To get the performance we demanded, we focused on the IIi's ability to act as traffic cop. It is a flexible and intelligent processor design that works to make maximum utilization of available resources. The immediate benefit for system designers is reduced system cost along with improved overall system performance and ease of design. Not only are we offering customers the high level of integration, but we are also taking full advantage of the PCI industry infrastructure. Sun believes that by lowering the cost of a system, customers can leverage applications and investments in systems.
Telecommunications companies have different constraints.
The physical form factor is unique. It must be rugged enough to handle all sorts of temperature variability, for example. This is a market where Microsoft has made no secret of its intent to be a major player and its desire to sell NT to carriers that have been loyally Unix. To get the cost effectiveness of integration, Sun has moved several key features onto the central chip design. Its bandwidth performance has been designed for network server solutions.