaris 10 1/06 added the GRUB bootloader for x86 systems and iSCSI support. Solaris 10 6/06 added Sun's new filesystem ZFS. Solaris 10 11/06 added Solaris Trusted Extensions.
Solaris 9 SunOS 5.9 May 28, 2002 (SPARC)
January 10, 2003 (x86)		 iPlanet Directory Server, Resource Manager, Solaris Volume Manager, extended file attributes, and Linux compatibility added; OpenWindows dropped, sun4d support removed. Most current update is Solaris 9 9/05.
Solaris 8 SunOS 5.8 February 2000 Includes Multipath I/O, First support for IPv6 and IPsec. Introduced Role-Based Access Control (RBAC); sun4c support removed. Last update is Solaris 8 2/04.[9]
Solaris 7 SunOS 5.7 November 1998 The first 64-bit UltraSPARC release. Added native support for file system meta-data logging (UFS logging). Dropped MCA support on x86 platform. Last update was Solaris 7 11/99.[10]
Solaris 2.6 SunOS 5.6 July 1997 Includes Kerberos 5, PAM, TrueType fonts, WebNFS, large file support.[11]
Solaris 2.5.1 SunOS 5.5.1 May 1996 Only release to support PowerPC platform; Ultra Enterprise support added; user and group IDs (uid_t, gid_t) expanded to 32 bits.[12]
Solaris 2.5 SunOS 5.5 November 1995 First to support UltraSPARC and include CDE, NFSv3 and NFS/TCP. Dropped sun4 (VME) support. POSIX.1c-1995 pthreads added. Doors added but undocumented.[13]
Solaris 2.4 SunOS 5.4 November 1994 First unified SPARC/x86 release. Includes OSF/Motif runtime support.
Solaris 2.3 SunOS 5.3 November 1993 SPARC-only release. OpenWindows 3.3 switches from NeWS to Display PostScript and drops SunView support. Support added for autofs and cachefs filesystems.
Solaris 2.2 SunOS 5.2 May 1993 SPARC-only release. First to support sun4d architecture. First to support multithreading libraries (UI threads API in libthread)[14].
Solaris 2.1 SunOS 5.1 December 1992 (SPARC)
May 1993 (x86)		 Support for sun4 and sun4m architectures added; first Solaris x86 release. First Solaris 2 release to support SMP.
Solaris 2.0 SunOS 5.0 June 1992 Preliminary release (primarily available to developers only), support for only the sun4c architecture. First appearance of NIS+.[15]

Solaris 7 is no longer shipping but will be supported until August 2008; Solaris 8 will stop shipping in February 2007 but will be supported until April 2012.[16] Earlier versions are unsupported.

A more comprehensive summary of some Solaris versions is also available.[17] Solaris releases are also described in the Solaris 2 FAQ.[18]

[edit] Development release

The underlying Solaris codebase has been under continuous development since work began in the late 1980s on what was eventually released as Solaris 2.0. Each version such as Solaris 10 is based on a snapshot of this development "train", taken near the time of its release, which is then maintained as a derived project. Updates to that project are built and delivered several times a year until the next official release comes out.

The Solaris version under development by Sun is codenamed Nevada, and is derived from what is now the OpenSolaris codebase.

In 2003, an addition to the Solaris development process was initiated. Under the program name Solaris Express, a snapshot of the development train is now made available for download each month, allowing anyone to try out new features and test the quality and stability of the OS as it progresses to the release of the next official Solaris version.[19]

Since Solaris Express predates the release of the Solaris codebase as an open source project, it began as a binary-only program, but there is now a version called the Solaris Express: Community Release intended specifically for OpenSolaris developers.[20] It is updated weekly, and is for evaluation and personal purposes only.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Solaris OS: Hardware Compatibility Lists. BigAdmin System Administration Portal. Sun Microsystems, Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
  2. ^ What are SunOS and Solaris?. Knowledge Base. Indiana University Technology Services (2006-03-12). Retrieved on 2006-12-12. “In common parlance, when people speak of SunOS, they usually mean the older BSD-based versions (SunOS 1 through 4.1.x and Solaris 1.x). The term "Solaris" typically refers to the SVR4 releases (SunOS version 5 and higher, and Solaris version 2 and higher) exclusively.”
  3. ^ Intel Corporation, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (December 16, 1997). SUN TO DELIVER ENTERPRISE-CLASS SOLARIS FOR INTEL'S MERCED PROCESSOR. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.
  4. ^ BrandZ/SCLA FAQ. OpenSolaris Project. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.
  5. ^ Vance, Ashlee. "Sun rethinks Solaris on Intel", Infoworld, IDG, 2002-04-19. Retrieved on 2006-12-11. “Neither Microsoft Windows nor Linux can match Solaris in this type of high-end architecture, said Tony Iams, an analyst at Port Chester, N.Y., research company D.H. Brown and Associates. "Solaris has earned its reputation over a long period of time," Iams said. "They have been working on high-end scalability features for 10 years, and that's the only way you can get solid results."”
  6. ^ What source code does the OpenSolaris project include?. OpenSolaris FAQ. OpenSolaris Project. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.
  7. ^ The Approved Licenses. Open Source Initiative. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.
  8. ^ Various Licenses and Comments about Them. Free Software Foundation. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.
  9. ^ Solaris 8. SunOS & Solaris Version History (OCF Solaris History). UC Berkeley Open Computing Facility. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.
  10. ^ Solaris 7. OCF Solaris History.
  11. ^ Solaris 2.6. OCF Solaris History.
  12. ^ Solaris 2.5.1. OCF Solaris History.
  13. ^ Solaris 2.5. OCF Solaris History.
  14. ^ Multithreading in the Solaris Operating Environment. Sun Microsystems (2002). Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
  15. ^ Demetrios Stellas (Thu Sep 03 1992). SUMMARY: Solaris 2.0 vs 2.1. Sun Managers mailing list. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.
  16. ^ Solaris Operating System Vintage End Of Life Matrix. Sun Microsystems, Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-09-14.
  17. ^ SunOS & Solaris Version History. UC Berkeley Open Computing Facility. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.
  18. ^ Casper Dik (April 26, 2005). What machines does Solaris 2.x run on?. Solaris 2 FAQ. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.
  19. ^ Software Express for Solaris. Sun Microsystems, Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
  20. ^ Operating System/Networking (ON) Download Center. OpenSolaris web site. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Unix-like operating systems

A/UX • AIX • BSD • FreeBSD • GNU • HP-UX • IRIX • Linux • Mac OS X • NetBSD • NEXTSTEP • OpenBSD • Plan 9 • QNX • Research Unix • SCO OpenServer • Solaris • System V • Tru64 • Xenix • more...

v • d • e
Sun Microsystems
Software: Solaris • StarOffice/OpenOffice.org • Java Desktop System • Java (Java language • JVM • Java API) • JES • Network File System
Hardware: SPARCstation • Sun Ultra series • Sun Enterprise • Sun Blade • Sun Fire • UltraSPARC T1 • SPARC • JavaStation • Sun Ray
Education and Recognition: SCPs
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