As you know, customer emulation testing is a crucial element in getting to market faster. Not to mention increasing product quality. We have created a strong methodology to help us achieve both. Using the time of Sun's acquisition of StorageTek as the baseline, we have actually increased the number of customer emulation tests for mainframe environments by almost 70%.

This has allowed us to put out much higher quality products, and even better, we’ve seen the number of issues found in your environments drop after our products become generally available when compared to prior releases. Clearly, this speaks volumes in support of having a well-tested product before sending it to customers. We understand the impact if the product is released before the testing is completed – not a pretty picture.

Now this brings up the question of resources. You must have enough mainframe capacity – MIPS – to support all this testing. At Sun, we’ve made a lot of headway in that area as well. We've placed three new IBM System z servers into service since our StorageTek acquisition—which has increased our installed MIPS by an impressive 64%. Which now gives us the ability to do all the customer emulation testing, handle more parallel testing, and increase stress testing.

Sound like a lot of testing? Not really, since the end result will be a better product and you will be a more satisfied customer.

Please send me your thoughts. And if you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them in a future posting.

IBM's System z10 server is at the forefront of mainframe server technology and Sun--leading innovator in mainframe-attached storage--supports the z10 with its strongest portfolio of enterprise-class data storage solutions ever. As in the past, when IBM delivered a new mainframe (such as the S/390, zSeries, and System z servers), Sun--and previously StorageTek--supported the IBM mainframe announcement with our mainframe-attached storage portfolio. This time is no different. And customer choice is even greater.

Sun values the importance of customer choice. Our goal is to help you get more value out of your existing architectures and applications, as well as provide you with the most innovative software, servers, storage, and services.

Through this goal, Sun supports the IBM System z10 server, IBM's newest generation mainframe, with a portfolio of enterprise-class data storage solutions. This includes the Virtual Storage Manager (VSM) family of Virtual Tape, Tape Libraries, Access and Capacity Tape Drives, the Sun StorageTek 9990V and 9985V disk systems, and the Shared Virtual Array (SVA) family of Virtual Disk. IBM's most current system z operating system, z/OS v1.9, and industry standard interface protocols, FICON and ESCON, are supported.

As one of the world's largest suppliers of storage, Sun is completely committed to mainframe attached storage -- from high performing disk and tape drives to virtual tape and automated tape libraries that can store over 70 petabytes of data. Mainframe storage is a key contributor to the Sun revenue and Sun has recognized this by its ongoing investment in the technology. Having recently announced the new enterprise mid-range SL3000 tape library, the 4th generation of T9840 tape drive, Key Management Station (KMS) V2.0 and VSM performance enhancements, Sun provides the most robust end-to-end mainframe-attached storage options.

I invite you to spend time with the Sun team to hear more about these options.