Sun Microsystems Joins the Service Availability Forum™ to Promote Dependable Communications Services

MERCER ISLAND, Wash. - March 11, 2002 - The Service Availability Forum today announced the addition of Sun Microsystems, Inc. to the list of industry leading communications and computing companies working together to create and promote Service Availability™ interface specifications.

"Sun Microsystems brings a deep understanding of the network infrastructure equipment market as well as the development of high availability products," said Michael O'Brien, president of the Service Availability Forum. "Sun's membership validates the Forum's goal of promoting open standards that will ultimately help shorten time-to-market, lower the cost of developing highly available and reliable communications equipment and applications, and provide users with services they can depend on."

The Service Availability Forum's membership growth further demonstrates the communications industry's willingness to create standard-based building blocks for achieving on-demand, uninterrupted service for multi-service communications network users. By creating open application programming interface specifications, the Service Availability Forum will help facilitate the fast delivery of ultra-dependable, differentiated, cost-effective communications services.

"Sun's participation means the Service Availability Forum's membership contains both key platform providers and telecom equipment manufacturers. And that means an industry-wide solution to the challenge of Service Availability assurance, and the high costs associated with it, is ahead," said George Peabody, VP, NextGen Communications, Aberdeen Group. "The Service Availability Forum is on-track to deliver on its mission."

By joining the Service Availability Forum, Sun complements its current Netra™ product line designed to help network equipment providers build available and reliable telecom infrastructure platforms. Sun lends its experience building carrier-grade, highly available products to help define the open programming interface specifications.

"This industry initiative is a natural fit with our goal to grow the commercially-available communications equipment market," said Alban Richard, director of marketing for Sun's Network Equipment Provider group. "The Forum and Sun agree that the best solution requires the broad adoption of open, standardized specifications for carrier-grade highly available network computing."

The addition of Sun to the Service Availability Forum follows the recent announcement of the new interface specification Request for Proposal - an invitation for additional communications and computing companies to provide their input for Service Availability standards. The Forum plans to deliver its first programming interface specification based on open standards within the calendar year and will continue to recruit additional member companies committed to enabling on-demand, uninterrupted communications services.

Companies seeking additional information on joining the Service Availability Forum can visit www.saforum.org.

About the Service Availability Forum
The Service Availability Forum is the industry body dedicated to creating and promoting the open specifications necessary for quickly building global communications systems that will help promote ultra-dependability for users of multi-service, packet-based networks. Member companies of the Service Availability Forum include Aztek Engineering; Compaq (NYSE: CPQ); F5 Networks (Nasdaq: FVIV), Force Computers, a Solectron company :Fujitsu Siemens; GoAhead Software; Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HWP); IBM (NYSE: IBM); Intel (Nasdaq: INTC); MontaVista Software; Motorola (NYSE: MOT); Nokia (NYSE: NOK); RadiSys (Nasdaq: RSYS); Siemens (NYSE: SI); Solid; SteelEye Technology; Stonesoft (HEX: SFT1V); Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW), TimesTen Performance Software, Vertel Corporation (Nasdaq: VRTL), and Wind River (Nasdaq: WIND). Service Availability Forum membership offers the opportunity to take part in building t he availability specifications for the future. For more information or to inquire about becoming a member, visit www.saforum.org.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- The Network Is The Computer™ -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to take their businesses to the nth. Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.