Dell to install Solaris on some of its servers

San Jose: Dell has agreed to install Sun Microsystems's Solaris operating system in some of its servers, the companies announced, signalling Sun's latest truce with a former rival.

The chief executives of both companies announced the multiyear partnership together on stage on Wednesday at the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sun commands 13 per cent of the worldwide server market, while Dell commands about 12 per cent, according to the latest data from market research firm IDC.

While Sun risks losing server sales to Dell because of the partnership, it stands to increase adoption of its open-source software products, and that could mean a substantial boost in revenue from related support services.

Once one of Silicon Valley's most combative companies, Sun has been reaching out to former foes since Jonathan Schwartz became CEO in April 2006, taking over from pugnacious co-founder Scott McNealy.

The company now views partnerships with its one-time enemies as a key way to ensure its long-term financial health. It announced a partnership with IBM in August that will allow Solaris to run on IBM servers. And in Sep-tember it indicated it would build servers with Microsoft's Windows operating system installed.

Dell also is trying to regain its financial footing by altering core sales strategies, having lost its No 1 worldwide ranking PC sales to Hewlett-Packard last year. It has shaken up its management ranks, laid off thousands of workers and started selling PCs through retailers.

Dell hopes the partnership with Sun will broaden its offerings to large corporations.