SAN FRANCISCO— Sun Microsystems Inc. will demonstrate a new version of its SunRay thin-client computing technology for Linux at this week's LinuxWorld conference here. The company is also announcing the release of its C, C++ and Fortran development tools for Linux.
The new SunRay software, which Sun plans to release in the last quarter of the year, will allow customers to use Red Hat or SuSE Linux servers to host remote client sessions on the SunRay thin client with all of the security and features that Sun currently supports on the Solaris platform.
SunRay, a combination of server software and a low-cost intelligent terminal system, has been available on Solaris for just over 4 years. It allows users to sign on from anywhere in the enterprise and have all of their applications with their full user profile available to them.
SunRay can be combined with smart card technologies and other security features, and keeps all user applications and data safely on server storage. A dual-processor server can host up to 20 concurrent SunRay sessions.
"The biggest news for us is that we're taking the low overhead, low TCO model of SunRay... We have two system administrators managing 4000 SunRay desktops at Sun—to Linux," said Benjamin Baer, group marketing manager for SunRay at Sun.
Click here to read how Sun is extending its Java system to Windows.
SunRay for Linux will not immediately be shipped for Sun's own Java Desktop System, as a server version of JDS has not yet been completed. However, Baer says that users will be able to configure JDS to work with SunRay, and that a full SunRay-ready version of JDS is in the works.
Sun will also announce immediate availability of Linux versions of its Sun Studio 9 development tools for C, C++ and Fortran. "In the Linux market, traditional programming environments are important," said Barbara Kay, Sun's director of software marketing.
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