Melissa sends e-mail messages to the first 50 addresses of a user's Microsoft Outlook address book, potentially "swamping" a company's server, Hernan said.

CNN: 'Melissa' mutates, becomes resistant to patch

Sun's announcement marks the information technology industry's latest step toward "utility computing, " a grid system in which companies pipe in data processing and storage from faraway server farms, says Nicholas Carr, author of The Big Switch, a book on utility computing published earlier this week.

FORBES: Sun Plans To Close Its Data Centers