Unisys, Fujitsu, Hitachi, and SGI sell 32 processor (and more), and they'll do it for a lot less than Sun will.
However, in most cases, your 32 processor Sun box is replaced by one Quad Core Xeon machine, and it handles the same workload in an eighth the time.
This is why Red Hat don't bother competing with Microsoft - they make the biggest part of their revenue from replacing Sun gear - and two of the four guys I worked with closely at Red Hat were ex-Sun staff.
Yes but that's not what an x4600 is. It is 32 x86 cores and 256G of main memory (and various other bits and pieces like quad gigE and a few disks) and it fits neatly into only 4U of rackspace. Sun makes x86 kit now, didn't you know?
I don't think you addressed his point, which is that you can get the same amount of work done without 32 cores in 4RU by selecting a different, more cost-effective vendor.
Sun does have a slight but well-earned reputation as vanity hardware.
