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SPARCstation 20

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SPARCstation 20

The SPARCstation 20 (code-named Kodiak) is a workstation made by Sun Microsystems. The SPARCstation 20 was released on March 29, 1994, alongside the lower-end SPARCstation 5. The SPARCstation 20 shipped with dual SuperSPARC or hyperSPARC CPUs, supporting up to four such CPUs all running in parallel. It sold for between US$12,195 at the low end to US$29,995 at the high end (equivalent to $39,078–122,538 in 2025). Sun superseded the SPARCstation line in November 1995 with the Ultra series, which featured UltraSPARC processors.

The SPARCstation 20 has dual 50 MHz MBus ports that allow it to use faster CPUs than the SPARCstation 10. With two dual-CPU modules and updated firmware, the SPARCstation 20 supports a maximum of four CPUs. The fastest CPU produced for the SPARCstation 20 is the 200 MHz Ross hyperSPARC.

The PROM in the SPARCstation 20 determines CPU compatibility. Version 2.25 is the last BootPROM release from Sun, and 2.25R from Ross.

The SPARCstation 20 has eight 200-pin DSIMM slots, and supports a maximum of 512 MB of memory with 64 MB modules. Memory modules for the SPARCstation 20 are compatible with the SPARCstation 10, Sun Ultra 1, and some other computers in the sun4m and sun4u families, but they are physically incompatible with the SIMM slots found in PC computers.

Two of the eight SIMM slots are wider than the others and can be used with non-memory peripherals like caching NVSIMM and video VSIMM cards.

The SPARCstation 20 has two internal SCA bays, an external SCSI connector, and two bays for CD-ROM or floppy drives. Earlier revisions of the SPARCstation 20 case contain a CD-ROM and floppy bays that are slightly shorter than a standard 3.5" bay and regular devices intended for PC compatible computers do not usually fit. Later revisions of the SPARCstation 20 and SPARCstation 5 have a narrower slot for the floppy drive so a more-standard CD-ROM can fit.

The SCSI host controller is integrated with the motherboard. The SPARCstation 20 does not support IDE devices.

A limitation in all releases of the OpenBoot PROM for the SPARCstation 20 prevents it from booting from a point on a disk past the 2 gigabyte mark.

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