Sun CEO launches Blade 6000, talks open-source

As we reported yesterday, Sun has announced a new line of blade servers and an all-new server chassis, aimed at customers of high-performance server products. According to John Fowler, Executive Vice President of Sun's systems group, these are "the first blade servers in the market that can truly replace rack servers". During an unveiling of the new products here in Washington DC, Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz emphasized that Sun's technology isn't for the business with basic needs but rather, for businesses that want to be on the cutting edge. "Our customers view technology as a competitive weapon," Schwartz said. "That shoe store in a shopping mall isn't our primary customer." Schwartz also outlined his company's strong commitment to open-source, open standards and the open-source community for all of its product lines. "[Our customers] want the security of knowing what's in the technology they're deploying," Schwartz said. "They want to know that they're never going to be locked in again." What does Sun make of certain companies who try to scare businesses away from open-source software? "Anyone who suggests that open-source isn't safe is probably just scared of open-source," Schwartz told the crowd. "They're probably just scared of the competition." Sun's new Blade 6000 System is available as a 60-day trial through authorized Sun resellers.

For more on Schwartz's remarks:
- watch the archived webcast of the event on Sun's site