SANTA CLARA, USA: Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced that it has expanded its portfolio of small- and medium-sized business (SMB) solutions with the introduction of two new virtualization solutions that combine Sun's leading x64 server and open storage products with VMware ESX and Microsoft Hyper-V software.

Sun also announced a new world-record VMmark benchmark result on the Sun Fire X4450 server, demonstrating superior performance among all 24-core systems with the best result based on Intel Xeon  processor technology.

Sun'sVirtualization solutions for SMBs using VMware ESX and Microsoft Hyper-V software deliver tested and optimized storage and server configurations that make it easy for customers to deploy leading virtualization offerings. Sun's solutions pair Sun's ultra-scalable Sun Fire X4150, Sun Fire X4250, Sun Fire X4450 servers and Sun Storage 7210 Unified Storage systems with VMware ESX, and Sun Fire X4250 server and Sun Storage J4200 systems with Microsoft Hyper-V.

These solutions allow customers to build an agile IT environment that can quickly meet the changing needs of their businesses through rapid virtual server deployment, reducing costs and achieving optimal performance through maximum server and storage utilization. Partners can also benefit from these solutions by gaining added value in configuration, implementation and installation services, diversifying their offerings and expanding their customer reach.

"Sun has been helping the world's largest companies with virtualization for years," said David Simmons, senior director, Mid-Market Business, Sun Microsystems. "Now we're bringing these capabilities to our SMB customers. Sun's x64 servers and new and innovative open storage systems combined with industry leading SMB virtualization software allows customers to easily virtualize their IT environments increasing business performance and their competitive advantage in the marketplace.”

Sun's SMB initiative delivers uniquely designed solutions for Web services, database, email and virtualization deployments, while reducing total cost and complexity. Sun's SMB solutions portfolio includes Windows Essential Business Server (EBS), Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 upgrade, MySQL database and Sun's secure web server solution.

Sun's overall commitment to open source software and industry-standard hardware make it easier and more affordable for SMBs to access Sun's leading products. Customers can choose from a wide range of products and platforms like the Sun Fire x64 servers and Ultra-SPARC processor-based servers; multiple operating systems like Solaris 10, Windows and Linux; and industry-leading databases like Sun's MySQL database. Sun's SMB initiative continues to deliver customer value across a range of industries from media and entertainment to education and technology.

Sun x64 Server Sets New World Record on VMmark Virtualization Benchmark

Sun also announced that the Sun Fire X4450 server, running VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3 software, posted the best VMmark score among all results based on Intel Xeon processor technology.

The Sun Fire X4450 server, equipped with four Intel Xeon X7460 processors with six processing cores each delivered a VMmark score of 19.47@14 tiles, demonstrating its capability as a highly scalable virtualization platform, that in combination with the VMware ESX Server 3.5.0 hypervisor, takes full advantage of Intel Virtualization Technology.

The Sun Fire X4450 server delivered this world record while using up to 60 percent less system memory in only half the physical space of competitive systems.