<s>
The	O
SUN	B-Device
workstation	I-Device
was	O
a	O
modular	O
computer	O
system	O
designed	O
at	O
Stanford	O
University	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
became	O
the	O
seed	O
technology	O
for	O
many	O
commercial	O
products	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
original	O
workstations	B-Device
from	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1979	O
Xerox	O
donated	O
some	O
Alto	B-Device
computers	O
,	O
developed	O
at	O
their	O
Palo	O
Alto	B-Device
Research	O
Center	O
,	O
to	O
Stanford	O
's	O
Computer	O
Science	O
Department	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
other	O
universities	O
that	O
were	O
developing	O
the	O
early	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Altos	B-Device
were	O
connected	O
using	O
Ethernet	O
to	O
form	O
several	O
local	B-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
networks	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SUN	O
's	O
design	O
was	O
inspired	O
by	O
that	O
of	O
the	O
Alto	B-Device
,	O
but	O
used	O
lower-cost	O
modular	O
components	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Professor	O
Forest	O
Baskett	O
suggested	O
the	O
best-known	O
configuration	O
:	O
a	O
relatively	O
low-cost	O
personal	B-Device
workstation	I-Device
for	O
computer-aided	O
logic	O
design	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Three	O
key	O
technologies	O
made	O
the	O
SUN	B-Device
workstation	I-Device
possible	O
:	O
very	O
large-scale	O
integration	O
(	O
VLSI	O
)	O
integrated	O
circuits	O
,	O
Multibus	B-Protocol
and	O
ECAD	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Motorola	B-Device
68000	I-Device
CPU	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
memory	O
,	O
a	O
parallel	O
port	O
controller	O
and	O
a	O
serial	O
port	O
controller	O
,	O
were	O
included	O
on	O
the	O
main	O
CPU	O
board	O
designed	O
by	O
Bechtolsheim	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Multibus	B-Protocol
computer	O
interface	O
made	O
it	O
possible	O
to	O
use	O
standard	O
enclosures	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
use	O
circuit	O
boards	O
made	O
by	O
different	O
vendors	O
to	O
create	O
other	O
configurations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
CPU	O
board	O
combined	O
with	O
a	O
multi-port	O
serial	O
controller	O
created	O
a	O
terminal	B-Device
server	I-Device
(	O
called	O
a	O
TIP	O
,	O
for	O
Terminal	B-Device
Interface	I-Device
Processor	I-Device
)	O
which	O
connected	O
many	O
terminals	O
to	O
the	O
Digital	O
Equipment	O
Corporation	O
time-sharing	O
systems	O
at	O
Stanford	O
or	O
anywhere	O
on	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Configuring	O
multiple	O
Ethernet	O
controllers	O
(	O
including	O
commercial	O
ones	O
,	O
once	O
they	O
were	O
available	O
)	O
with	O
one	O
CPU	O
board	O
created	O
a	O
router	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
about	O
ten	O
SUN	B-Device
workstations	I-Device
were	O
built	O
during	O
1981	O
and	O
1982	O
,	O
after	O
which	O
Stanford	O
declined	O
to	O
build	O
any	O
more	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bechtolsheim	O
then	O
licensed	O
the	O
hardware	O
design	O
to	O
several	O
vendors	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
frustrated	O
that	O
none	O
of	O
them	O
had	O
chosen	O
to	O
build	O
a	O
workstation	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Vinod	O
Khosla	O
,	O
also	O
from	O
Stanford	O
,	O
convinced	O
Bechtolsheim	O
along	O
with	O
Scott	O
McNealy	O
to	O
found	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
build	O
the	O
Sun-1	B-Device
workstation	B-Device
,	O
which	O
included	O
some	O
improvements	O
to	O
the	O
earlier	O
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
faculty	O
members	O
who	O
did	O
research	O
using	O
SUN	B-Device
workstations	I-Device
included	O
David	O
Cheriton	O
,	O
Brian	O
Reid	O
,	O
and	O
John	O
Hennessy	O
.	O
</s>
