Sun Illuminates N1

Will Sun rise on the wings of its advanced data center architecture?

Microsoft isn't the only company in IT willing to bet a large portion of future revenues on a visionary yet amorphous strategy. With its introduction of the next-generation N1 data center architecture at the recent SunNetwork 2002 conference, you can add Sun Microsystems Inc. to that list as well.

Sun executives announced the schedule for a multiyear rollout of N1, which the company has described as an "operating system for the network" that will drastically reduce the cost and complexity of managing the data center. Partly inspired by the emerging storage virtualization model, in which all storage resources are managed as a single, partitionable pool, N1 will virtualize every component in the data center — servers, software, storage, and network infrastructure — so they can be managed as fungible assets.

Theoretically, N1 will not only support much more efficient utilization by automatically allocating computing power where it's needed, but also enable a pay-as-you-go model that would make data center operations much more economically efficient. In essence, the entire enterprise could be partitioned like a single mainframe.

Originally revealed to the public in February by CTO Greg Papadopolous, Sun now indicates that the first and most important aspect of N1 — the virtualization engine — will be available by year's end. Other components, such as those for provisioning and performance monitoring, will roll out over the course of the next three years.

Like .Net, N1 is breathtaking in its ambition as well as its risk. Sun will have to perform an extremely tricky feat of engineering as well as software marketing — and while the company's track record in the former may be impressive, its record in the latter is far less so. (Sun will also face competition from similar initiatives at IBM and Hewlett-Packard.) But the greatest risk is the fact that the company, facing the inexorable commoditization of the server market, is betting so much on this strategy: Reportedly, Sun estimates that nearly 85 percent of its revenues could derive from N1 in the next three years.

If Sun can execute, it'll be an accomplishment that ranks alongside the legendary development of Java in its impact, both for Sun and its customers. But as we all know by now, there's more to success than having a great idea.

— Justin Kestelyn

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