Sun One APP Server Is New And Improved

Sun ONE Application Server 7, Platform Edition, is available now, and development and deployment on the app server is free, said Rick Schultz, group marketing manager for Sun ONE Java Web services.

The Platform Edition contains the HTTP server from the Sun ONE Web service, a Web container for building Java Server Pages, and a built-in message queue for deploying Java Messaging Service, Schultz said. The vendor is targeting this edition at the low-end Java development space where app servers are used primarily to develop JSPs and Web applications, he said.

Sun also released Application Server 7, Standard Edition, which is priced at $2,000 per CPU and has all the Platform Edition's functionality, plus support for multitier deployment and remote administration and monitoring capabilities, Schultz said. The Enterprise Edition, priced at $10,000 per CPU, is due in March.

The new app server has been rearchitected and is built on the J2EE reference implementation from the Java Community Process (JCP), a committee of vendors that creates future Java specs, said Deborah Andrade, senior product marketing manager at Sun.

Over the past several years, Sun has drawn considerable fire for its app server's less-than-stellar performance and lack of Java support, observers said.

But the new app server outperformed both BEA WebLogic and IBM WebSphere in SOAP message throughput in third-party benchmark testing, Andrade said. The product also outperformed IBM in running JSPs and servlets in benchmark testing that Sun conducted in-house, she said.

Solution providers are pleased with Sun's new product as well.

Curt Stevenson, vice president of business development at Back Bay Technologies, a solution provider in Boston, said the app server performed well in benchmarks the company performed on the functionality of message-driven JavaBeans. Sun also made marked improvements in product administration, which was "clunky" in previous editions, he said.

John Rymer, research vice president at Giga Information Group, called Sun ONE Application Server 7 a "completely different product" than the original and said Sun is phasing out earlier versions of its iPlanet and Sun ONE app servers.