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Sun a step closer to mainframe turf

Nearly a year after Sun Microsystems' Sun Fire 3800, 4800, 5800 and 6800 servers arrived, the company has released technology that makes the high-end computers behave more like the IBM mainframe machines with which they're intended to compete. These Sun Fire models already had the ability to be sliced into several servers that would run at the same time, but until now the entire server had to be restarted to change how these partitions were established. With dynamic domain reconfiguration, resources such as memory, CPUs and input-output channels for the Sun Fire servers can be assigned on the fly. That means that one part of the server can grab more resources if its workload increases.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
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Stephen Shankland
Nearly a year after Sun Microsystems' Sun Fire 3800, 4800, 5800 and 6800 servers arrived, the company has released technology that makes the high-end computers behave more like the IBM mainframe machines with which they're intended to compete. These Sun Fire models already had the ability to be sliced into several servers that would run at the same time, but until now the entire server had to be restarted to change how these partitions were established.

With dynamic domain reconfiguration, resources such as memory, CPUs and input-output channels for the Sun Fire servers can be assigned on the fly. That means that one part of the server can grab more resources if its workload increases.