XM Satellite Radio Selects Sun as Sole Supplier of UNIX, Storage Data Center Solutions and Support

XM Satellite Radio Selects Sun as Sole Supplier of UNIX, Storage Data Center Solutions and Support

Leader in Satellite Radio Service Signs Long-term Agreement; Fine-tunes Data Center with New Sun Storage and Server Solutions Running on the Solaris Operating System

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- During its quarterly Network Computing '05 (NC05Q1) launch today, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUNW) and XM Satellite Radio today announced a long-term agreement for Sun to be the company's sole supplier of UNIX(R) and storage technology and support services.

The new agreement expands an already successful partnership designed to maximize the performance of XM's business infrastructure applications. Sun will be the sole supplier of technology solutions -- including storage, servers and technical support -- for XM's back office data center, which powers the company's business, operations and marketing systems. The first implementation under the new agreement includes an enhancement of XM's back office data center with a comprehensive Sun data management and consolidation solution.

"The data center solutions Sun has delivered have proven to be a key enabler of XM's success over the years, allowing us to meet our service-level commitments, keep costs down and achieve our millions of satisfied customers," said Frank Patry, vice president, Enterprise Information Technology at XM Satellite Radio. "Sun designed a growth-ready, cost-effective storage network architecture that has provided the performance and around-the-clock availability that is essential to our growing business. We have a strong relationship with Sun, and expect our new enhancements to provide an even more robust environment with the scalability and manageability we'll need as we continue to rapidly increase our subscriber base and extend our leadership position."

"After a vendor review in 2004, XM Satellite determined that Sun's rock- solid reliability and growth-ready systems positioned us as the best partner to take them to the next level of business growth," said Juan Dewar, vice president, Media and Entertainment at Sun. "Sun is delighted to have XM Satellite provide this level of commitment to our systems approach, and look forward to expanding our partnership and helping XM Satellite exceed their goals."

New products in XM's back office data center enhancement implementation include the Sun StorEdge(TM) 9990 System, Sun StorEdge Enterprise Storage Manager (ESM) software, a Sun Fire(TM) 25K high-end server, Sun Fire 2900 midrange servers and Sun Fire V440 entry-level servers, all running the industry-leading Solaris(TM) Operating System.

Working with XM prior to its startup in 2001, Sun assisted with the architecture of the company's initial infrastructure, which has provided solid and consistent performance, reliability, scalability and support, forming a technology partnership that has served as a backbone for the company's expanding business. This was demonstrated most recently during the height of the 2004 holiday season, a time of unprecedented growth for the radio service. During the fourth quarter, XM signed up more than 700,000 new subscribers, and the Sun infrastructure performed without a single instance of downtime or service interruption.

Sun's NC05Q1 Web event is available on the World Wide Web at sun.com/nc/05q1. More information on today's announcements, including full press releases and product details, can be viewed at Sun's online press kit (http://sun.com/aboutsun/media/presskits/networkcomputing05q1/).

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer(TM)" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com/.

Copyright(C) 2005 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, Sun Fire, StorEdge, Solaris and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open Company, Ltd.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Ryan Batty
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
(303) 223-7748
ryan.batty@sun.com

Sarah Rector
Alexander Ogilvy PR for Sun Microsystems, Inc.
(303) 634-2674
sarah.rector@ogilvypr.comhttp://sun.com/news
Contact: allpress@sun.com
(650) 786-7737



Source: Sun Microsystems, Inc.

CONTACT: Ryan Batty of Sun Microsystems, Inc., +1-303-223-7748 or
ryan.batty@sun.com; Sarah Rector of Alexander Ogilvy PR, +1-303-634-2674 or
sarah.rector@ogilvypr.com, for Sun Microsystems, Inc.; http://sun.com/news;
allpress@sun.com; or +1-650-786-7737

Web site: http://sun.com/


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