Author: JT Smith
commitment to the open source movement, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW)
announced today the Sun Grid Engine Project, an initiative to offer the source code
for Sun(tm) Grid Engine software to users and the developer community. Sun Grid Engine
software is an advanced distributed resource management (DRM) tool. It has been
available as a free download at www.sun.com/software/gridware since its introduction
in September 2000. (See also: story from Interactive Week.)A leader in the open source community, Sun will add this project’s half million lines
of code to its total of more than 8 million lines of code already contributed to open
source efforts. Sun is coordinating this worldwide project with CollabNet, a leading
provider of collaborative software development solutions based on open source
concepts, in making the code available for download at www.gridengine.sunsource.net.
The project is designed to further remove the cost and implementation barriers
associated with deploying DRM software in a compute farm. Additionally, both open
source users and Sun Grid Engine software customers will benefit from this open source
project through enhanced industry support. For example, service and support providers
will be able to customize the powerful software for specific customer needs, and
software developers will be able to reduce complexity for end users by creating
applications that are tightly integrated with Sun Grid Engine software. Over time, the
open source effort should facilitate the adoption of open standards for DRM software,
facilitating interoperability with applications and easing integration.
“As cluster computing scales up towards grid computing, tools like Sun Grid Engine
software will become ubiquitous and essential,” said Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO of
technology information firm O’Reilly & Associates. “Computing is moving towards the
development of what you might call an Internet operating system. Sun recognizes that
key components of that operating system shouldn’t be controlled by any one company,
and they’re putting their money where their mouth is by releasing it as open source.”
“Sun will continue to deliver products that support our core philosophy that the
network is the computer,” said Robbie Turner, vice president of Client and Technical
Market Products at Sun Microsystems. “Sun is encouraging the grid computing model via
free downloads of Sun Grid Engine software–and now by making its code available to
the open source community–because the productivity gains of the grid computing model
will increasingly serve as a decisive factor in a business’s ultimate success or
failure.”
CollabNet is providing the Web infrastructure and comprehensive development platform
that enables geographically dispersed groups of developers to collaborate on Grid
Engine projects. Based on CollabNet’s SourceCast environment, this platform includes
tools for revision control, issue tracking, mailing list creation and management, and
Web-based administration. This open source project follows on the heels of the
successful OpenOffice.org initiative — also supported by CollabNet–which made
available the source code for Sun’s StarOffice(tm) software under the same
industry-accepted Sun Industry Standards Source License. Full details of Sun’s
involvement with open source projects can be seen at www.sunsource.net.
“The Grid Engine Project continues to demonstrate Sun’s true leadership within the
open source community,” said Brian Behlendorf, co-founder and CTO of CollabNet.
“CollabNet is delighted to be working with Sun on yet more compelling open source
software. Sun’s decision to open this previously proprietary software demonstrates its
understanding of the technical community’s fundamental need and interest in scalable
DRM technology.”
Delivering Network-Wide Compute Power to the Desktop
Sun Grid Engine software was introduced in September 2000 as the first product
resulting from Sun’s acquisition of Gridware, formerly a privately-owned commercial
vendor of advanced DRM software tools. Since then, the software has been downloaded
nearly 8,000 times in more than 90 countries. A comprehensive web-based training
course for installing and managing the software is also available at no cost at
www.sun.com/software/gridware. By distributing Sun Grid Engine software as a free
download and with all Sun systems, Sun is changing the economics of technical
computing and breaking down the barriers of employing distributed computing.
Sun Grid Engine software is designed to aggregate compute resources, match them to
individual job requirements, and deliver network-wide compute power to the desktop.
Through this horizontal scaling, Sun’s powerful DRM tool manages an organization’s
compute resources and job distribution, which:
- allows engineers to move beyond the desktop to leverage all the resources
available on the network; - frees the engineer to focus on the project, not computing tasks;
- provides easy access to resource-rich compute environments, allowing for
expanded product development, simulations and testing; - speeds time to market;
- and fundamentally changes the economics of technical computing.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” —
has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq:SUNW), to its position as a leading
provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the
Internet and allow companies worldwide to dot-com their businesses. With $19.2 billion
in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide
Web at http://www.sun.com.
Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, Solaris, StarOffice, Java Reliable
Multicast Service, NetBeans, Java Community Process, JavaServer Pages PicoJava, J2EE,
J2SE, Jiro, Forte, The Network Is The Computer and all Java-based marks are trademarks
or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other
countries. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries,
exclusively licensed through X/Open Company, Ltd. Mozilla is a trademark or registered
trademark at Netscape Communications Corporation in the United States and other
countries.
About CollabNet
CollabNet provides companies with solutions for collaborative software development by
combining open source community expertise with business excellence. CollabNet offers
customers a comprehensive Web-based development environment, and a suite of consulting
services to facilitate software development across a worldwide community. CollabNet is
currently working with customers ranging from hardware and software providers to
companies from industries such as finance, wireless and healthcare. Brian Behlendorf,
co-founder of the Apache Software Foundation, founded CollabNet in July 1999. For more
information, see http://www.collab.net.
CollabNet and SourceCast are trademarks of Collab.Net, Inc. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the
Sun Logo, and the Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks
or registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
