About me
Moin,
I'm Markus, in my mid-fifties, and I live in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany.
In the early 80s, I was very lucky that my school offered "computer science classes" – mainly because it was a hobby of the headmaster, who, logically, also became one of the teachers. In the beginning, I remember a room with mid-range data systems that had an 8" floppy drive, three terminals, and a CBM. Later, the first proper computer lab was set up right next door, with Apple II and TA CP/M computers.
My first computer was a C=64, which I was able to treat myself to in the summer of '84 through hard work (digging up and cultivating about 150 square meters of lawn in the garden :)). As an oddity, it came with a green monitor right away :). Thankfully, my father wanted to build a fence around it a bit later, so the rabbits wouldn't always munch on all the vegetables... the reward was a 1541...
After that, my C= journey continued with an Amiga 2000, which I bought for Christmas in 1987 – I had to scour pretty much all of Bremen to find an A2000, A remarkable part of my 2000er era was ALF, who eventually joined. Well? Who knows the Amiga-Alf? With an 80 MB hard drive. I still remember the message during setup: "Wow! 80MB, that must have been expensive." (Editor's note: Oh yes!)
Enter the Sun
During my studies in the late 1980s, I also encountered Sun Workstations for the first time.
Encountering Sun Workstations at university was my gateway into the professional world of UNIX. Learning Solaris wasn't just about typing commands; it was about understanding how the internet and large-scale networks actually worked.
For years, these machines were the unattainable 'Ferraris' of the computing world—far too expensive for a student, but fascinating to use. Now that the dot-com dust has long settled, I enjoy the challenge of restoring these complex systems, keeping the OpenBoot prompts alive, and finally owning the hardware I could only dream of back in 1990.
Open Systems for Open Minds
That is also the story behind the name of this site. OSfOM stands for "Open Systems for Open Minds." It reflects the philosophy of the Sun era...
The next noteworthy station was an Archimedes 3000 in 1990 – that machine was also really expensive. Greetings from Seemüller Munich – and I remember there was a small shop in or near Landsberg that "specialized" in Archies.
After that, I continued with various PCs, became an OS/2 devotee (and, of course, a Developer Connection Member), an (ex)-Fido-Node, and an (ex)-BBS operator :).
I look forward to your comments and suggestions!
The Journey of the Sun: A History of the SPARC Processor
Introduction
In the world of computer architecture, some names shine brighter than others. One such name is SPARC—a processor architecture closely linked with Sun Microsystems and its vision of high-performance workstations. In this blog post, we'll embark on a journey through the history of the Sun SPARC processor, exploring its development from its beginnings to the present day.
The Birth of an Architecture: Project SAARC (1985-1987)
The story of the SPARC processor begins in the mid-1980s at Sun Microsystems. At that time, the company was searching for a new processor architecture for its workstation systems. The result of this search was Project SAARC, which later became SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture).
SPARC's developers opted for a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) design. Unlike the prevalent CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computing) architectures of the time, RISC focused on a reduced instruction set. This allowed for faster and more efficient processors, significantly boosting the performance of Sun's workstations.
The First Offspring: Sun SPARC 1 (1987)
In 1987, the first SPARC processor, the Sun SPARC 1, saw the light of day. This processor was based on the Fujitsu MB86900 design and was used in the Sun-4/20 Workstation. With a clock speed of 16.67 MHz, the SPARC 1 was a true powerhouse at the time, giving Sun Microsystems a significant competitive edge.
The introduction of the SPARC 1 marked a turning point in Sun Microsystems' history. From then on, the company committed to its own processor architecture and continuously developed it further.
Scalability as Key: The Evolution of SPARC (1990s)
The 1990s saw rapid development for the SPARC processor. New generations of SPARC processors, such as the SuperSPARC and UltraSPARC, entered the market, setting new standards in performance and scalability.
A key to the SPARC processor's success was its open architecture. Sun Microsystems licensed the SPARC architecture to other companies, allowing them to develop their own SPARC-based systems. This created a broad ecosystem of SPARC hardware and software, further driving the architecture's widespread adoption.
The most significant company was Fujitsu, which produced its first SPARC64 processor in 1998.
The Era of Multi-Core Processors: SPARC T-Series (2000s)
With the dawn of the new millennium, the era of multi-core processors began. Sun Microsystems also embraced this challenge and developed the SPARC T-Series, a new generation of SPARC processors with multiple processing cores on a single chip.
The SPARC T-Series was characterized by its high multithreading performance and energy efficiency. It was used in high-end servers and workstations, helping to solidify Sun Microsystems' position in the enterprise market.
Oracle and SPARC (2010-2017)
In 2010, Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, thereby taking over responsibility for the SPARC architecture. Under Oracle's leadership, the development of SPARC processors continued, with an increased focus on cloud computing and big data applications.
With the introduction of the SPARC M7 processor in 2015, Oracle underscored its commitment to the SPARC architecture. The SPARC M7 featured innovative security features and even higher performance, specifically tailored to the demands of modern data processing tasks.
On September 1, 2017, Oracle ended SPARC development after the completion of the M8. A large part of the processor core development group in Austin, Texas, was laid off, as were the teams in Santa Clara, California, and Burlington, Massachusetts.
In 2024, the latest commercial high-end SPARC processors are Fujitsu's SPARC64 XII (launched in September 2017 for its SPARC M12 server) and Oracle's SPARC M8 (launched in September 2017 for its high-end servers).
Fujitsu will also cease its SPARC production after two "improved" versions of Fujitsu's older SPARC M12 server in 2020-22 (originally planned for 2021) and again in 2026-27, the end of sales for UNIX servers in 2029, and one year later for the mainframe, with support ending in 2034, "to encourage customer modernization."
Conclusion
The history of the Sun SPARC processor is a story of innovation, performance, and transformation. From its beginnings as a workstation processor to its role in modern cloud environments, SPARC has profoundly shaped the world of computer architecture.