Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard are preparing new higher-end Unix servers for debut near the end of the year, and several other models will spring up from HP before then.

The new high-end systems incorporate technologies that let customers double the number of processors in an existing chassis. The systems will compete with IBM's p690 and its successor, code-named Squadron.

Sun will overhaul its systems with the new UltraSparc IV processor "right around the end of the year," beginning with the top-end Sun Fire 15K that currently has 72 UltraSparc III processors for business customers, said Clark Masters, executive vice president of Sun's high-end server line, in an interview Thursday. The UltraSparc IV is a "dual core" design with two processors on each slice of silicon, and using it will effectively double the number of processors that fit into each server.

HP has doubling technology of its own, both with its in-house PA-RISC processors and Intel's Itanium processor, which HP co-designed. The PA-RISC line will get its first dual-core model with the PA-8800, code-named "Mako," and with an HP packaging technology called mx2, code-named Hondo, the company can plug two Itaniums into a single processor slot.

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