Solaris has been certified to run on ProLiant since 1996. During this time, the joint solution has established a significant install base. HP ProLiant and Sun Solaris engineers have worked together on platform interoperability to satisfy customer needs, resolving issues and enhancing the customer experience.
The HP/Sun Solaris agreement allows HP, for HP ProLiant servers, to distribute 1 year and 3 year, Standard (9x5) and Premium (24X7) Solaris subscriptions which include the entitlement to Solaris 10 and online access to patches, fixes, and updates through Sun Connection for the duration of the subscription.
Responding to customer demand, HP and Sun are announcing an expanded partnership agreement that enables HP to resell and provide full-service support for the Solaris 10 x64 Operating System on the HP ProLiant server platform.
Certified with Solaris since 1996, HP ProLiant has amassed a significant share of Solaris installments on the x86 platform. Now, these customers have access to a complete infrastructure solution – server, software, storage and services – from a single source, making the purchase process easier and more cost-effective.
Additionally, customers benefit from the confidence that HP, the largest technology vendor in the world, is driving issue resolution through HP Technology Services for the Solaris on ProLiant solution.
Through this agreement:
Before HP provided warranty support for Solaris certified ProLiant servers. Warranty constitutes the ability of supported and certified ProLiant servers and options as well as supported HP Insight management software to run Solaris without causing the operating environment to fail or preventing it from performing as designed. The HP warranty does not include support for any Solaris operating system related issues.
Now HP can distribute Solaris Subscriptions with HP software technical support. Solaris Subscriptions provide customers the right to use Solaris. Solaris is free but customers must still obtain an entitlement to use the operating system. The subscription provides the entitlement as well as access to patches and fixes via Sun Connection for 1 and 3 year subscription periods.
Offering Solaris software technical support means HP will take Level 1 and Level 2 Solaris operating system support calls. Sun will take Level 3 support calls, but HP will own the issue resolution.
| Q1. | What is HP announcing? |
| A1. | HP is expanding its relationship with Sun by distributing Solaris 10 Subscriptions with support from HP Technology Services on certified ProLiant servers and by elevating Solaris 10 to ProLiant’s lineup of key operating environments, joining Microsoft, Red Hat, and Novell. |
| Q2. | In what ways will HP and Sun expand their relationship? |
| A2. | HP and Sun will work together to enhance the customer experience for Solaris on ProLiant servers. HP will increase its participation in the OpenSolaris community. And both companies will work together to expand demand for Solaris and OpenSolaris in existing and new markets. |
| Q3. | How does this agreement between HP and Sun differ from the agreement that Sun has with Dell and IBM? |
| A3. | The HP/Sun Solaris agreement will provide HP the right to offer L1 and L2 Solaris support. Existing Solaris OEM agreements only allow OEMs to distribute Sun Solaris suscriptions support. HP Technology Services will offer a full support portfolio of services on Solaris 10 starting with Solaris subscriptions hard bundled with software technical support. |
| Q4. | What is the benefit of this agreement to customers? |
| A4. |
HP becomes the single point of purchase, contact, and accountability.
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| Q5. | Why is HP entering into this agreement with Sun? |
| A5. | HP and Sun are responding to customer demand for HP to distribute Solaris Subscriptions and provide software technical support for the Solaris 10 Operating System on the HP ProLiant server platform. |
| Q6. | What problems does this agreement solve for customers? |
| A6. | Customers want to know that HP and Sun will work together to support their Solaris operating environment over time. The ability to purchase Solaris subscriptions from HP with support from HP Technology Services gives customers the option for a single point of contact. The agreement gives customers confidence in HP as a complete supplier for their Solaris operating environment. |
| Q7. | What will HP and Sun provide as a result of this agreement? |
| A7. | In addition to distributing Solaris Subscriptions and providing software technical support, Sun and HP will work together to enhance the customer management, installation, and maintenance experience for Solaris on ProLiant servers. HP will actively participate in the OpenSolaris community and HP and Sun will work together to expand demand for Solaris into new markets. |
| Q8. | What support services will be available for Solaris 10 ? |
| A8. | HP Technology Services will offer our full support portfolio of support services on Solaris 10 starting with Solaris subscriptions hard bundled with either 9x5 or 24x7 software technical support through hardware/software environmental services including Support Plus, Support Plus 24, Proactive 24 and Critical Service. |
| Q9. | What effect does this announcement have on HP-UX and Integrity servers? |
| A9. | None. HP-UX is HP's strategic UNIX and runs on our mission critical Integrity line of servers. Integrity servers will not support Solaris. HP has the right UNIX strategy and is deeply committed to growing both the HP-UX and Integrity market. |
| Q10. | Why is HP offering Solaris 10 subscription with support from HP Technology Services? |
| A10. | HP is responding to customer demand for HP to distribute Solaris on ProLiant servers and provide a single point of purchase, contact, and accountability. |
| Q11. | When will Solaris 10 subscription with support from HP Technology Services be available? |
| A11. | Solaris 10 Subscriptions with software technical support from HP Technology Services are available from HP for purchase as of April 1st, 2009. |
| Q12. | Does this agreement signal a change in HP’s HP-UX strategy? |
| A12. | Signing this agreement in no way affects or changes HP’s HP-UX strategy. HP has the right strategy and is deeply committed to growing both the HP-UX and Integrity market. |
| Q13. | Can HP help migrate/modernize the applications over to Solaris on ProLiant servers and blades platforms? |
| A13. | Yes, EDS, an HP company has a very mature offering called Applications Modernization Services that can assist clients with enabling applications to operate on Solaris ProLiant platforms. |
| Q14. | What is OpenSolaris and will HP support it? |
| A14. |
The Solaris ecosystem consists of a dual distribution strategy - the Solaris OS release and the open source OpenSolaris OS release. Each is focused at different customer requirements. Sun presents the free and open Solaris OS as their enterprise-class offering with long release cycles and high levels of support. OpenSolaris is aimed at the web economy, is delivered with a much shorter release cycle (every 6 months) and will contain the latest Solaris technical innovations. Solaris will always lag OpenSolaris. The OpenSolaris community is where the next generation of Solaris is being built and tested and the OpenSolaris OS is where to find the latest results of these efforts.
HP Technology Services will not support OpenSolaris. OpenSolaris subscriptions and support are available directly from Sun. |
| Q15. | Where can I go to find Solaris certified ProLiant servers? |
| A15. | A list of Solaris certified ProLiant servers can be found at www.hp.com/wwsolutions/solaris and on Sun’s Hardware Compatibility List. |
