Network Solutions Chooses IBM

IBM Corp. said its powerful server computers will replace Sun Microsystems Inc. machines at Network Solutions Inc., the company that manages most Web site addresses. Network Solutions has more than 10 million online addresses registered in its database. Its servers act as the liaison between a user’s Web browser and the site the user accesses. “From an image standpoint, this is a kick in the nether regions to Sun,” said Jonathan Eunice, an analyst at Illuminata Inc., a Nashua, N.H.-based researcher. Network Solutions chose IBM machines because they can better handle the increasing volume of queries from Web browsers, a Network Solutions executive said. In Nasdaq trading, Network Solutions dropped $10.31 to close at $128.19 while Sun Microsystems fell $1 to close at $87.75. IBM closed down $1 at $104 on the NYSE.