In 1987, Sun Microsystems released the SPARC V7 processor. A 32-bit RISC processor featuring the unique Berkeley RISC designed register-window. Soon after this, in 1990, the SPARC V8 followed – a revision of the original SPARC V7, with the most notable inclusion of hardware divide and multiply instructions. The SPARC V8 processors formed the basis for a number of Sun Microsystems servers and workstations such as the SPARCstation 5, 10 and 20.
In 1993, the SPARC V8 was followed by the 64-bit SPARC V9 processor. This too became the basis for a number of Sun Microsystem servers and workstations, such as the Enterprise 250 and 450.
Due to hardware obsolescence and lack of spare or refurbished parts, software and systems developed for these older SPARC-based workstations and servers have become harder to maintain. To fill the continuous need for certain, end-of-life SPARC-based systems, Stromasys S.A. developed the Charon-SSP line of virtual machine products. The following products are software-based, virtual machine replacements for the specified native-hardware SPARC systems:
Charon-SSP/4M supports the following virtual systems:
- Sun-4m family (for example Sun SPARCstation 20): Originally, a multiprocessor Sun-4 variant, based on the MBus processor module bus introduced in the SPARCServer 600MP series. The Sun-4m architecture later also encompassed non-MBus uniprocessor systems such as the SPARCstation 5, utilizing SPARC V8-architecture processors. Supported starting with SunOS 4.1.2 and by Solaris 2.1 to Solaris 9. SPARCServer 600MP support was dropped after Solaris 2.5.1.
Charon-SSP/4U(+) supports the following virtual systems:
- Sun-4u family (for example Sun Enterprise 450): (U for UltraSPARC) – this variant introduced the 64-bit SPARC V9 processor architecture and UPA processor interconnect first used in the Sun Ultra series. Supported by 32-bit versions of Solaris starting from version 2.5.1. The first 64-bit Solaris release for Sun-4u was Solaris 7. UltraSPARC I support was dropped after Solaris 9. Solaris 10 supports Sun-4u implementations from UltraSPARC II to UltraSPARC IV.
Charon-SSP/4V supports the following virtual systems:
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The image below shows the basic concept of migrating physical hardware to an emulator:
The Charon-SSP virtual machines allow users of Sun and Oracle SPARC-based computers to replace their native hardware in a way that requires little or no change to the original system configuration. This means you can continue to run your applications and data without the need to switch or port to another platform. The Charon-SSP virtual machines run on commodity, Intel 64-bit based systems ensuring the continued protection of your investment.
Charon-SSP/4U+ supports the same virtual SPARC platforms as Charon-SSP/4U. However, Charon-SSP/4U+ takes advantage of Intel’s VT‑x/EPT hardware assisted virtualization technology in modern Intel CPUs to offer end users better virtual CPU performance. Charon-SSP/4U+ requires Intel CPUs with VT-x/EPT capability and must be installed on a dedicated Intel-based host. Running this product variant in a VM is not supported.
The Charon-SSP/4M virtual machines support the following guest operating system releases:
SunOS 4.1.3 - 4.1.4
Solaris 2.3 to Solaris 9
The Charon-SSP/4U(+) virtual machines support the following guest operating system releases:
Solaris 2.5.1 to Solaris 10
The Charon-SSP/4V virtual machines support the following guest operating system releases:
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