Sun To Give Away Free Version Of App Server

Sun Microsystems

Sun ONE Application Server 7, Platform Edition, is a basic version of the Sun ONE app server based on the Java Community Process (JCP) Java 2, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) reference implementation, said Stuart Wells, senior vice president of Sun ONE middleware at Sun. The product will be available on five server operating platforms--Sun Solaris, HP UX, IBM AIX, Linux and Microsoft NT, said Wells.

Sun's announcements come on the heels of Microsoft news late Tuesday that while it will integrate Java support in Windows XP Service Pack 1 due this summer, there will be no Java support in Windows after Jan. 1, 2004. Microsoft said it would pull Java support from new versions of Windows last July, but has since been sued by Sun over the decision. The case is pending.

Giving away a basic app server makes it less cost-prohibitive for companies using the less expensive Microsoft development environment to implement solutions on Java, observers said.

Sun also unveiled on Wednesday two other versions of its app server: Sun ONE Application Server, Standard Edition; and Sun ONE Application Server, Enterprise Edition.

As expected, all app server editions are J2EE 1.3-compliant and contain support for Java APIs for XML to perform XML parsing, messaging and directory functions. In addition to the features of Platform Edition, the Standard Edition also contains an application management framework.

Sun ONE Application Server, Enterprise Edition, has all the functionality of the platform and standard editions, but also features the clustering technology Sun acquired when it purchased Clustra Systems earlier this year. That technology allows for the "continuous availability" of applications even if one of the CPUs the application server is running on fails, said Wells.

Pricing for the standard and enterprise edition app servers also is relatively low for the technology, a move sources told CRN to expect several weeks ago. The standard version sells for $2,000 per CPU, while the enterprise version sells for $10,000 per CPU.

Sun also unveiled a new version of its Sun ONE Studio Java integrated development environment (IDE) and an integrated development platform designed to provide specific tools for developers working on different facets of enterprise applications.

Sun ONE Studio 4, which comes in Mobile, Enterprise and Community Editions, is available now. Both the mobile and community editions are free, while Sun ONE Studio 4, Enterprise Edition, costs $1,995 per developer seat. Developers already using competing Java IDEs--Borland's JBuilder, Oracle's JDeveloper, WebGain's VisualCafe and IBM's VisualAge For Java or WebSphere Application Developer--or using Microsoft Visual Studio.Net can upgrade to Sun ONE Studio 4, Enterprise Edition, for $995 per seat.

The Sun ONE Development Platform will be priced at $5,000 per developer seat and be available in the fourth quarter, with early access sometime in late summer.

Sun has been criticized by industry analysts and solution providers for having sub-par J2EE-based software compared with Java software leaders IBM and BEA Systems, as well as having a confusing software message. Jonathan Schwartz, Sun chief strategy officer who officially becomes executive vice president of Sun software on July 1, said that Wednesday's news should change all of that.

"Our business model is very clear," Schwartz said, then echoed Sun's latest marketing campaign. "We want to be a leading provider of the infrastructure that makes the 'Net work."

Schwartz said that though the Sun Professional Services organization is an integral part of Sun's overall plan to deliver its infrastructure to clients, Sun has no intention of becoming a large services company and will continue to rely on systems integrators to help deliver its products.

"We will never be as big as IBM Global Services," said Schwartz. "We have partners across the world who build [solutions on our infrastructure."

In addition, Schwartz said that with the Liberty Alliance--the organization that Sun leads that is aimed at providing a standard for network identity--Sun also does not ever intend to be an administrator of end-user Web services, as Microsoft is with its Passport services. Liberty is expected to introduce the first specification for network identity in early-to-mid-July, he said.

"We're not a service operator, we're not going to compete with end-user customers, we're not going to peep at the network identities of people using your [Web sites," said Schwartz.