Sun Makes Open Source Code for Archiving StorageTek 5800 System or HoneyComb

Sun Microsystems, Inc. has donated the source code for the Sun StorageTek 5800 System, the world’s first integrated digital archive storage system that is powered by the Solaris Operating System (OS)
and built using open source software. Developers can freely download
the Sun StorageTek 5800 binary code that runs on virtually any x86
system for free at http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/honeycomb

The latest effort in Sun’s commitment to open source and open storage
solutions, the Sun StorageTek 5800 (previously known as "Project
Honeycomb") code has been donated to the OpenSolaris storage and
Java.net communities. In addition, it has been submitted to the Storage
Networking Industry Association (SNIA) and is under consideration. The
Fedora Commons open source group will both contribute its software into
OpenSolaris and Java.net and use the Sun StorageTek 5800 source code
for its development efforts.

Sun StorageTek 5800 Open Edition can be downloaded for free,
allowing developers to experience the simplicity of storing and
retrieving fixed content data and metadata efficiently. The purchase of
the StorageTek 5800 System provides greater enhanced RAS (reliability,
availability,serviceability) and includes extreme data protection
against data corruption and data loss.

The increasing need to digitize and preserve business images,
records, consumer- and corporate-created digital content, e-science
work and high-performance computing (HPC) data for hundreds of years is
making file-based data and the management of file-based storage assets
a serious challenge. The release of the highly resilient,
easy-to-manage Sun StorageTek 5800 source code is a viable choice
versus closed, proprietary offerings that are expensive and leave
customers vulnerable to vendor lock-in.

"The popular Sun StorageTek 5800 ‘Honeycomb’ system has
revolutionized the economics of storing, managing and archiving fixed
content data," said Graham Lovell, senior director, storage servers and
appliances, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "Sun now makes fixed content object
storage free and open – We’ve donated the source code for this
next-generation technology to help create communities that will more
easily find answers to fixed-content data storage issues and save
customers money over closed, proprietary technologies."

The StorageTek 5800 open source has been offered to three core
communities: SNIA for use with standards developments around the
exciting new XAM object access standard (still under review), the
rapidly growing OpenSolaris storage community, and the Java.net
community. One popular open source group, the Fedora Commons, will add
their software into the Java,net and OpenSolaris communities and, at
the same time, use the newly available source code from the StorageTek
5800 in its own product development. In addition, leading library
technology solutions company VTLS
has ported its VITAL application to the Sun StorageTek 5800, which is
based on Solaris 10 OS or Linux and the Fedora open repository
framework.

"Data is our most important asset and we are creating exponentially
greater amounts of data each year that must be archived, managed and
protected," said Susan Stein, Federated Services Manager, The Alberta
Library, Alberta Canada. "We use the Sun StorageTek 5800 system to
manage our fixed content object storage – the release of its source
code and creation of new digital archiving communities drives better
economics and enables us to solve data preservation challenges quicker
and more efficiently."

Sun Microsystems Inc.

VTLS