SPARCstation

Sun SPARCstation 1+ "pizzabox", 25 MHz SPARC processor, early 1990s
SPARCstation Voyager

The SPARCstation, SPARCserver and SPARCcenter product lines were a series of SPARC-based computer workstations and servers in desktop, desk side (pedestal) and rack-based form factor configurations, developed and sold by Sun Microsystems.

The first SPARCstation was the SPARCstation 1 (also known as the Sun 4/60), introduced in 1989. The series was very popular and introduced the Sun-4c architecture, a variant of the Sun-4 architecture previously introduced in the Sun 4/260. Thanks in part to the delay in the development of more modern processors from Motorola, the SPARCstation series was very successful across the entire industry. The last model bearing the SPARCstation name was the SPARCstation 20. The workstation series was replaced by the Sun Ultra series in 1995; the next Sun server generation was the Sun Enterprise line introduced in 1996.

Models

Desktop and deskside SPARCstations and SPARCservers of the same model number were essentially identical systems, the only difference being that systems designated as servers were usually "headless" (that is, configured without a graphics card and monitor), and were sold with a "server" rather than a "desktop" OS license. For example, the SPARCstation 20 and SPARCserver 20 were almost identical in motherboard, CPU, case design and most other hardware specifications.

Most desktop SPARCstations and SPARCservers shipped in either "pizzabox" or "lunchbox" enclosures, a significant departure from earlier Sun and competing systems of the time. The SPARCstation 1, 2, 4, 5, 10 and 20 were "pizzabox" machines. The SPARCstation SLC and ELC were integrated into Sun monochrome monitor enclosures, and the SPARCstation IPC, IPX, SPARCclassic, SPARCclassic X and SPARCstation LX were "lunchbox" machines.

SPARCserver 1000 and SPARC Storage Array disk array

SPARCserver models ending in "30" or "70" were housed in deskside pedestal enclosures (respectively 5-slot and 12-slot VMEbus chassis); models ending in "90" and the SPARCcenter 2000 came in rackmount cabinet enclosures. The SPARCserver 1000's design was a large rack-mountable desktop unit.

Later versions of the SPARCstation series, such as the SPARCstation 10 and 20, could be configured as multiprocessor systems as they were based on the MBus high-speed bus. These systems could accept one or two single or dual central processing units packaged in MBus modules.

Until the launch of the SPARCserver 600MP series, all SPARCstation/server models were also assigned Sun 4-series model numbers. Later models received S-prefix model numbers.

Models are listed within their category in approximately chronological order.

"Pizzabox" systems

Name Model Codename Platform CPU CPU MHz RAM (max) Announced End of Sales End of Support
SPARCstation 1 4/60 Campus sun4c Fujitsu MB86901A or LSI L64801 20 MHz 64 MB 1989 May 1999
SPARCstation 1+ 4/65 Campus B sun4c LSI L64801 25 MHz 64 MB 1989 May 1999
SPARCstation 2 4/75 Calvin sun4c Cypress CY7C601 40 MHz 128 MB 1990 Dec 1999
SPARCstation 10 S10 Campus-2 sun4m SuperSPARC I/II or hyperSPARC 33, 36, 40, 50, 60, 75, 80, 90, 100, 125, 150, 180, 200 MHz 512 MB May 1992 Oct 1994 Oct 1999
SPARCstation 5 S5 Aurora sun4m microSPARC II or TurboSPARC 70, 85, 110, 170 MHz 256 MB 1994 Dec 1998
SPARCstation 20 S20 Kodiak sun4m SuperSPARC I/II or hyperSPARC 50, 60, 75, 90, 100, 125, 150, 180, 200 MHz 512 MB 1994 Sep 1997
SPARCstation 4 S4 Perigee sun4m microSPARC II 70, 85, 110 MHz 160 MB 1995 Jul 1997
SPARC Xterminal 1 [Note 1] S114 Perigee sun4m microSPARC 50 MHz 128 MB March 1995
  1. ↑ The SPARC Xterminal 1 was an X terminal, using the same enclosure as the SPARCstation 4, but a different motherboard. A board-swap upgrade to a SPARCstation 4 was also sold.

