Concept
The SPARCstation, SPARCserver and SPARCcenter product lines are a series of SPARC-based computer workstations and servers in desktop, desk side (pedestal) and rack-based form factor configurations, that were developed and sold by Sun Microsystems. The first SPARCstation was the SPARCstation 1 (also known as the Sun 4/60), introduced in 1989. The series was very popular and introduced the Sun-4c architecture, a variant of the Sun-4 architecture previously introduced in the Sun 4/260. Thanks in part to the delay in the development of more modern processors from Motorola, the SPARCstation series was very successful across the entire industry. The last model bearing the SPARCstation name was the SPARCstation 4. The workstation series was replaced by the Sun Ultra series in 1995; the next Sun server generation was the Sun Enterprise line introduced in 1996. Desktop and deskside SPARCstations and SPARCservers of the same model number were essentially identical systems, the only difference being that systems designated as servers were usually "headless" (that is, configured without a graphics card and monitor), and were sold with a "server" rather than a "desktop" OS license. For example, the SPARCstation 20 and SPARCserver 20 were almost identical in motherboard, CPU, case design and most other hardware specifications. Most desktop SPARCstations and SPARCservers shipped in either "pizzabox" or "lunchbox" enclosures, a significant departure from earlier Sun and competing systems of the time. The SPARCstation 1, 2, 4, 5, 10 and 20 were "pizzabox" machines. The SPARCstation SLC and ELC were integrated into Sun monochrome monitor enclosures, and the SPARCstation IPC, IPX, SPARCclassic, SPARCclassic X and SPARCstation LX were "lunchbox" machines. SPARCserver models ending in "30" or "70" were housed in deskside pedestal enclosures (respectively 5-slot and 12-slot VMEbus chassis); models ending in "90" and the SPARCcenter 2000 came in rackmount cabinet enclosures. The SPARCserver 1000's design was a large rack-mountable desktop unit.
