This is the second time Bechtolsheim has left Sun, and in all likelihood his last. On Monday, the company warned of a much larger-than-expected quarterly loss on lower revenue. Sun shares have fallen more than 70 percent this year, and they fell lower still on news of Bechtolsheim’s departure.

Sun, still reeling from the beating it’s been taking on Wall Street, claims it’s not losing Bechtolsheim–just his undivided attention. “Andy will remain with the company as an essential product architect as part of the Sun Systems group; however he will be working with Sun in a reduced capacity as a result of his being named Chief Development Officer of Arista Networks, a start-up company he founded,” Sun said in a statement. “Andy will focus his time with Sun on technology development and ongoing systems projects to help drive new product architectures, including X64 servers and storage servers, and will continue to work on key strategic initiatives such as HPC.”

Just how Bechtolsheim will manage that with a new full-time job as chairman and chief development officer of Arista remains to be seen. Although if anyone can do it, he can.

We are preconfigured for the downturn.”

– Sun CEO Jon Schwartz, Oct. 13, 2008

The econalypse is weighing heavy on Sun Microsystems. Its business sullied by the financial crisis, the company warned of a much larger-than-expected quarterly loss on lower revenue after market close Monday afternoon. Sun (JAVA) said it expects to post revenues of $2.95 billion to $3.05 billion when it reports full financials on Oct. 30. Analysts had been looking for $3.14 billion and a loss of $0.01.

Sun’s ugly news just seems to be getting uglier. “The company continues to miss its targets,” said Edward Jones analyst Bill Kreher. “There’s a lack of confidence in management, given continued shortfalls. … They are just not well-positioned … [Sun] has an uncertain future.”