SPARC T-Series

SPARC T-Series is a family of RISC processors and UNIX server computers developed by Sun Microsystems and Oracle Corporation, based on the SPARC V9 architecture. The first generation T-Series processor, the UltraSPARC T1, and servers based on it were developed by Sun and announced in December 2005.[1] As later generations were introduced, the term "T-Series" was used to refer to the entire family of processors. An early example is The Register's use of the term in 2009.[2]

Sun Microsystems did not officially use the term "T-Series" in the documentation for products that were introduced prior to the completion of Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems.[3] Later Oracle introduced the SPARC T4 processor and servers in September of 2011,[4] which are considered the fourth generation implementation of the T-Series.[5]

The 5th generation T5 processors and servers were launched in March 2013.[6][7]

Pre Oracle SPARC T-Series era

The SPARC T3 servers superseded Sun Microsystems' Sun Fire and SPARC Enterprise product lines that were based on earlier generations of the CMT (Chip Multithreading) technology acquired from Sun Microsystems. The UltraSPARC T1 based Sun Fire T2000 and T1000 servers were launched in December 2005[1] and in early 2006,[8] respectively. They were later rebranded[9] to match the name of the UltraSPARC T2 and T2 Plus based Sun SPARC Enterprise T5**0 servers.[10]

SPARC T3 processor based models

In September 2010, Oracle announced a range of SPARC T3 processor based servers.[11][12] These are branded as the "SPARC T3" series, the "SPARC Enterprise" brand being dropped.

The SPARC T3 series servers included the T3-1B which was a blade server module that fits into the Sun Blade 6000 system. All other T3 based servers are rack mounted systems. Subsequent T-Series server generations also include also a blade server in the same Sun Blade 6000 form factor.

SPARC T4 processor based models

On September 26, 2011, Oracle announced a range of SPARC T4-based servers.[13][14]

These systems use the same chassis already known from the T3 based systems. Their main features are very similar, with the exception of:

SPARC T5 processor based models

On March 26, 2013, Oracle announced refreshed SPARC servers based on the new SPARC T5 microprocessor, which the company claims is "the world's fastest".[15]

There are differences in SPARC T5 range of servers compared to previous generations of SPARC T-series: the single socket rackmount server design was deprecated, while the new eight socket rackmount server was introduced.

SPARC M7 processor based models

On October 26, 2015, Oracle announced the family of SPARC systems built on the 32-core, 256-thread SPARC M7 microprocessor. [16]

Partitioning and virtualization

SPARC T-series servers partition the system using Logical Domains. Additional virtualization is provided by Oracle Solaris Zones (aka Solaris Containers) to create isolated virtual servers within a single operating system instance. Logical Domains and Solaris Zones can be used together to increase server utilization.

