SAN FRANCISCO— Sun Microsystems Inc. will demonstrate a new version of its Sun Ray thin-client computing technology for Linux at this weeks LinuxWorld conference here. The company is also announcing the release of its C, C++ and Fortran development tools for Linux.
The new Sun Ray 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 Sun Ray thin client with all of the security and features that Sun currently supports on the Solaris platform.
Sun Ray, 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.
Sun Ray 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 Sun Ray sessions.
“The biggest news for us is that were taking the low overhead, low TCO model of Sun Ray. … We have two system administrators managing 4000 Sun Ray desktops at Sun—to Linux,” said Benjamin Baer, group marketing manager for Sun Ray at Sun.
Sun Ray for Linux will not immediately be shipped for Suns 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 Sun Ray, and that a full Sun Ray-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, Suns director of software marketing.
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