Interesting information about Sun SMD upgrades

[Steven D. Miller]

I have some interesting information here about how Sun intends to handle
upgrades from the old Xylogics 451 SMD controller to the new SMD-4
("Jaguar") controller.  Some of you may find this interesting...

This is going to be confusing no matter how I do it, so let's try this.
There's three parts to an upgrade (controller, boot PROM, CPU), and not
all parts are needed for all systems.  Let's look at each part
individually.

First, the easy part.  If you want the new controller, you trade in your
old controller (for a $1000 credit) and then buy the new controller.  The
new controller runs you $4500, and your real cost is $3500 list.

Next, there's the boot PROM.  No Sun-4 requires a new boot PROM, and no
machine produced after 11/9/88 needs one, either.  All other machines
(3/160, 3/180, 3/260, 3/280) require new PROMs.  New PROMs cost $50, and
are non-discountable.

Finally, here's the kicker:  if your 3/160, 3/180, 4/260, or 4/280 was
produced before 11/9/88, you need a new CPU board.  (The new CPU board
includes the new PROMs, for what that's worth.)  The new CPU board is
available as a no-cost upgrade (when ordered on the same purchase with a
new controller), but only for a while.  The no-cost upgrade program is
only valid between 11/9/89 and 3/9/88.  After that, you pay SunSpares
prices for your new CPU.  For a 3/160 CPU with 4MB of memory, that's going
to run you an additional $10400 list, according to my old (7/1/87)
SunSpares list.

So, to summarize for "old" (pre-11/9/88) machines:

		Machine	/	3/100	3/200	4/200
		Part

		Controller	Need	Need	Need	(no surprise)
		CPU		Need	OK	Need
		PROM		Inc.	Need	Inc.

"Need" indicates that you need that part for the given system.  "OK"
indicates that the current CPU should work, and "Inc." indicates that the
new PROMs come with the new CPU.

If you're planning on upgrading, you should either do so soon, or try to
get Sun to change their policy on CPU exchanges.  (A better policy would,
perhaps, be that any CPU that is under maintenance will be upgraded for
free, and CPUs not under maintenance will be replaced at SunSpares
pricing.  This would be in accordance with Sun's policy with respect to
ECOs.)  It's also possible that I'm reading my email wrong, or that
something has changed; you should get in touch with your Sun sales rep if
you have questions.

	-Steve

Spoken: Steve Miller    Domain: steve at mimsy.umd.edu    UUCP: uunet!mimsy!steve
Phone: +1-301-454-1808  USPS: UMIACS, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742