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Pre-Oracle era

Main article: UltraSPARC T1

Main article: UltraSPARC T2

Sun Microsystems' Sun Fire and SPARC Enterprise product lines were based on early generations of CMT technology. The UltraSPARC T1 based Sun Fire T2000 and T1000 servers were launched in December 2005 and early 2006, respectively.³⁴ They were later rebranded to match the name of the UltraSPARC T2 and T2 Plus based Sun SPARC Enterprise T5**0 servers.⁵⁶

SPARC T3

Main article: SPARC T3

In September 2010, Oracle announced a range of SPARC T3 processor based servers.⁷⁸ These are branded as the "SPARC T3" series, the "SPARC Enterprise" brand being dropped.

The SPARC T3-series servers include the T3-1B, 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 a blade server in the same Sun Blade 6000 form factor.

SPARC T4

Main article: SPARC T4

On September 26, 2011, Oracle announced a range of SPARC T4-based servers.^9101112 These systems use the same chassis as the earlier T3 based systems. Their main features are very similar, with the exception of:

• T4 CPU instead of T3 CPU, with complete core redesign
• doubled RAM capacity
• small changes in mass storage capacity

SPARC T5

Main article: SPARC T5

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".¹³¹⁴¹⁵ In the T5 range of servers, the single socket rackmount server design was deprecated, while a new eight-socket rackmount server was introduced.

SPARC M7

On October 26, 2015, Oracle announced a family of systems built on the 32-core, 256-thread SPARC M7 microprocessor.¹⁶ Unlike prior generations, both T- and M-series systems were introduced using the same processor. The M7 included the first generation of the Data Analytics Accelerator (DAX) engines. DAX engines offloaded in-memory query processing and performed real-time data decompression.

SPARC M8

On September 18, 2017, Oracle announced a family of systems built on the 32-core, 256-thread SPARC M8 microprocessor at 5.0 GHz. It also included the second generation of Data Analytics Accelerator (DAX) engines.

Partitioning and virtualization

SPARC T-series servers can be partitioned using Oracle's Logical Domains technology. 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.

Servers

External links

• All current Oracle SPARC servers
• SPARC Servers
• SPARC T4 About page by Oracle
• SPARC M8-8 About page

References

1. Ashlee Vance (6 December 2005), "At last, Sun unveils UltraSPARC revival", The Register https://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/06/sun_niagara_gear/ ↩

2. Timothy Prickett Morgan (22 July 2009), "Sun cranks clocks on Sparc T2 and T2+", The Register https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/22/sun_sparc_t_crank/ ↩

3. Ashlee Vance (6 December 2005), "At last, Sun unveils UltraSPARC revival", The Register https://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/06/sun_niagara_gear/ ↩

4. Ashlee Vance (13 April 2006), "Sun buffs Opteron, SPARC and Sun Ray", The Register https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/13/sun_refresh/ ↩

5. Ashlee Vance (10 April 2007), "Sun and Fujitsu to release 256-thread (M)onster", The Register https://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/10/sun_fujitsu_misformainframe/ ↩

6. Agam Shah (8 October 2007), "Sun delivers first UltraSparc T2-based servers", IT World Canada http://www.itworldcanada.com/article/sun-delivers-first-ultrasparc-t2-based-servers/9367 ↩

7. "Oracle Unveils SPARC T3 Processor and SPARC T3 Systems". www.oracle.com. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2010. http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/173536 ↩

8. Timothy Prickett Morgan (27 September 2011), "Oracle back in the Unix game with Sparc T3 servers", The Register https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/27/oracle_sparc_t3_shipping_pricing/ ↩

9. "Oracle Launches Next Generation SPARC T4 Servers". www.oracle.com. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2012. http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/497230 ↩

10. Jean S. Bozman, Matthew Eastwood (April 2012), SPARC Servers: An Effective Choice for Efficiency in the Datacenter, p. 9 (PDF), IDC http://www.oracle.com/us/products/servers-storage/servers/sparc-enterprise/idc-dce-2012-1612359.pdf ↩

11. Timothy Prickett Morgan (27 September 2011), "Oracle rises for Unix server push", The Register https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/27/oracle_sparc_t4_chip_servers/ ↩

12. Timothy Prickett Morgan (11 October 2011), "Oracle's Sparc T4 prices mask improved value", The Register https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/11/oracle_sparc_t4_server_pricing/ ↩

13. "Oracle Unveils SPARC Servers with the World's Fastest Microprocessor". www.oracle.com. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013. http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/1923343 ↩

14. John Mellor-Crummey (14 January 2014), COMP 422 Parallel Computing: An Introduction (PDF), Rice University, p. 22, archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2014, retrieved 21 March 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140322014123/https://www.clear.rice.edu/comp422/lecture-notes/comp422-2014-Lecture1-Introduction.pdf ↩

15. Kevin McLaughlin (26 March 2013), "Oracle Unveils Sparc Servers, Touts T5 Processor As 'World's Fastest'", CRN http://www.crn.com/news/data-center/240151769/oracle-unveils-sparc-servers-touts-t5-processor-as-worlds-fastest.htm ↩

16. "Oracle Announces Breakthrough Processor and Systems Design with SPARC M7". www.oracle.com. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015. https://www.oracle.com/corporate/pressrelease/sparc-m7-102615.html ↩