"Lunchbox" systems

Name Model Codename Platform CPU CPU MHz RAM (max) Announced End of Sales End of Support
SPARCstation IPC 4/40 Phoenix sun4c Fujitsu MB86901A or LSI L64801 25 MHz 48 MB 1990 Dec 1999
SPARCstation IPX 4/50 Hobbes sun4c Fujitsu MB86903 or Weitek W8701 40 MHz 64 MB 1991 May 2000
SPARCclassic [Note 1] 4/15 Sunergy sun4m microSPARC 50 MHz 128 MB Nov 1992 May 1995 May 2000
SPARCstation LX 4/30 Sunergy sun4m microSPARC 50 MHz 128 MB Nov 1992 / Aug 1993 Jul 1994 Jul 1999
SPARCstation ZX 4/30 Sunergy sun4m microSPARC 50 MHz 96 MB Aug 1993 March 1994
SPARCclassic X [Note 2] 4/10 Hamlet sun4m microSPARC 50 MHz 96 MB Jul 1993 May 1995 May 2000
  1. ↑ The SPARCclassic was originally to be called the SPARCstation LC but was renamed shortly before launch to avoid confusion with the SPARCstation ELC.
  2. ↑ The SPARCclassic X was a stripped-down SPARCclassic (no hard drive or diskette drive, and only 4 or 8 MB of memory) sold as an X terminal. Kits were sold to upgrade it to a SPARCclassic.

Integrated monitor/portable systems

Name Model Codename Platform CPU CPU MHz RAM (max) Announced End of Sales End of Support
SPARCstation SLC 4/20 Off-Campus sun4c Fujitsu MB86901A, LSI L64801 or LSI LSIS1C0007 20 MHz 16 MB Nov 1996
SPARCstation ELC 4/25 Node Warrior sun4c Fujitsu MB86903 or Weitek W8701 33 MHz 64 MB Oct 1998
SPARCstation Voyager S240 Gypsy sun4m microSPARC II 60 MHz 80 MB Mar 1994 Dec 1995 Dec 2000

Server systems

Name Model Codename Platform CPU CPU bus CPU MHz RAM (max)
SPARCserver 330 4/330 Stingray sun4 Cypress CY7C601 — 25 MHz 72 MB
SPARCserver 370 4/370 Stingray sun4 Cypress CY7C601 — 25 MHz 72 MB
SPARCserver 390 4/390 Stingray sun4 Cypress CY7C601 — 25 MHz 72 MB
SPARCserver 470 4/470 Sunray sun4 Cypress CY7C601 — 33 MHz 96 MB
SPARCserver 490 4/490 Sunray sun4 Cypress CY7C601 — 33 MHz 96 MB
SPARCserver 630MP S630 Galaxy sun4m Up to four Cypress CY7C601 or SuperSPARC I MBus 40, 50, 60 MHz 1 GB
SPARCserver 670MP S670 Galaxy sun4m Up to four Cypress CY7C601 or SuperSPARC I MBus 40, 50, 60 MHz 2.5 GB
SPARCserver 690MP S690 Galaxy sun4m Up to four Cypress CY7C601 or SuperSPARC I MBus 40, 50, 60 MHz 3.5 GB
SPARCserver 1000/1000E S1000 Scorpion sun4d Up to eight SuperSPARC I/II XDBus ×1 40, 50, 60, 85 MHz 2 GB
SPARCcenter 2000/2000E S2000 Dragon sun4d Up to 20 SuperSPARC I/II XDBus ×2 40, 50, 60, 85 MHz 5 GB
Cray Superserver CS6400 CS6400 SuperDragon sun4d Up to 64 SuperSPARC I/II XDBus ×4 60, 85 MHz 16 GB

Note that the above configurations were those supported by Sun Microsystems. Various third-party processor upgrades were available for SPARCstation/server systems, for instance the 80 MHz Weitek POWER μP for the SPARCstation 2 or IPX, or the Ross hyperSPARC MBus modules rated at clock speeds up to 200 MHz. As mentioned above, some models listed as SPARCstations were also available in SPARCserver configuration and vice versa.

The CS6400 was developed by an outside group working cooperatively with, rather than competitively against, Sun Microsystems;[1][2] as a result, although sold by Cray Research as the “Cray Superserver 6400”, all of its components had Sun OEM part numbers and the machine was documented in Sun's System Handbook.[3] In 1996, when Cray Research was bought by Silicon Graphics, the CS6400 development group was sold to Sun, and released the 64-processor Sun Ultra Enterprise 10000 “Starfire” the following year.

Sun timeline

Sun Blade Sun Fire Sun Fire Sun Enterprise Sun Ultra Enterprise Sun Ultra series Sun Ultra series Sun Ultra series Sun Ultra series Sun Blade (workstation) Sun 386i Sun Java Workstation Sun Ultra series SPARCstation Sun-3 Sun-2 Sun-1

See also

References

  1. ↑ How the Sun Enterprise 10000 Was Born
  2. ↑ “Scaling Solaris for Enterprise Computing”, Cray Users Group 1995 Spring Proceedings
  3. ↑ Sun System Handbook v2.1, 2003 March
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