"But as they became real businesses and wanted more support, they either bought Sun servers or a Windows NT server."

NMAPS was only available to run on a Sun server or workstation.

"You can't do the same things with a Dell server and a Sun high-end server, but the cost factor is not to be underestimated."

Two years ago, for example, weather.com, the Web site of cable television's Weather Channel, ran on 80 Sun servers.

Sun servers are sold with the Solaris operating system, and those dollars all fall under the "hardware" category on the company's financial statements.

Verizon Communications, a big regional Bell company, has a few thousand Sun servers in its telecommunications network.

Mr. Zander said that during the next year, virtually all Sun servers and work stations would incorporate the new chip.

This application allowed the softswitch to be installed on a cluster of Sun Solaris-based servers to increase uptime.

And it has a lot to offer for organizations that don't want to spend seven or eight figures on Sun servers.

As interest in the Internet has boomed, so has demand for Sun servers and operating system software.