Sun Microsystems' software group said it will ship a
version of its Java Enterprise System server software for Red Hat
Linux within 60 days.
Jonathan Schwartz, executive vice-president of software at Sun,
claimed that the performance of Solaris now is "at parity with or
better than Red Hat" on low-end servers with up to four processors.
That applies to systems based on Xeon or Opteron processors in
addition to Sun's own Sparc chips, he said.
Schwartz acknowledged that Sun had neglected the entry-level
server market in the past and focused on large multiprocessor
systems. But, he said, Solaris developers have spent the past two
years working with users to upgrade the operating system's
performance on low-end machines.
Sun is also offering Red Hat's software as well as Novell's SuSE
Linux technology for use with its servers.
"We're committed to giving people a choice," Schwartz said.
The Red Hat version of Java Enterprise System will be the first
non-Solaris release of the software bundle, which includes products
such as Sun's application, portal and directory servers. The
bundle, which can be licensed on a per-employee basis, was
announced last September and began shipping in January.
Versions of Java Enterprise System for Windows and HP-UX are due
to follow by year's end, said Steve Borcich, executive director of
security marketing at Sun's software unit.
Sun also plans to lay out a road map and release schedule for an
expanded set of identity management tools. The offering will be
integrated into Java Enterprise System and include software that
Sun acquired when it bought Waveset Technologies in December.
Sun will support for converting Microsoft Office macros so they
can run on its StarOffice desktop applications. The company also
plans to introduce a management console for its Java Desktop System
bundle that will give IT managers the ability to disable imported
macros for security purposes, Borich said
Craig Stedman writes for Computerworld