SPARCstation
| Industry | Computer hardware |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1982 |
| Headquarters | Santa Clara, California , United States |
| Products | SPARCstation, SPARCserver, SPARCcenter, Sun Ultra series, Sun Enterprise series |
| Website | www |
The SPARCstation, SPARCserver, and SPARCcenter product lines consist of SPARC-based workstations and servers created and marketed by Sun Microsystems. These systems were offered in various formats including desktop, deskside (pedestal), and rack-mounted setups.
Introduced in 1989, the inaugural model—the SPARCstation 1 (Sun 4/60)—marked the debut of the Sun-4c architecture, a derivative of the preceding Sun-4 design. Capitalizing on delays in Motorola’s CPU development, the SPARCstation series quickly established a strong presence within the industry. The workstation lineup concluded with the SPARCstation 4, which was subsequently replaced by the Sun Ultra series in 1995, while server models evolved into the Sun Enterprise series beginning in 1996.
Models
SPARCstations and SPARCservers sharing identical model numbers typically featured the same hardware configurations; however, servers were generally configured as "headless" units—lacking graphics cards and monitors—and operated under server-specific software licenses. For example, both the SPARCstation 20 and SPARCserver 20 utilized the same motherboard, CPU, chassis design, and hardware components.
Most desktop models were housed in either "pizzabox" or "lunchbox" enclosures, representing a significant departure from earlier Sun designs. The "pizzabox" form factor was employed by models such as the SPARCstation 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, and 20. In contrast, the SLC and ELC were integrated within Sun monochrome monitor enclosures, while models like the IPC, IPX, SPARCclassic variants, and LX adopted lunchbox-style cases.
SPARCserver units with model numbers ending in "30" or "70" utilized deskside pedestal cases featuring VMEbus chassis with either five or twelve slots. Models ending with "90," along with the SPARCcenter 2000, were designed as rackmount cabinets. The SPARCserver 1000 was notable for its large rack-mountable desktop format.
Advanced models such as the SPARCstation 10 and 20 supported multiprocessing capabilities through the MBus high-speed bus system, allowing installation of one or two MBus modules equipped with single- or dual-CPU configurations.
Before the release of the SPARCserver 600MP series, all products carried Sun's 4-series numbering scheme; later releases adopted an S-prefix naming convention.
The following tables list models in chronological order within their respective categories.
"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 | April 1989 | May 1999 | |
| SPARCstation 1+ | 4/65 | Campus B | sun4c | LSI L64801 | 25 MHz | 64 MB | May 1990 | May 1999 | |
| SPARCstation 2 | 4/75 | Calvin | sun4c | Cypress CY7C601 or Weitek SPARC POWER μP WTL 8601 | 40, 80 MHz | 128 MB | Nov 1990 | Dec 1999 | |
| SPARCstation 10 | S10 | Campus-2 | sun4m | SuperSPARC I/II or Ross hyperSPARC | 33–200 MHz (various) | 512 MB | May 1992 | Oct 1994 | Oct 1999 |
| SPARCstation 20 | S20 | Kodiak | sun4m | SuperSPARC I/II or Ross hyperSPARC | 50–200 MHz (various) | 512 MB | Mar 1994 | Sep 1997 | |
| SPARCstation 5 | S5 | Aurora | sun4m | microSPARC II or Fujitsu TurboSPARC | 70–170 MHz (various) | 256 MB | Mar 1994 | Dec 1998 | |
| SPARCstation 4 | S4 | Perigee | sun4m | microSPARC II | 70–110 MHz (various) | 160 MB | Feb 1995 | Jul 1997 | |
| '\'\'\'SPARC Xterminal 1\\' | '\'\'S114\\' | '\'\'Perigee\\' | '\'\'sun4m\\' | '\'\'microSPARC\\' | '\'\'50 MHz\\' | '\'\'128 MB\\' | '\'\'Feb 1995\\' |
"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 | July 1990 | December 1999 | |
| SPARCstation IPX | 4/50 | Hobbes | sun4c | Fujitsu MB86903, Weitek W8701, or Weitek SPARC POWER μP WTL 8601 | 40, 80 MHz | 64 MB | July 1991 | May 2000 | |
| SPARCclassic | 4/15 | Sunergy | sun4m | microSPARC | 50 MHz | 128 MB | November 1992 | May 1995 | May 2000 |
| SPARCstation LX | 4/30 | Sunergy | sun4m | microSPARC | 50 MHz | 128 MB | November 1992 | July 1994 | July 1999 |
| SPARCclassic X | 4/10 | Hamlet | sun4m | microSPARC | 50 MHz | 96 MB | July 1993 | May 1995 | May 2000 |
| SPARCstation ZX | 4/30 | Sunergy | sun4m | microSPARC | 50 MHz | 96 MB | August 1993 | March 1994 |
| 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 | May 1990 | November 1996 | |
| SPARCstation ELC | 4/25 | Node Warrior | sun4c | Fujitsu MB86903 or Weitek W8701 | 33 MHz | 64 MB | July 1991 | October 1998 | |
| '\'\'\'SPARCstation Voyager\'\'\' | 'S240' | 'Gypsy' | 'sun4m' | 'microSPARC II' | '60 MHz' | '80 MB' | 'March 1994' | 'December 1995' | 'December 2000' |
Server Systems
| Name | Model | Codename | Platform | CPU | CPU bus | CPU MHz | RAM (max) | Announced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| '\'\'\'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' | 'September 1991' |
| '\'\'\'SPARCserver 670MP\\ | 'S670' | 'Galaxy' | 'sun4m' | 'Up to four Cypress CY7C601 or SuperSPARC I' | 'MBus' | '40, 50, 60 MHz' | '2.5 GB' | 'September 1991' |
| '\'\'\'SPARCserver 690MP\\ | 'S690' | 'Galaxy' | 'sun4m' | 'Up to four Cypress CY7C601 or SuperSPARC I' | 'MBus' | '40, 50, 60 MHz' | '3.5 GB' | 'September 1991' |
| " 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" | "" |
Sun Microsystems offered support for these SPARCstation and server models, with a range of third-party CPU enhancements available. Examples include the Weitek POWER μP running at up to 80 MHz for certain SPARCstation units and Ross hyperSPARC MBus processors reaching frequencies as high as 200 MHz. Additionally, several SPARCstation models were marketed in configurations branded as SPARCservers.
The CS6400 system was jointly designed by Sun Microsystems and marketed by Cray Research under the name Cray Superserver 6400. Although it carried the Cray name, all hardware components possessed Sun OEM part numbers and were documented within Sun's System Handbook. Following Silicon Graphics’ acquisition of Cray Research in 1996, the original CS6400 development team was transferred back to Sun, which subsequently introduced the Ultra Enterprise 10000 "Starfire" featuring up to sixty-four processors in the following year.