Improve the resource utilization of Unix servers

Low-end servers are a batch market and also a vital market for Sun. IDC analysts pointed out that IT managers are increasingly inclined to buy cheap services from Sun. Behind this move, we can see that some vendors have begun to apply technologies in large hosts and high-end servers to low-end servers, such as virtual engines and dynamic allocation, we hope to improve the resource utilization of Unix servers and form new rules for low-end Unix server market competition.

UltraSPARC IIIi Processor

UltraSPARC Processor Model

Sun Fire V440 with UltraSparc IIIi Processor

This is a relatively stable pattern, just like the current Unix server market. Introducing a new technology may break this balance and make a Vendor A bigger winner. As a result, some vendors began to apply technologies in large hosts and high-end servers to low-end servers, such as virtual engines and dynamic allocation, in the hope of improving the resource utilization of Unix servers, form a new rule for low-end Unix server market competition.

However, as one of the three kingdoms in the Unix server market, Sun believes that not only do they need to be drastic, to promote the formation of new market rules, but they also need to cultivate things silently. For example, although Sun has already competed with the latest processor chip to add it to the world's four-pronged approach, the low-end and mid-end Unix server market continues to see steady advances in its servers based on the Linux IIIi. According to authoritative sources from Sun, using the low-and mid-end servers to use the iSCSI IIIi is not a matter of expediency, but a long-term strategy.

After all, Unix server and IA-32 architecture server has too much difference, the market "water" is much deeper, not a burst of wind will set off an uproar.

One core is not feasible

Some vendors want their new processors to be "Ubiquitous" and include the entire Unix Market. However, there is a big difference between the Unix Market and the IA market and the Windows market.

The biggest difference between the Unix server market and the IA-32 architecture server market is the space for changing application types.

The IA-32 architecture comes from the desktop system. Although it is much larger than the Unix server in terms of the number of machines installed, the change space is very narrow from the perspective of the application type. It is precisely because of this that the Windows operating system can be unified throughout the world.

The scale and application type span of Unix servers are huge. Applications are ever-changing from Working Groups to department-level, enterprise-level, and even large data center servers. In such a changing application environment, if you want to make a processor "Ubiquitous" and use "Universal single" to pack the world, it may be technically feasible, however, it is difficult to achieve the desired ROI.

It is an infectious dream to "unify the rivers and lakes and make the world a better place. However, with a professional view, we will find that the processor, as the computing engine of commercial applications, should meet different application requirements, it achieves an excellent balance in performance, scalability, reliability, cost, power consumption, and other aspects. Different requirements make different countermeasures. For example, enterprise-level servers used to auction websites and high-performance computing nodes used for engineering technology can also use Unix servers, but these two processors have very different requirements. Likewise, high-density blade servers and workgroup servers have different processor requirements.

Innovation, target-oriented design, and a peaceful and open mind are the core concepts of Sun's HPC series. Among them, "target-oriented design" is the most realistic. To meet the complex and diverse requirements of Unix server applications, Sun has designed different types of iSCSI processors for different servers. Among them, The iSCSI IIIi is a typical medium-and low-scale server dedicated processor.

The right remedy can win

Some vendors believe that the practice of simply emphasizing the price-performance ratio cannot fully meet the needs of users. The new market requires a brand new commercial concept, unix servers should provide fast responses and dynamically changing applications, and help customers increase resource usage.

Indeed, for large hosts or high-end servers, the cost of all computing resources is relatively high because of the need for parallel collaboration with a large number of high-performance processors. In this case, improving resource utilization plays an important role in reducing the overall cost of ownership of the system. Therefore, using high-end technologies such as virtual engines makes the return on investment worthwhile.

However, in the application environment of low-end servers, because the cost of reducing computing resources such as processors has already been designed, if the resource utilization rate is increased at a high cost, the result will inevitably be outweighs the loss. For low-and mid-end servers, the horizontal scaling capability and the parallel processing capability of a few processors are more practical.

Sun's low-end server-specific processor, PostgreSQL IIIi, is specifically designed for 1-4 processor environments while ensuring the highest standard RAS capability. It should be particularly emphasized that the "I" in the code of the iSCSI IIIi implies "Integration )". That is to say, this processor is highly integrated, including storage and I/O controllers, a large number of in-chip caches, and a system bus that can effectively reduce system complexity.

