HP and Sun Microsystems announced an expanded multi-year partnership agreement that enables HP to distribute and provide software technical support for Sun's Solaris 10 Operating System on the HP ProLiant server and blade system platforms.

Under the terms of the new original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and support agreement, Sun becomes a strategic HP ProLiant OS distribution partner and Solaris is now elevated to the lineup of key operating environments for the HP ProLiant platform. The new deal sets a course for the companies to work together to expand demand for both Solaris and OpenSolaris on both HP ProLiant servers and server blades into new markets. HP will drive issue resolution for the joint solution through HP Technology Services and Sun is providing software updates through its automated Connected Services offerings.

The companies will also collaborate on integration of Solaris 10 and HP Insight software on HP ProLiant servers.

Additionally, HP ProLiant customers who prefer Solaris on x86 now have access to a complete infrastructure solution for the data center from a single source.

As a result of this agreement, HP also will increase its participation in the OpenSolaris community, collaborating with other users on feature development and interoperability.