Sun Enterprise
| Company type | Product line |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer hardware |
| Predecessor | UltraServer series |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Defunct | 2001 |
| Successor | Sun Fire series |
| Products | UNIX server machines based on UltraSPARC microprocessors |
| Owner | Sun Microsystems |
Sun Enterprise denotes a series of UNIX server machines developed by Sun Microsystems between 1996 and 2001. Initially introduced under the name Sun Ultra Enterprise, the Ultra designation was discontinued around 1998. These systems are built upon the 64-bit UltraSPARC microprocessor platform and share lineage with the contemporary Ultra workstation lineup. Operating on Solaris, this range spans from single-processor entry-level servers to advanced multiprocessor configurations. The Enterprise brand was eventually replaced by the Sun Fire series starting in 2001.
Servers derived from Ultra workstations
The earliest UltraSPARC-I-based servers appeared in 1995 as the UltraServer 1 and UltraServer 2, which were server adaptations of the Ultra 1 and Ultra 2 workstation models. These were subsequently rebranded as Ultra Enterprise 1 and Ultra Enterprise 2. Later, the Ultra Enterprise 150 was introduced, featuring an Ultra 1 motherboard housed in a tower chassis equipped with twelve disk bays.
In 1998, Sun released server variants of the UltraSPARC-IIi-powered Ultra 5 and Ultra 10 workstations, marketed as the Enterprise Ultra 5S and Enterprise Ultra 10S.
Entry-level server offerings
The Sun Enterprise 450, launched in 1997, is a rack-mountable entry-level multiprocessor server capable of supporting up to four UltraSPARC II CPUs. It was followed by the dual-processor Sun Enterprise 250 in 1998. In 1999, Sun introduced the Enterprise 220R and Enterprise 420R rack-mounted servers, based on the motherboards of Ultra 60 and Ultra 80 workstations respectively. The Enterprise 250 and 450 models were succeeded by the Sun Fire V250 and V880 servers; similarly, the Enterprise 220R and 420R were replaced by Sun Fire 280R and V480 systems.
Mid-range servers: Ultra Enterprise XX00 series
In 1996, Sun superseded the SPARCserver 1000E and SPARCcenter 2000E with a new lineup including the Ultra Enterprise 3000, 4000, 5000, and 6000 servers. These multiprocessor platforms share a unified architecture centered around the Gigaplane packet-switched processor/memory interconnect and utilize UltraSPARC-I or II CPUs. Engineered for mission-critical workloads, these servers incorporate features aimed at high availability and fault tolerance.
The deskside Ultra Enterprise 3000 supports up to six processors along with ten internal disk drives; its rack-mounted counterpart, the Ultra Enterprise 4000, accommodates up to fourteen processors; the Ultra Enterprise 5000 serves as a rack cabinet iteration of the 4000; while the large cabinet-sized Ultra Enterprise 6000 can house as many as thirty processors.
In 1999, these models were refreshed as the Enterprise 3500, 4500, 5500, and 6500, featuring an upgraded Gigaplane bus running at speeds up to 100 MHz. The Enterprise 3500 also added an additional Gigaplane slot, increasing its maximum CPU count to eight. This X500 series was eventually replaced by the Sun Fire models 3800, 4800, and 6800.
Enterprise 10000
The Enterprise 10000, also known as E10k or by its codename Starfire, is a high-performance multiprocessor data center server configurable with up to sixty-four UltraSPARC II processors. Initially developed by Cray Research's Business Systems Division as a successor to the Cray Superserver 6400, it became part of Sun's portfolio following Silicon Graphics' acquisition of Cray in 1996. Sun introduced this system under the name Ultra Enterprise 10000 in 1997.
Built upon the fault-tolerant Gigaplane-XB processor/memory interconnect, the Starfire delivers robust high availability capabilities, including partitioning into multiple independent "domains," each running its own instance of Solaris. Hardware resources such as CPU boards—each containing up to four processors, four gigabytes of RAM, and four SBUS I/O boards—can be dynamically reassigned between these domains. In rare setups, SBUS boards can be substituted with dual PCI boards. The Starfire distinguished itself as the first server to surpass a score of 2000 on the TPC-D benchmark for a three hundred gigabyte database and gained adoption among prominent customers during the dot-com era, including eBay. Fully equipped configurations typically commanded prices exceeding one million dollars.
The architecture includes one or two controller modules connected via Ethernet to an external System Service Processor (SSP), which manages domain partitioning through JTAG links to the centerplane. The SSP holds encrypted manufacturer-issued keys critical for booting procedures and domain configuration. An example of an E10K is preserved at the Computer History Museum located in Mountain View.
The Starfire was succeeded by subsequent models in Sun's lineup: namely the Sun Fire 12K and 15K.