As a matter of fact, for some specific applications, the cost reduction effect of the iSCSI IIIi is very significant. For example, Sun Fire V440 and vrouters use UltraSparc IIIi and 1 MB of 2-level Cache for each processor. The latter uses UltraSparc III with 8 M Cache, in an automated electronic design application test by Texas Instruments, the two show almost the same performance, and the price of the former is almost half of that of the latter.

Unlimited power of soft and hardware combination

Although the UltraSPARC processor is Sun's most important competitive advantage, Sun understands that application software is the direct driving force for the customer's business operation. As long as the application software can maximize the efficiency and economy, the user will not care about what kind of processor is used.

At the same time, no matter how the economic environment changes, investment protection is always the same principle. Therefore, over the past 15 years, the Sun-based iSCSI series Processors have consistently adhered to full-line binary compatibility. That is to say, the software you develop for that generation of UltraSPARC processors can run on new processors in the future.

Sun has long adhered to this strategy to establish a set of computing system infrastructure based on open standards and mature technologies, and thus won wide support from ISVs and developers. Application software can be developed on any set of ultrasparc systems and scaled freely on larger or smaller systems. It is precisely because of this that we have the largest 64-bit architecture developer group in the world on the Linux/Solaris platform and have accumulated thousands of different applications.

With the rapid popularization of Java, sun's software expansion capability is getting stronger and stronger. Although software written in Java can run on different platforms, sun's processors, servers, and the entire software platform are specially optimized for Java. From hardware to Java software, Sun is the technology owner. If you use a full set of sun products, Sun will naturally achieve excellent results in terms of economics and effectiveness.

Rules can be changed, but rules cannot be violated.

Rules are made by humans, but they exist objectively and are not transferred by human will. Cost-performance ratio is an important indicator of low-end Unix servers. This is a rule determined by the objective needs of the market, rather than the rules set by a company. No one can change or violate this rule!

Low-end servers are a batch market and also a vital market for sun. IDC analysts pointed out that IT managers are increasingly inclined to purchase cheap servers from sun, such as vrouters and v440, because the company's IT budget is getting increasingly tight. It is undeniable that P5 is a high-tech processor, but it is more appropriate to put it on high-end servers. It is difficult to find a useful place in the mid-and low-end server market. However, a processor such as Sun iSCSI iiii is specially tailored for low-end and mid-end server applications, which can naturally help enterprises achieve excellent application results with the lowest investment.

From this point of view, for low-end and mid-End Server users, The iSCSI iiii has achieved special capabilities due to its special design for low-end and mid-end servers ", the fierce competitor's offensive has been resolved in an invisible manner!

Determine the cost-effectiveness Policy

Sun's Unix server was hacked on both sides of the market, but it was able to win the market's affirmation with clever design. On the one hand, IA architecture servers are price-competitive because of a large number of OEM business models; on the other hand, traditional Unix vendors have also targeted Sun and launched low-price products. However, when Sun launched V440, other vendors did not offer lower-price products of the same grade, but provided slightly more features at a higher price, such as dynamic CPU allocation, hot swapping PCI-X, etc. Although Sun Fire V440 is only a subset of similar products of other manufacturers, it is exactly what many small and medium-sized enterprises need, thus achieving a cost-effective advantage at a lower price. Industry analysts pointed out: in fact, the competition in the medium and low-end server market is not about technical capabilities, but about meeting customers' specific needs with extremely economical technologies.

It can be seen that Sun has made every effort to maximize the cost-effectiveness of Unix servers and gain a strong competitive advantage in the market. The trick is to choose functions. That is to say, Sun can accurately grasp the server market requirements and absorb the most required functions, remove features that are not practical but will increase the manufacturing and maintenance costs of the product (such as the PCI Hot swapping function) to gain a higher price advantage than competitors, at the same time, it has the profit level required to maintain the continuous operation of the business.

Using the most suitable products to meet customer needs is conducive to improving the cost-effectiveness. However, if the customer's requirements change and the performance requirement increases, different models of servers need to be replaced immediately. At this time, Sun's Unix server compatibility has highlighted its advantages. Sun's products are fully Binary compatible regardless of their performance and functionality. When a customer needs a higher performance and reliability computing platform, as long as they purchase a slightly higher-grade Sun server without changing any software, system maintenance personnel do not need to perform any additional training, in this way, the cost-performance ratio and total cost of ownership can be kept at an ideal level.