Sun Microsystems, Inc. continues to increase the value and performance of its midrange systems with enhancements to its three-time world record-setting Sun Fire V1280 system. "The 1.2GHz processor in the Sun Fire V1280 is 30 percent faster than its predecessor, and is priced lower and delivers unmatched reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) features than the IBM P650. This system is helping wireless operators who use the Nortel Network North American Home Location Register (HLR) Data Center Solution to streamline system management and reduce costs while providing them with investment protection to more effectively track and manage subscriber information. "Since its introduction less than a year ago, the Sun Fire V1280 has quickly grown to become one of the most popular systems in Sun's midrange product line, increasing nearly 12 percent in worldwide shipments quarter-over-quarter, as reported by IDC's Server Tracker Report for the third quarter of 2003," said John Humphreys, IDC research manager. The Sun Fire V1280 system is the industry's first rack-optimized 12-way system to deliver enterprise-class availability and scalability at entry-level prices. Unlike competitor servers in its price range, the Sun Fire V1280 system provides advanced availability, including Sun's proven Dynamic Reconfiguration technology and hot-swappable CPU/ memory boards. With the largest memory of virtually any 12-way system in its class, the Sun Fire V1280 system is ideal for a wide range of applications including mainframe rehosting, Wintel server consolidation and database applications. "Customers are demanding products that push the envelope in terms of performance while keeping a keen eye on the bottom line. The Sun Fire V1280 again breaks new ground in lowering acquisition costs with new power and capabilities that put it in a class by itself," said Steve Campbell, vice president of marketing, Enterprise Systems Products Group at Sun. Sun systems deliver exceptional investment protection. With the Sun Fire V1280, customers can easily add processors into their existing Sun Fire V1280 system without removing the processors already purchased, and the processors will all run at their rated speeds (without clocking down). For its HLR Data server solution, Nortel Networks is using the Netra 1280 server, which is the telco carrier grade version of the Sun Fire V1280 server and features Network Equipment Building Standard (NEBS) Level 3 Certification and operates under DC power. The Sun Netra 1280 with 1.2 GHz can scale to 12 CPUs and 96 GB of memory to deliver the performance, scalability, and flexibility that Nortel Networks needs to easily grow its HLR Data Center solution to meet future demand. Using dynamic reconfiguration technology, the additional CPUs and memory boards can be added online while the system is up and running. This built in scalability allows customers to quickly and easily expand their infrastructures to accommodate future subscriber growth and application requirements while at the same time, protecting the company's initial hardware investment and cutting operational costs. Nortel Networks, a leader in the North American HLR market, is also relying on the Sun Management Center Software 3.0, Sun Trunking Software, and the Solaris 9 Operating System to help improve efficiencies.