Sun increases blade power

Sun is phasing out its 900-MHz Sun Blade 2000 high-end workstation with a faster-processor model, but the upgrade will not affect the Unix machine's entry-level price, the company said last week.

The new Sun Blade 2000 model will feature a 1.015-GHz UltraSparc III Cu processor, and cost $11,000 in an entry single-processor configuration, the same entry price as the 900-MHz processor model, the company says. The workstation also is available in a dual-processor configuration.

The Sun Blade 2000's high-end model carries a higher entry price and features a 1.05-GHz UltraSparc III processor.

The 1.015-GHz processor has shipped in Sun's Sun Fire 280R rack server for about a month and a half, but this marks its first appearance in a workstation, says Brian Healy, group marketing manager for client and technical market products at Sun.

Sun Blade 2000 or Sun Blade 1000 users with slower processors will find it easy to upgrade to the 1.015-GHz processor because the processors on the Sun Blade 2000 are contained in modules and easily can be swapped, Healy says. The 1.015-GHz processor will be available as an upgrade option for $5,750, he says.

The 1.015-GHz processor is available worldwide as of last week, through Sun's Web site or through Sun resellers, Healy says.

Krazit is a correspondent with the IDG News Service's Boston bureau.