Sun Microsystems announced this week the release of an optimized AMP stack for its Unix-based Solaris 10 operating system and an expansion of its open source developer tools.
Sun released a new distribution of its Solaris Express, Developer
Edition and announced an expanded pricing structure for its Startup
Essentials program. The Startup Essentials program offers features to
help fledgling businesses accelerate their development cycle and get to
market faster with reduced cost.
Sun Microsystems announced this week the release of an optimized AMP stack for its Unix-based Solaris 10 operating system 
and an expansion of its open source 
developer tools.
Sun released a new distribution of its Solaris Express, Developer
Edition and announced an expanded pricing structure for its Startup
Essentials program. The Startup Essentials program offers features to
help fledgling businesses accelerate their development cycle and get to
market faster with reduced cost.
Dubbed "SAMP" (for
Solaris plus AMP), the open source platform provides software
developers and start-up enterprises enhanced programming tools to
deploy a Web infrastructure .
The AMP module consists of the open source programs Apache server,
database MySQL and the Perl or PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) scripting
languages. The Sun release includes the object-relational database
management system PostgreSQL and the Python programming language.
Sun's SAMP stack replaces the Linux component in LAMP with a
Unix-based operating system. LAMP is the open source Web platform that
consists of Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP.
The new product is designed to give Internet
start-ups and Web 2.0 companies an edge in setting up their online
businesses using open source software on x86 hardware platforms.
"We are seeing an explosion of interest in expanding
development using Solaris tools. There is a change taking place in
software development practices being driven under the Web 2.0 banner.
This is leading to a reinvestment in open source," Dan Roberts,
director of Tools Marketing for Sun, told LinuxInsider.
Popularity Counts
The program stack Sun assembled gives users access to some of the most popular open source applications .
Sun's enhancement primes the existing applications to run optimized on
Sun's Unix-based Solaris platform. Apache, MySQL and Perl already are
well established on the Linux platform.
"We open sourced Solaris last year and continued to see it
grow with developers," Roberts noted. "This is part of an overall
campaign and development program we started two years ago. We found
that we could optimize what was already in use to offer far more in
what Solaris could do."
Sun wanted to make sure that developers had a fully developed
stack of tools to maximize their work using Solaris, said Roberts. That
optimization included a recommitment to the x86 hardware platform.
Releasing the developer's tools for the Solaris platform
enables product makers to do essentially the same thing that other
programmers accomplish when they develop an application in Windows and
release it to run on the Linux platform.
Express Time
Sun's updated program release includes the Developer Edition
of Solaris Express. This is the first iteration of a new distribution
based on the OpenSolaris project. It provides an integrated environment
for developers to create applications to run with Solaris, Java and Web 2.0 features.
Sun is packaging more than 150 open source applications with
Solaris Express, Developer Edition. The Glassfish application server is
also featured.
A new version of the Gnome-based desktop and Sun development
tools is included in the release. This Sun tools include Sun Studio 11
and the NetBeans 5.5 IDE.
Starting Essentials
The third part of Sun's announcement on Tuesday involves the
company's expansion of its purchasing program, called Startup
Essentials.
"We are making it easier and less expensive for them to get
up and running with familiar tools, like Apache and MySQL, combined
with the superior security
and performance of Solaris 10 and attractive programs to tie it all
together," said Rich Green, executive vice president of software for
Sun.
This expanded program offers an improved buying experience
with streamlined, online access to Sun hardware, including its Sun Fire
x64 servers and Sun Fire servers with CoolThreads technology running the Solaris 10 operating system or other operating systems.
Sun is adding its StorageTek modular disk arrays, NAS and
tape storage products to the program at deeply discounted prices. In
addition to offering free technical resources online, Sun is also
offering Startup Essentials program participants free technical advice
and guidance via e-mail .
Beyond Free Access
Sun is also making available multiple levels of its Sun Services to
users of the SAMP stack. Sun is hoping users of the free offering make
their way to various paid commercial products and support options.
Under Sun's Try and Buy Program, customers can receive 60
days of free support for Sun Fire x64 (x86, 64-bit) servers, Sun Fire
servers with CoolThreads technology, Sun Ultra Workstations and Sun
Storage systems.
Discounts have been 60 percent to 70 percent less than list prices.
Through its Sun Developer Expert Assistance Program, Sun
offers support for US$49 per request. An annual subscription featuring
support for unlimited requests costs $249.
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