OSfOM

The Sun Ultra 25: A Single-Processor Successor

Released in 2006 alongside the dual-processor Ultra 45, the Sun Ultra 25 was a single-processor workstation that continued Sun Microsystems' UltraSPARC-based desktop offerings in the mid-2000s. It shared much of the design and technology of the Ultra 45 but was positioned as a more affordable entry point for users who needed a capable SPARC workstation without the need for multiprocessing. 

The Ultra 25 was powered by a single 1.34 GHz UltraSPARC IIIi processor. Like the Ultra 45, it utilized the UltraSPARC IIIi, a processor that integrated memory and I/O controllers, making it suitable for cost-effective systems. While not the highest-performing processor available at the time compared to contemporary x86 CPUs, it provided a solid platform for running the Solaris operating system and SPARC-based applications. 

Housed in the same robust tower chassis as the Ultra 45, the Ultra 25 offered good internal expansion capabilities, including support for multiple SATA or SAS hard drives and up to 8GB of RAM. It also featured a mix of PCI Express and PCI-X expansion slots, allowing for the installation of various add-in cards, including graphics accelerators. 

Running Solaris 10, the Ultra 25 was targeted at a similar audience as the Ultra 45: technical professionals, developers, and enterprise users who were invested in the Solaris ecosystem. It provided a reliable and stable Unix desktop experience. 

The Sun Ultra 25, along with the Ultra 45, represented the final generation of Sun's in-house designed SPARC workstations. While the market was increasingly shifting towards x86-based systems, the Ultra 25 served as a capable single-processor option for users who continued to rely on the SPARC/Solaris platform.