Sun shines on utility computing

Sun Microsystems is expected to update its vision of utility computing on Tuesday, including a second major component and plans for three more.

In November, Sun announced - but didn't actually begin selling - a service by which customers could pay Sun $1 per processor per hour to use raw processing capacity. Now part two is coming, in what the company is calling its Sun Grid: storage costing $1 per gigabyte per month.

The seller of servers and software believes that computing capacity - though not the computers themselves - is becoming a commodity, and it wants to be the top provider. In its view, customers will cease fussing with their own equipment and simply buy what they need in much the way they buy electricity.

In some ways it's a distant vision, particularly for customers reluctant to entrust their data and computing infrastructure to others, but Salesforce.com, IBM and others are trying to make it reality. It's important for Sun in particular, which is trying to attract new revenue and customers as part of its recovery from the dot-com collapse.

IBM believes it's got the edge over Sun, arguing that its computing capacity on-demand service costs half as much as Sun's. And it has signed partnerships with 60 software companies, including Siebel Systems, to sell their products in conjunction with IBM's utility services.

But Aisling MacRunnels, director of utility marketing, said some are interested in Sun's service. Five major customers in the oil and gas industry and in financial services are planning to join during the next two months, and some of them plan to book a dedicated computing capacity of more than 5,000 processors each, she said.

"We were surprised by the large initial requests. We thought it would take more time to cross that cultural chasm" into the utility computing realm, she said.

That popularity, though, forced Sun to push back the utility computing service for smaller customers, who likely will get access in June, she said.

The storage service, which also is expected to be available at lower prices for those who are willing to accept lower levels of data protection, is scheduled to be available by early April, according to chief marketing officer Anil Gadre.

Stephen Shankland writes for CNET News.com.