SPARCstation

The SPARCstation, SPARCserver and SPARCcenter product lines were a series of SPARC-based computer workstations and servers in desktop, deskside (pedestal) and rack-based form factor developed and sold by Sun Microsystems

The first SPARCstation was the SPARCstation 1 (also known as the Sun 4/60), introduced in 1989. The series was very popular and introduced the Sun-4c architecture, a variant of the Sun-4 architecture previously introduced in the Sun 4/260. Thanks in part to the delay in the development of more modern processors from Motorola, the SPARCstation series was very successful across the entire industry. The last model bearing the SPARCstation name was the SPARCstation 20. The series was replaced by the Sun Ultra series in 1995.

Desktop and deskside SPARCstations and SPARCservers of the same model number were essentially identical systems: the only difference being that systems designated as servers were usually "headless" (that is, configured without a graphics card and monitor), and sold with a "server" vs. a "desktop" OS license. For example, the SPARCstation 20 and SPARCserver 20 were almost identical in motherboard, CPU, case design and most other hardware specifications.

Most desktop SPARCstations and SPARCservers shipped in either "pizzabox" or "lunchbox" enclosures, a significant departure from earlier Sun and competing systems of the time. The SPARCstation 1, 2, 4, 5, 10 and 20 were "pizzabox" machines. The SPARCstation SLC and ELC were integrated into Sun monochrome monitor enclosures, and the SPARCstation IPC, IPX, SPARCclassic, SPARCclassic X and SPARCstation LX were "lunchbox" machines.SPARCserver models ending in "30" or "70" were housed in deskside pedestal enclosures (respectively 5-slot and 12-slot VMEbus chassis); models ending in "90" and the SPARCcenter 2000 came in rackmount cabinet enclosures. The SPARCserver 1000's form-factor was a large rack-mountable desktop unit.

Later versions of the SPARCstation series, such as the SPARCstation 10 and 20, could be configured as multiprocessor systems as they were based on the MBus high-speed bus. These systems could accept one or two single or dual central processing units packaged in MBus modules.

Until the launch of the SPARCserver 600MP series, all SPARCstation/server models were also assigned Sun 4-series model numbers. Later models received S-prefix model numbers.

Models

Models are listed within their category in approximately chronological order.

"Pizzabox" systems

Server systems

Note that the above configurations were those supported by Sun Microsystems. Various third-party processor upgrades were available for SPARCstation/server systems, for instance the 80 MHz Weitek POWER μP for the SPARCstation 2 or IPX, or the Ross hyperSPARC MBus modules rated at clock speeds up to 200 MHz. As mentioned above, some models listed as SPARCstations were also available in SPARCserver configuration and vice versa.

External links

* [http://www.sun.com/ Sun Microsystems]
* [http://www.sunhelp.org/faq/sunref1.html The Sun Hardware Reference, Part 1]
* [http://www.obsolyte.com/ Obsolyte! - Fan site for old Unix Workstations, including Sun machines]
* [http://www.sunshack.org/data/feh/1.5/wcd00094/wcd09466.htm Sun Field Engineer Handbook, 20th edition]