Sun-3 is a series of

UNIX Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and ot ...

computer workstation A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term ''workstat ...

s and servers produced by

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...

, launched on September 9, 1985. The Sun-3 series are

VMEbus VMEbus (Versa Module Europa or Versa Module Eurocard bus) is a computer bus standard, originally developed for the Motorola 68000 line of CPUs, but later widely used for many applications and standardized by the IEC as ANSI/IEEE 1014-1987. I ...

-based systems similar to some of the earlier

Sun-2 The Sun-2 series of UNIX workstations and servers was launched by Sun Microsystems in November 1983. As the name suggests, the Sun-2 represented the second generation of Sun systems, superseding the original Sun-1 series. The Sun-2 series used a 10 ...

series, but using the

Motorola 68020 The Motorola 68020 ("''sixty-eight-oh-twenty''", "''sixty-eight-oh-two-oh''" or "''six-eight-oh-two-oh''") is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1984. A lower-cost version was also made available, known as the 68EC020. In keepin ...

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circu ...

, in combination with the

Motorola 68881 The Motorola 68881 and Motorola 68882 are floating-point units (FPUs) used in some computer systems in conjunction with Motorola's 32-bit 68020 or 68030 microprocessors. These coprocessors are external chips, designed before floating point math bec ...

floating-point In computing, floating-point arithmetic (FP) is arithmetic that represents real numbers approximately, using an integer with a fixed precision, called the significand, scaled by an integer exponent of a fixed base. For example, 12.345 can b ...

co-processor (optional on the Sun 3/50) and a proprietary Sun MMU. Sun-3 systems were supported in

SunOS SunOS is a Unix-branded operating system developed by Sun Microsystems for their workstation and server computer systems. The ''SunOS'' name is usually only used to refer to versions 1.0 to 4.1.4, which were based on BSD, while versions 5.0 and l ...

versions 3.0 to 4.1.1_U1 and also have current support in

NetBSD NetBSD is a free and open-source Unix operating system based on the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). It was the first open-source BSD descendant officially released after 386BSD was forked. It continues to be actively developed and is a ...

and

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

Sun-3 models

Models are listed in approximately chronological order. : (Max. RAM sizes may be greater when third-party memory boards are used.) Image:Sun3_CPU.jpg, Original Sun-3 CPU board Image:Sun3_4MbMemory_Sun3_Scsi.jpg, Original Sun-3 4 MB memory board with Sun-3

SCSI Small Computer System Interface (SCSI, ) is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, electrical, optical and logical interface ...

daughter board Image:Sun3_50CPUwHelios4Mb.jpg, Sun 3/50 CPU board with Helios 4 MB memory expansion

Keyboard

The Sun Type 3 keyboard is split into three blocks: * special keys * main block * numeric pad It shipped with Sun-3 systems.

Sun-3x

In 1989, coincident with the launch of the

SPARCstation 1 The SPARCstation 1 (Sun 4/60, code-named ''Campus'') is the first of the SPARCstation series of SPARC-based computer workstations sold by Sun Microsystems. The design originated in 1987 by a Sun spin-off company, Unisun, which was soon re-acquired ...

, Sun launched three new Sun-3 models, the 3/80, 3/470 and 3/480. Unlike previous Sun-3s, these use a

Motorola 68030 The Motorola 68030 ("''sixty-eight-oh-thirty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 family. It was released in 1987. The 68030 was the successor to the Motorola 68020, and was followed by the Motorola 68040. In keeping with general ...

processor, 68882 floating-point unit, and the 68030's integral MMU. This 68030-based architecture is called Sun-3x. : Sun 3/260s upgraded with Sun 3400 CPU boards are known as Sun 3/460s.

References

External links

Sun Microsystems

Obsolyte!—Fan site for old Unix Workstations, including Sun machines
{{Sun Microsystems 68k-based computers Computer-related introductions in 1985 Sun servers Sun workstations 32-bit computers

Sun-3 models

Keyboard

Sun-3x

See also

References

External links