by Daniel Thomas and Eric DoyleHewlett-Packard has entered the
crowded application server market with a Java-based application
server
Unlike the competition, HP Internet Server is built on Java and
will be offered as a free download from mid-July. Most other
application servers cost several thousand pounds per
processor.
HP Internet Server is the result of the company's acquisition of
Bluestone, which now forms HP's middleware division. It is based on
the Java Services Framework, a specification that allows users to
build and deploy specialised software services quickly.
John Capobianco, general manager of strategic marketing for HP's
middleware division, said the server has been certified by Sun as
100% Java. "This means that users can just drop the software onto
any system running a Java Virtual Machine and it will run," he
explained.
HP Internet Server is aimed at businesses that want to offer
products and services online quickly. If any particular product or
service proves not to be viable, it can be removed quickly, freeing
up the server for other uses.
HP aims to keep its platform as open as possible by using
e-business standards and allowing other companies to contribute to
the platform and services. For, example, rather than create its own
object request broker (Orb), the company has licensed the Iona Orb,
which not only offers brokerage for Java objects but also allows
the platform to handle Corba objects.
The free download is targeted at software houses and developers
building server applications requiring HTTP communications and fast
execution of Java Server Pages and Java Servlet code. According to
Capobianco, by embedding the HP Internet Server within new or
existing applications, developers can implement e-services that
deliver superior performance and reliability.
The server is part of the HP Netaction Internet operating
environment (IOE), a family of Internet software products designed
to provide businesses with a foundation to develop, integrate and
deploy service-centric computing. Capobianco believes that the IOE
will be the main battleground for the e-business age.
IOE is HP's name for the middleware that underpins e-business
applications. IBM has also cited this as a crucial part of the
Websphere services platform.