Sun Microsystems aims to make its mark in the Java
application server space with its upcoming Sun ONE Application
Server 7 Enterprise Edition, featuring high
availability.
Having trailed the likes of BEA Systems and IBM in market share,
Sun is looking to turn things around by focusing on a
high-availability database layer in the product that is based on
technology acquired through its aquisition of Clustra Systems in
2002.
The high-availability database layer features state information
on transactions. Transactional loads can be shifted between
application servers in the network if needed.
While release 6.5, has had high-availability support, Version
7's support of the Clustra technology boosts real-time database
functionality and scalability, to 24 processors per system.
Version 7, which is set to ship next month for $10,000 per
processor, also is compliant with the J2EE 1.3 Java specification,
which features container management support for access to a
database without requiring programmer involvement.
Load balancing in Version 7 will enable uptime when taking down
an application server for maintenance. Additionally, the high
availability layer enables performance boosts through the addition
of more processors, rather than having to add more application
servers.
"It's a new way of implementing high availability in application
servers," said Deborah Andrade, product line manager for Sun ONE
Application Server.
The Enterprise Edition features the same code as the Standard
Edition of the application server, but adds high availability and
load balancing, according to Sun. Developers can transfer skills
from the lower-level standard platform to the enterprise
edition.
Sun will add J2EE 1.4 compliance to the application server,
featuring conformance to web services specifications, in 2004.
Paul Krill writes for InfoWorld