Emulex Runs to Sun

Emulex Corp. (NYSE: ELX) got the jump on its competition today when Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) said Emulex will become the first host bus adapter (HBA) supplier to provide Fibre Channel connectivity for Solaris x86 systems.

The expansion of the Sun/Emulex partnership will allow Solaris x86 customers to use Emulex's LightPulse 2-Gbit/s family of PCI and PCI-X HBAs. Sun had previously certified Emulex's HBAs and drivers for Solaris Sparc systems.

The deal should help Emulex in its battle with QLogic Corp. (Nasdaq: QLGC) for Fibre Channel HBA market supremacy (see Emulex, QLogic Catch PCI Express and Can JNI Bust HBA 'Duopoly'?).

"The first-mover advantage is always good, and it's great to be in front of the curve," says Mike Smith, executive VP of worldwide marketing for Emulex. "We've done quite well in the Sparc platform, and the x86 environment represents a growth opportunity for both of us."

Smith says Sun chose Emulex partly because any of its drivers can work with any of its HBAs, and that makes it easier for users to set up, install, and manage SANs."Customers already invested in SAN infrastructure can now connect a low-cost, high-performance x86 platform into an existing infrastructure," says Sun's Chris Baker, product manager for the Solaris x86.

The announcement is also part of Sun's initiative to broaden supporting technologies for Solaris. Sun recently said it is working with more than 100 key business application vendors, including Oracle, to make sure their applications are optimized for Solaris on x86.

"We would hope to have as large a range of partners as possible," Baker says. "These are all pieces of a big puzzle. As we go forward with Oracle, the ability to connect to storage is paramount." That's why it is possible that QLogic will eventually deliver Fibre Channel connectivity for Solaris x86 systems as well.

Richard Villars, an analyst with IDC, says the partnership is an important part of Sun's initiative to expand its portfolio of supporting technologies, and for Emulex, it deepens the relationship with Sun. "But Sun is not in the type of situation where you want to be choosy," he says. "You want as many supporting technologies as you can get in the long run."

Notes Villars: "I would be surprised if Sun was not interested in having other partnerships, such as with QLogic."QLogic could not be reached for comment by press time.

Dave Raffo, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch