Jonathan Schwartz announces the computing industry’s first $1/cpu/hr plan, which he alluded to earlier. This means that organisations with large computational tasks can now farm out their computational needs to Sun for the exact period of their task. I like it.

I also really like the honesty with which Jonathan approaches the subject:

We’re also engaged with a number of CIO’s who’ve asked their teams to benchmark their internal compute grids against $1/cpu/hr. All in, all up, at least there’s now a benchmark… And if nothing else, we’ve now put a stake in the ground.

If you’re paying more than $1/cpu/hour, odds are you’re overpaying (and possibly overbuilding – another customer told me utilization in their xSeries blade farm was below 10%!).

Basically, he’s saying “we don’t know if this is the correct price point but we’ll know we’re on the right track if you take up this plan”. Also, for the environmentally minded (such as myself) …

A 32-way Niagara system, roughly the same performance of 32 xeon’s, will consume… 56 to 60 watts. Less than your basic lamp.

Based on my previous post, Sun might just be heading somewhere with their utiltity and desktop subscription models. BTW, Sun have a discount on their Java Desktop System until 2nd December (this is of no interest to anyone who reads this blog. sorry.)

Normal Price

$100 USD per desktop per year or $50 USD per employee per year (if purchased for all employees)

Promotional Price (until 2nd Dec, 2004)

$50 USD per desktop per year or $25 USD per employee per year (if purchased for all employees)