SUN Demonstrates
The Future of EDA
Technology at
DAC'98 In San Francisco
Advanced Network Solutions on the
Sun Platform at Major Industry Event
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.- Taking advantage
of its leadership position in network computing and Electronic
Design Automation (EDA) solutions, Sun Microsystems, Inc. will
demonstrate the foundation on which future EDA information
technology infrastructure will be based - "Compute Farms"
- at the
35th annual Design Automation Conference (DAC) and Exposition.
In addition, Sun will highlight its advanced UltraComputingTM
solutions using JavaTM technology and the SolarisTM operating
environment, and a variety of personal productivity applications
at
its booth (#618, Moscone Convention Center).
At the show, Sun will demonstrate how compute farms on the
Solaris and SPARCTM platforms will set the standard for electronic
design automation, and how EDA professionals can benefit from
this concept. Sun's farm will "corral" a host of
Sun systems and
technologies, including PCI-based UltraTM workstations, SunTM
EnterpriseTM servers, and Sun's Intelligent Storage NetworkTM.
"Compute farms and advanced technologies, such as Java
technology, leverage network computing and automation to
maximize the productivity of engineers and their software and
computing resources," said Peter Denyer, manager of EDA
market
development at Sun. "Sun's compute farm provides electronic
product manufacturers with a cost-effective networked solution
that
is scalable, reliable, efficient and most importantly fast."
Sun is Everywhere
at DAC
Demonstrating its dominant market position in EDA, SunTM
workstations and servers are ubiquitous at DAC, where 92
exhibitors are demonstrating their applications running on
in excess
of 570 machines that Sun is providing for use at the show.
In
addition, Sun is providing 60 workstations for DACnet, the
dedicated network at Moscone Convention Center that allows
show
attendees to communicate with each other and surf the Internet.
Workstations and
Servers to Get the Job Done
The compute farm on display at DAC is
a miniature version of the
2,000 CPU farm used by Sun's own electronics design teams.
The
farm will incorporate 60 processors in 32 Ultra workstations
and a
Sun Enterprise 4000 server (for multi-threaded jobs and file
server
functions). The farm will also include two SunTM StorEdgeTM
A5000 disk arrays with over one-quarter terabyte of memory.
The
demonstration will run applications from Avant!, Cadence,
Chrysalis, Mentor Graphics, and Synopsys. CPU usage level is
expected to exceed 90 percent over three days of continuous
operation.
Sun will also demonstrate a supercooled engineering workstation
[see related release "Sun Shows What SPARC Can Do"]
The
system uses speed-sorted UltraSPARCTM II processors and
supercooling technology to achieve 500 MHz processor
performance. The system will be on display all week.
Sun's workstation products include two new low-priced, power
desktop systems - the Ultra 5 and Ultra 10 workstations - designed
to appeal to the growing base of users clamoring for more power
and reliability. The Ultra 5, Ultra 10, and multi-processor
Ultra 60
workstations combine high performance with eye-popping graphics,
PCI-bus architecture, and prices as low as $2495 (monitor not
included).
In addition to their leading price/performance value, the Ultra
5 and
Ultra 10 workstations now come ready-to-run with pre-installed
Solaris 2.6 Hardware 3/98 software. Pre-installed Solaris operating
environment software provides the highest quality, ease of
use,
convenience, and high workstation performance at PC prices.
Key
features are:
Easy to use and ready-to-run
Zero Administration installation
Reduced system setup time and rapid deployment
Lower costs for system handling
Choice of system start-up options
pre-installed software including operating system and
browser
Java Applications:
"Designing" The Future
Engineering workgroups extend beyond
the walls of today's
manufacturing enterprises to encompass suppliers and other
participants in the global supply chain. Sun's advanced network
computing technologies provide the infrastructure to support
large-scale global engineering projects, facilitating communications
while helping to drive down development costs and cycle times,
and bring new products to market faster.
According to Denyer, "Java technology allows for the rapid
development of applications to seamlessly link design and
engineering users and global supply chains. Sun's Java computing
technology provides enormous benefits for technical users,
who are
designing products across geographically dispersed teams and
heterogeneous system environments."
Sun will demonstrate how Java technology can wrap and extend
EDA applications with its JSPICE application. JSPICE shows
the
ease with which Java technology can be used to bring legacy
applications into the network-centric world of today. Using
Java to
"wrap" SPICE into a component means users can build
custom
client environments, use SPICE data in other applications,
manage
multiple jobs and do analysis on site or remotely.
JSPICE uses a Java technology front-end for the Berkeley SPICE
circuit-simulation program. JSPICE has a graphical user interface
on
the client side with multiple components for command and control,
graphing, text editing, and communicating with the server.
On the
server side, the native SPICE code interfaces with the
JavaServerTM code, allowing users to run multiple SPICE jobs,
display simulation data on the client, transfer SPICE-generated
runtime error messages and run statistics from the server to
the
client in real-time.
Personal Productivity
Made Easy with Solaris
Productivity applications abound for
the Solaris operating
environment. Sun now offers several options for engineers who
need to run spreadsheet, word processing, graphing, and database
along with theirEDA applications.
StarOffice from StarDivision delivers a comprehensive and
fully-integrated desktop software productivity suite designed
for the
business environment. StarOffice operates on Solaris, JavaOSTM,
Windows 95, Windows NT, OS/2, MAC, and Linux operating
environments and includes:
StarWriter (word processing)
StarCalc (spreadsheet)
StarImpress (presentation)
Import/export Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files
HTML creation and editing
Web-enabled browser, email, and newsgroups
PC File Viewer from Sun is a cost-effective solution for PC
interoperability. PC file viewer gives users the power to view
and
copy text from many popular types of PC files or attachments
instantly, whether or not they have PC applications on their
desktop
system. Incorporating PC file viewer into the Solaris operating
environment enables users to share attachments and files created
by
Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Lotus 1-2-3, COREL, and
AutoCAD applications. With PC file viewer, users acquire a
cost-effective solution for exchanging and sharing documents
across
the enterprise.=20
Insignia's SoftWindows 95 for Solaris puts a Windows 95
environment on any UltraSPARC workstation. With SoftWindows
95 for Solaris, there's no need for a second computer. SoftWindows
95 for Solaris includes Microsoft Windows 95 pre-installed,
allowing users to run all Microsoft Windows 95 applications
on Sun
workstations - right alongside existing Solaris applications.
With
SoftWindows' innovative TurboStart feature, Sun workstations
will
launch Windows 95 in seconds - faster than on a PC.
Finally, SolarisTM Desktop Extensions give Solaris 2.6 operating
environment users a wide range of new features that increase
productivity and empower effective information management,
enable personalized workspaces, access users, and integrate
the
web in one single desktop. Features include:
System management tools for managing and viewing system
resources Personal information tools to enable easy access
to user
information,] email, calendars, phone contacts, and the web
Desktop workspace customization tools for adding or deleting
action buttons for frequently used applications or scripts=20
File
management tools to help users find files, folders, and programs.
About Sun Microsystems,
Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular
vision, "The Network Is The
ComputerTM," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:
SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of high quality
hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide
intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more
than
$9 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than
150
countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com.
@Macarlo, Inc. @Macarlo's Shareware & Web OS/2 Java Lobby Member
Java Site Accredited