SPARC T series


The SPARC T-series family of RISC processors and server computers, based on the SPARC V9 architecture, was originally developed by Sun Microsystems, and later by Oracle Corporation after its acquisition of Sun. Its distinguishing feature from earlier SPARC iterations is the introduction of chip multithreading technology, a multithreading, multicore design intended to drive greater processor utilization at lower power consumption.
The first generation T-series processor, the UltraSPARC T1, and servers based on it, were announced in December 2005. As later generations were introduced, the term "T series" was used to refer to the entire family of processors.

Pre-Oracle era

Sun Microsystems' Sun Fire and SPARC Enterprise product lines were based on early generations of CMT technology. The UltraSPARC T1 based Sun Fire T2000 and T1000 servers were launched in December 2005 and early 2006, respectively. They were later rebranded to match the name of the UltraSPARC T2 and T2 Plus based Sun SPARC Enterprise T5**0 servers.

SPARC T3

In September 2010, Oracle announced a range of SPARC T3 processor based servers. These are branded as the "SPARC T3" series, the "SPARC Enterprise" brand being dropped.
The SPARC T3-series servers include the T3-1B, a blade server module that fits into the Sun Blade 6000 system. All other T3 based servers are rack mounted systems. Subsequent T-series server generations also include a blade server in the same Sun Blade 6000 form factor.

SPARC T4

On September 26, 2011, Oracle announced a range of SPARC T4-based servers. These systems use the same chassis as the earlier T3 based systems. Their main features are very similar, with the exception of:
On March 26, 2013, Oracle announced refreshed SPARC servers based on the new SPARC T5 microprocessor, which the company claims is "the world's fastest". In the T5 range of servers, the single socket rackmount server design was deprecated, while a new eight-socket rackmount server was introduced.

SPARC M7

On October 26, 2015, Oracle announced a family of systems built on the 32-core, 256-thread SPARC M7 microprocessor. Unlike prior generations, both T- and M-series systems were introduced using the same processor.

Partitioning and virtualization

SPARC T-series servers can be partitioned using Oracle's Logical Domains technology. Additional virtualization is provided by Oracle Solaris Zones to create isolated virtual servers within a single operating system instance. Logical Domains and Solaris Zones can be used together to increase server utilization.

Servers

ModelRUMax processorsProcessor frequencyMax memoryMax disk capacityGA date
Sun Fire T100011× UltraSPARC T11.0 GHz32 GB1× 3.5" SATA or
2× 2.5" SAS
March 2006
Sun Fire T200021× UltraSPARC T11.0 GHz64 GB4× 2.5" SASDecember 2005
SPARC Enterprise T512011× UltraSPARC T21.2, 1.4 GHz128 GB8× 2.5" SASNovember 2007
SPARC Enterprise T51401UltraSPARC T2 Plus1.2, 1.4 GHz128 GB8× 2.5" SASApril 2008
SPARC Enterprise T522021× UltraSPARC T21.2, 1.4 GHz128 GB16× 2.5" SASNovember 2007
SPARC Enterprise T524022× UltraSPARC T2 Plus1.2, 1.4 GHz256 GB16× 2.5" SASApril 2008
SPARC Enterprise T544044× UltraSPARC T2 Plus1.2, 1.4 GHz512 GB4× 2.5" SASOct 2008
SPARC T3-121× SPARC T31.65 GHz128 GB16× 2.5" SASSep 2010
SPARC T3-1Bna 1× SPARC T31.65 GHz128 GB2× 2.5" SASSep 2010
SPARC T3-232× SPARC T31.65 GHz256 GB6× 2.5" SASSep 2010
SPARC T3-454× SPARC T31.65 GHz512 GB8× 2.5" SASSep 2010
SPARC T4-121× SPARC T42.85 GHz256 GB8× 2.5" SASSep 2011
SPARC T4-1Bna 1× SPARC T42.85 GHz256 GB2× 2.5" SASSep 2011
SPARC T4-232× SPARC T42.85 GHz512 GB6× 2.5" SASSep 2011
SPARC T4-454× SPARC T43.0 GHz1024 GB8× 2.5" SASSep 2011
SPARC T5-1Bna 1× SPARC T53.6 GHz256 GB2× 2.5" SASMar 2013
SPARC T5-232× SPARC T53.6 GHz1 TB6× 2.5" SASMar 2013
SPARC T5-454× SPARC T53.6 GHz2 TB8× 2.5" SASMar 2013
SPARC T5-888× SPARC T53.6 GHz4 TB8× 2.5" SASMar 2013
SPARC T7-121× SPARC M74.13 GHz1 TB8× 2.5" SAS-3Oct 2015
SPARC T7-232× SPARC M74.13 GHz2 TB6× 2.5" SAS-3Oct 2015
SPARC T7-454× SPARC M74.13 GHz4 TB8× 2.5" SASOct 2015
SPARC T8-121× SPARC M85.0 GHz1 TB8× 2.5" SASSep 2017
SPARC T8-232× SPARC M85.0 GHz2 TB6× 2.5" SASSep 2017
SPARC T8-454× SPARC M85.0 GHz4 TB6× 2.5" SASSep 2017