Hi all.
How can i buy a opensparc processor? Is it possible to buy only the processsor and only the motherbord? My point is to avoid spending of so much money and to have a sparc.
Opensparc is good idea but where can i get the physical processor available?
Regards,
Svetoslav P. Chukov
Hi Svetoslav,
> How can i buy a opensparc processor? Is it possible to buy only the processsor and only the motherbord?
> My point is to avoid spending of so much money and to have a sparc.
> Opensparc is good idea but where can i get the physical processor available?
That's kind of like asking if you can buy an open-source product like Linux -- you can't buy "Linux", but you can build or buy a Linux distribution of.Simiarly, you can't buy an OpenSPARC processor, but you can build or buy an OpenSPARC implementation.
Of course, the time scale differs between open-source software and hardware. With hardware, it takes a lot longer to build your own (except with an FPGA; hold that thought for a minute).So the most viable option at the moment is to acquire one of Sun's T1000 systems. You can even get one for free for 60 days via the "Try & Buy" program (http://www.sun.com/tryandbuy/).If you're with a "start-up" company, you might also check into Sun's "StartUp Essentials" program (http://www.sun.com/emrkt/startupessentials/), which could net you special equipment discounts.
Another option is to use an FPGA evaluation board, populated with (for example) a Xilinx or Altera FPGA. You would synthesize either your own OpenSPARC derivative or a version from the OpenSPARC FPGA project (http://fpga.sunsource.net/), download the generated FPGA design to your FPGA board, and boot up the OS of your choice.Perhaps the compact Simply RISC derivative of OpenSPARC (http://www.srisc.com) is also amenable to FPGA synthesis.
As time passes, more OpenSPARC derivatives may become available as hardware implementations.
