Sun Ray
Sun Ray 1G thin client
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| Manufacturer | Oracle Corporation |
|---|---|
| Type | Thin-client |
| Release date | September 1999 |
| Retail availability | 1999–2014 |
| Units sold | 500K+ |
| Media | Smartcard |
| CPU | MicroSparc IIep |
| Memory | 8 MiB EDO DRAM |
| Input | USB |
| Connectivity | Ethernet |
| Power | 110 V – 240 V 50/60 Hz |
| Predecessor | NeWT |
| Successor | Sun Ray 2 |
| Related articles | |
The Sun Ray from Oracle is a stateless thin client solution aimed at corporate environments, originally introduced by Sun Microsystems in September 1999 and discontinued by Oracle in 2014. It featured a smart card reader and several models featured an integrated flat panel display.
The idea of a stateless desktop was a significant shift from, and the eventual successor to, Sun's earlier line of diskless Java-only desktops, the JavaStation.
The concept began in Sun Microsystems Laboratories in 1997 as a project codenamed NetWorkTerminal (NeWT). The client was designed to be small, low cost, low power, and silent. It was based on the Sun Microelectronics MicroSparc IIep. Other processors initially considered for it included Intel's StrongARM, Philips Semiconductors TriMedia, National Semiconductors Geode. The MicroSparc IIep was selected because of its high level of integration, good performance, low cost, and general availability.
NeWT included 8 MB of EDO DRAM and 4 MB of NOR flash. The graphics controller used was the ATI Rage 128 because of its low power, 2D rendering performance, and low cost. It also included an ATI video encoder for TV-out (removed in the Sun Ray 1), a Philips Semiconductor SAA7114 video decoder/scaler, Crystal Semiconductor audio CODEC, Sun Microelectronics Ethernet controller, PCI USB host interface with 4 port hub, and I²C smart card interface. The motherboard and daughtercard were housed in an off-the-shelf commercial small form-factor PC case with internal +12/+5VDC auto ranging power supply.
NeWT was designed to have as much feature parity with a modern business PC in every way possible. The client didn't use a commercial operating system. Instead it used a real-time exec which was originally developed in Sun Labs as part of an Ethernet-based security camera project codenamed NetCam. Less than 60 NeWT's were ever built and very few survived. However one is in the collection of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.
In July 2013, reports circulated that Oracle was ending the development of the Sun Ray and related products.Scott McNealy (long-time CEO of Sun) tweeted about this. An official announcement was made August 1, 2013, with a last order in February 2014. Support and hardware maintenance are available until 2017.
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