Sun4d is acomputer architecture introduced bySun Microsystems in 1992. It is a development of the earlierSun-4 architecture, using theXDBus system bus,SuperSPARC processors, andSBusI/O cards. The XDBuswas the result of a collaboration between SunandXerox; its name comes from an earlier Xeroxproject, theXerox Dragon. These were Sun's largest machines to date, andtheir first attempt at making amainframe-class server.
Sun4d computers are trueSMP systems;although memory and CPUs are installed per system board, the memory ona given board is not in any way "closer" to the CPUs on that sameboard. All memory and I/O devices are equally connected to all CPUs.
All of these computers use a passive backplane into which systemboards are plugged. Each system board provides CPUs, memory, andan I/O bus. As system boards are added, these components areadded to the whole in a completely seamless fashion. It is nota cluster, but works as a single large machine.
Sun4d computers include theSPARCcenter 2000 (1992) andSPARCserver 1000 (1993) from Sun Microsystems, and theCray CS6400 (1993) fromCray Research.The system boards in these three machines are all slightlydifferent, physically and electronically, and arenot interchangeable.
All Sun4d machines provideJTAG ports, although unlike later systems the SPARCcenter and SPARCserver only use it for maintenance purposes.
The SPARCserver 1000 is a5U rackmountable chassis with four 40 MHz XDBus slots,and space for four half-height 3.5"SCSI drives plus two half-heightfront-accessible 5.25" SCSI drives (typically used forCD-ROM andDAT). Eachsystem board connects to one XDBus and provides twoMBus slotsfor CPUs, three SBus slots for I/O boards, four banks of memory(four SIMMs apiece), and builtin SCSI-2, 10baseTEthernet, and twoserial ports.[1]
Maximum configuration: eight CPUs and 2 GB RAM.
The SPARCserver 1000E has a slightly faster XDBus (50 MHz). The system boards are not backwards compatible.
The SPARCserver 1000, like earlierSun-4/xxx servers, has a set of LEDs on each system board that display diagnostics onPOST, and CPU load while running. These allow the user to see at a glance how busy each processor on the system is. They are informally referred to as "Cylon" displays, because of the way each displays a single light bouncing back and forth resembles the scanner of therobots in the originalBattlestar Galactica television series.[2]
The SPARCserver 1000 will run a slightly-patchedLinux 2.4 kernel in SMP mode.[3]
A single octo-processor SPARCserver 1000 helped 117SPARCstation 20 Model HS11 units, 87 with two 100 MHzhyperSPARC processors and 30 with four 100 MHz hyperSPARC processors, to renderToy Story.[4]
The SPARCcenter 2000 is a full rack system that includes a main chassis with ten 40MHz dual-XDBus slots and several disk arrays. The system boards connect to two XDBuses for extra bandwidth, and provide two MBus slots, four SBus slots, four banks of memory (fourSIMMs apiece), and two serial ports apiece. Unlike the SPARCserver 1000 boards, they do not have a builtin SCSI and Ethernet port per system board.[5]
Maximum configuration: twenty CPUs and 5 GB RAM.
The SPARCcenter 2000E has a slightly faster XDBus (50 MHz). The system boards are not backwards compatible.
TheCray CS6400 is a 16-slot, 55 MHz quad-XDBus system. Each system board provides four MBus slots, four SBus slots, four banks of memory, and no builtin I/O ports.
Maximum configuration: sixty-four CPUs and 16 GB RAM.[6]
WhenSGI purchasedCray Research in 1996, they sold the division responsible for the CS6400 to Sun, where it was developed into the extremely successfulSun Enterprise 10000.[7]
Relative performance of Sun-4d machines, based onSPEC CINT92 Rate benchmarks:[8][9]
| System | Processors | geometric mean rate_int92 | 008 espresso SPEC rate | 022 li SPEC rate | 023 eqntott SPEC rate | 026 compress SPEC rate | 072 sc SPEC rate | 085 gcc SPEC rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS6400 | 64 | 101969 | 98449 | 147287 | 139144 | 32849 | 214882 | 78932 |
| SC2000E | 20 | 53714 | 46817 | 54551 | 74541 | 28564 | 107441 | 41111 |
| SS1000E | 8 | 21758 | 19578 | 26184 | 26089 | 11680 | 45238 | 15014 |
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