SUN MICROSYSTEMS: AGGREGATED MGMT AND SERVICE DELIVERY TO SERVER APPLIANCES.

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) recently announced the Sun Cobalt Control Station, a flexible and extensible tool that helps maximize resource use by streamlining the management of hundreds of server appliances while easing the provisioning of new services. Coupled with Sun Cobalt RaQ and Qube server appliances, the Control Station allows service providers to marshal their resources more effectively, thereby helping to enabling them to expand their service offerings and cost-effectively manage critical server appliances across the enterprise.

"The Control Station augments the Sun Cobalt server appliance line, echoing the exceptional ease-of-use, flexibility, and reliability of our current solutions and introducing extensive capabilities that ease and simplify both the day-to-day management of existing systems and the implementation of new services," said Peder Ulander, Director of Marketing, Sun Microsystems, Inc.

The Control Station virtually eliminates the traditionally time-consuming tasks of upgrading and patching server appliances individually by allowing administrators to control hundreds of server appliances from a single location. The Control Station both simplifies the volume deployment of software packages as well as allows service providers to offer unique payloads, data, or software services, thereby enabling organizations to generate revenue by providing customized and tailor-made service offerings to downstream and end-user customers.

"Customers rely on our company to keep our servers updated and running at all times," said Lee Berk, Product Manager, Managed Internet Services, for Comcast Business Communications. "Managing the Sun Cobalt server appliances with the Control Station allows us to maintain our large customer base, consistently providing them with the high quality of service they demand."

To help enable higher quality of service, the Control Station makes it both easier to manage devices and monitor their status for failure conditions before failures occur. Administrators are also notified of system alerts and metrics that allow them to easily monitor the health and performance of systems of their managed appliances. Health monitoring capabilities are designed to allow administrators to monitor customized services by providing a way to monitor custom software payloads on managed appliances. Thus providing higher service levels, while better managing their operational costs.

"The Control Station's most valuable feature for ASPRE is the aggregated management to deliver software in bulk to appliances," said Alan Rihm, president and CEO of ASPRE. "Combined with our SPx application, we are able to sell online, instantly deliver, and manage hundreds of Sun Cobalt RaQ servers. Instead of logging on to each server, we can easily mange all appliances, either in groups or individually, from a single graphical interface, which significantly decreases time and monetary resources, lowering the total cost of operation."

Designed to ensure maximum extensibility as well as leverage existing investments, Sun Cobalt will offer a Software Development Kit (SDK) for the Control Station. The SDK will allow customers, integrators, and partners to incorporate their own utilities into the module architecture and build their own control modules. These customization capabilities enable organizations to continue using their own proprietary utilities while using the Control Station to perform daily operations, thereby increasing overall efficiency while preserving proven practices and procedures. Organizations can realize additional time and cost savings by configuring the Control Station either as a multi-purpose device, running several modules such as performance monitoring and software management, or as a dedicated device.

The Sun Cobalt Control Station will be available through Sun and Sun Microsystems existing worldwide sales channels on November 20. U.S. list price is $4,999, depending on configuration options. The Sun Cobalt solutions are delivered through a global network of distributors, value-added resellers, and Internet service providers.

Sun Cobalt server appliances and Sun Chili!Soft ASP software technology help enable organizations to establish an online presence easily, cost effectively, and reliably. The Sun Cobalt appliance product line -- the Sun Cobalt RaQ XTR, Sun Cobalt Qube, Sun Cobalt Cache, Sun Cobalt RaQ, and Sun Chili!Soft ASP software -- are used by businesses, service providers, and educational institutions for Internet and web hosting services.