Computer MuseumCentral Texas
Public opening planned for February 2027
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The network becomes ordinary

Sun SPARCclassic

A compact SPARC desktop workstation.

MakerSun Microsystems
Era1990s
TypeUnix workstation
The story of this machine ↓
A COLLECTOR’S PERSPECTIVE
Amir Husain

About this object

The SPARCclassic placed a networked Unix workstation in a compact enclosure. It forms part of the museum’s group of Sun systems.

Inspect the original photograph
Original collection photograph: Sun SPARCclassic
The original collection photograph. Exhibit views use display masks to hide surrounding backgrounds; the photographed hardware is unchanged. Select the image to view it at full resolution.
Sun SPARCclassic in the collection
Sun SPARCclassic, supplementary collection view.
Sun SPARCclassic in the collection
Sun SPARCclassic, second supplementary collection view.
Technical record

Sun SPARCclassic

Introduced1992
ProcessormicroSPARC at 50 MHz
Memory16 MB to 96 MB
StorageSCSI
NetworkingOn-board Ethernet
Operating systemSunOS 4.1.3, later Solaris 2
Architecture

microSPARC put the processor, the memory controller and the cache on one piece of silicon, which is why this machine cost what it did. Sun sold it as a desktop Unix system that a department could buy several of rather than one of, and the on-board Ethernet says what it was for: these were meant to be networked, diskless if you liked, and administered together.

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Record & provenance

The SPARCclassic placed a networked Unix workstation in a compact enclosure. It forms part of the museum’s group of Sun systems.

Reference: ATX-OBJ-136-IMG-5202

Source: collection inventory, photographs, and notes accompanying Serious Machines (Amir Husain, 2024).

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