EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Virtualization is quickly becoming an important technology across all parts of the IT environment. The technology is rapidly being deployed in server, storage, networking, as well as client environments. By far the most visible adoption of virtualization technology is happening in servers . from the largest Unix server down to the smallest volume system. Virtualization is being used as a tool for consolidation, a means to reduce space and power requirements, and more recently as a way to bring business continuity to a larger part of an organization’s IT infrastructure. The key to these benefits is that virtualization software both encapsulates the software stack and decouples it from the underlying hardware. This combination means customers get both consolidation and mobility benefits . which can be used to address some of the largest challenges facing CIOs today.

Sun, a leader in the virtualization space, sees virtualization as cutting across all parts of the IT infrastructure . from servers to storage, and even clients. As such, the company is emphasizing choice in how companies virtualize their IT environments and is developing technology, partnering, and making technology available so that virtualization can evolve rapidly and deliver more value to the organization. By focusing on innovation, both through its own development and through partners, Sun is working to ensure that users have access to a portfolio of virtualization tools to address a broad base of business requirements. Sun’s customer-driven approach for how companies implement a virtual environment will enable customers to choose the right virtualization tool for the job yet still maintain cohesive management of a heterogeneous environment.

Sun is taking a three-step approach to bringing more business benefits of deploying virtualization to enterprises that use x86 servers. One, Sun is emphasizing choice in how companies virtualize. Two, Sun is designing a broad range of platforms with the enterprise-class reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) features for which the company is known with its SPARC systems. Three, Sun is incorporating virtualization into its management offerings so that customers have a single pane of glass when managing their physical and virtual infrastructures.