Palo Alto, Calif.-based network computing giant Sun Microsystems today announced plans to integrate its separately existing technologies Sun One and Sun Grid Engine software to create a more integrated and potent grid computing solution for the business sector. Sun One includes Solaris, iPlanet solutions, Forte, and Java/XML as part of its integratable architecture for business systems.
The marriage of Sun’s platforms will maximize remote network access to company data and services from any location from both a company’s grid environment and a Sun One database, depending on what resources are needed.
Using the iPlanet Portal Server, the combined forces of Sun One and Sun Grid Engine create one access point for businesses to make computing resources available on-demand for employees, partners, colleagues, and suppliers.
Information can be personalized for each employee or company affiliate and is accessible via Sun’s customizable, graphical user interface (GUI).
Sun Grid Engine software is the company’s back end resource management tool for cluster and campus grid computing that empowers a company’s resources by combining the computing force of multiple servers, PCs, and workstations.
A cluster grid is the smallest, simplest grid available for a single projects or departments utilizing two or three servers and supporting a single group. A campus grid is designed for multiple groups and multiple projects with the technological complexity to divvy up information access among different departments or factions of a company.
Sun Grid Engine software today powers more than 160,000 CPUs in thousands of grids worldwide.
“This new service is part of Sun’s natural evolution in grid computing technology,” said Wolfgang Gentzsch, director of grid computing for Sun. “We are now more and more familiar with the two environments as industry proven solutions. The next natural step is to add more features and services, not only just computing and collaboration services, but enhancing the whole grid environment by providing services on demand.”
Sun Grid integration is available now to companies using an iPlanet Portal network environment. The company expects to announce a more solidified product concept in the near future.