The Sun Fire X4500 Server (code-named Thumper) brings together state-of-the-art server and storage technologies in a single box. The server combines a four-way x64 server with up to 48 disk drives and 24TB of storage…..And because the Sun Fire X4500 Server comes bundled with Solaris ZFS, you can count on data integrity across very large datasets.

Luminex’s Channel Gateway VTS software installs directly to an off-the-shelve Thumper to transform it into a, FICON attached, 3490 virtual tape solution.  All of this is delivered with no modification to the Thumper, no additional hardware and no costly control unit.  The Luminex software turns the Thumper into the 3490 control unit.

The Sun Fire X4500 is a break-through Data Server.  It combines all the best of SUN’s technology and delivers amazing performance, reliability and product value to the open systems community.   And now, with Luminex’s Channel Gateway software, the X4500 can be FICON-attached to any Mainframe.

What people are saying about the Sun Fire X4500*

From the Chief Architect

Andy Bechtolsheim, Sun chief architect and designer of the Sun Fire X4500 Server.
"This new machine has a cost-performance that people could only dream about until now."

Ok – we agree you’d expect the chief architect to endorse his creation.  But read on!

Energy efficient with a minimal footprint

Ian Dwyer, Oracle's Senior Director of Global Alliances.

Dwyer sees the launch of the Sun Fire X4500 Server as a real-estate announcement, not simply a hardware announcement: "You don't have to acquire new data centers to use this latest high-performance technology. Likewise, you're seeing greater energy efficiency, thereby reducing costs."

"Beautiful Machine"

Professor Satoshi Matsuoka, Head of Research Infrastructure at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

"It's such a beautiful machine," says Matsuoka.

Systems Innovation

Hector Ruiz, chairman and CEO of AMD,

"This new class of products, a server and storage hybrid, will dramatically change how people address and solve their problems….”

The Web 2.0 Server

Tim O'Reilly, president and CEO of O'Reilly Media, Inc.,

"This is the Web 2.0 server. [The Sun Fire X4500 Server] doesn't quite fit into any existing category, and I really think it's the category of the future. Now companies can get hardware like this and build next-generation applications."

And from the Big Boss himself

Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz at the launch of the Sun Fire X4500 Server.

"These systems are true innovations, and they give customers what they are looking for."
*Source: http://www.sun.com/2006-0714/feature/index.jsp

Channel Gateway Data Sheets

  DATA SHEET - CHANNEL GATEWAY FAMILY (2.1 MB)

  DATA SHEET - SUN FIRE X4500 (2.7 MB)