With new Sparc systems, Oracle begins shift to single chip architecture:
Oracle has announced a batch of servers based on new Sparc processors and in the process has begun an expected shift toward converging its two families of Unix servers onto a single chip architecture.
The new M-series server, called the M5-32, is a high-end SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) machine that Oracle will position against IBM’s Power 795 Unix server, its biggest. It supports up to 32TB of system memory — a huge amount — and runs on a new, six-core Oracle processor called the Sparc M5, which shares the same core as the Sparc T5 chip also announced Tuesday.
But [analysts] also wondered how much longer it will be economically viable for Oracle to keep developing its own microprocessors. Sales of its Unix hardware have been declining, and last quarter were at about half the level they were when Oracle bought Sun Microsystems three years ago.
Good old Sun technology…