Table: SPARC T-Series Servers

Model RU Max processors Processor frequency Max memory Max disk capacity GA Date
Sun FireT1000 1 1× UltraSPARC T1 1.0 GHz 32 GB One 3.5" SATA or Two 2.5" SAS March 2006
Sun Fire T2000 2 1× UltraSPARC T1 1.0 GHz 64 GB Up to four 2.5" SAS December 2005
SPARC Enterprise T5120 1 1× UltraSPARC T2 1.2, 1.4 GHz 128 GB Up to eight 2.5" SAS November 2007
SPARC Enterprise T5140 1 2× UltraSPARC T2+ 1.2, 1.4 GHz 128 GB Up to eight 2.5" SAS April 2008
SPARC Enterprise T5220 2 1× UltraSPARC T2 1.2, 1.4 GHz 128 GB Up to sixteen 2.5" SAS November 2007
SPARC Enterprise T5240 2 2× UltraSPARC T2+ 1.2, 1.4 GHz 256 GB Up to sixteen 2.5" SAS April 2008
SPARC Enterprise T5440 4 4× UltraSPARC T2+ 1.2, 1.4 GHz 512 GB Up to four 2.5" SAS Oct 2008
SPARC T3-1 2 1× SPARC T3 1.65 GHz 128 GB Up to sixteen 2.5" SAS Sep 2010
SPARC T3-1B na (blade) 1× SPARC T3 1.65 GHz 128 GB Up to 2 2.5" SAS Sep 2010
SPARC T3-2 3 2× SPARC T3 1.65 GHz 256 GB Up to six 2.5" SAS Sep 2010
SPARC T3-4 5 4× SPARC T3 1.65 GHz 512 GB Up to eight 2.5" SAS Sep 2010
SPARC T4-1 2 1× SPARC T4 2.85 GHz 256 GB Up to 8 2.5" SAS Sep 2011
SPARC T4-1B na (blade) 1× SPARC T4 2.85 GHz 256 GB Up to 2 2.5" SAS Sep 2011
SPARC T4-2 3 2× SPARC T4 2.85 GHz 512 GB Up to six 2.5" SAS Sep 2011
SPARC T4-4 5 4× SPARC T4 3.0 GHz 1024 GB Up to eight 2.5" SAS Sep 2011
SPARC T5-1B na (blade) 1× SPARC T5 3.6 GHz 256 GB Up to 2 2.5" SAS Mar 2013
SPARC T5-2 3 2× SPARC T5 3.6 GHz 1 TB Up to six 2.5" SAS Mar 2013
SPARC T5-4 5 4× SPARC T5 3.6 GHz 2 TB Up to eight 2.5" SAS Mar 2013
SPARC T5-8 8 8× SPARC T5 3.6 GHz 4 TB Up to eight 2.5" SAS Mar 2013

References

  1. 1 2 Ashlee Vance (6 December 2005), "At last, Sun unveils UltraSPARC revival", www.theregister.co.uk (The Register)
  2. ↑ Timothy Prickett Morgan (22 July 2009), "Sun cranks clocks on Sparc T2 and T2+", www.theregister.co.uk (The Register)
  3. ↑ James Niccolai (21 September 2010), "Oracle launches new servers based on Sparc T3 chips", http://news.techworld.com/ (Techworld)
  4. ↑ Timothy Prickett Morgan (27 September 2011), "Oracle rises for Unix server push", www.theregister.co.uk (The Register)
  5. ↑ Jean S. Bozman, Matthew Eastwood (April 2012), SPARC Servers: An Effective Choice for Efficiency in the Datacenter, p. 9 (PDF), IDC
  6. ↑ John Mellor-Crummey (14 January 2014), COMP 422 Parallel Computing: An Introduction (PDF), Rice University, p. 22
  7. ↑ Kevin McLaughlin (26 March 2013), "Oracle Unveils Sparc Servers, Touts T5 Processor As 'World's Fastest'", http://www.crn.com (CRN) External link in |work= (help)
  8. ↑ Ashlee Vance (13 April 2006), "Sun buffs Opteron, SPARC and Sun Ray", www.theregister.co.uk (The Register)
  9. ↑ Ashlee Vance (10 April 2007), "Sun and Fujitsu to release 256-thread (M)onster", www.theregister.co.uk (The Register)
  10. ↑ Agam Shah (8 October 2007), "Sun delivers first UltraSparc T2-based servers", http://www.itworldcanada.com/ (IT World Canada)
  11. ↑ "Oracle Unveils SPARC T3 Processor and SPARC T3 Systems". www.oracle.com. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
  12. ↑ Timothy Prickett Morgan (27 September 2011), "Oracle back in the Unix game with Sparc T3 servers", www.theregister.co.uk (The Register)
  13. ↑ "Oracle Launches Next Generation SPARC T4 Servers". www.oracle.com. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  14. ↑ Timothy Prickett Morgan (11 October 2011), "Oracle's Sparc T4 prices mask improved valu", www.theregister.co.uk (The Register)
  15. ↑ "Oracle Unveils SPARC Servers with the World’s Fastest Microprocessor". www.oracle.com. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  16. ↑ "Oracle Announces Breakthrough Processor and Systems Design with SPARC M7". www.oracle.com. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.

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