Sun, Microsoft Make A Play For P2P In The Mainstream

Sun is betting on JXTA (JuXTApose), an open-source technology being developed by the Santa Clara, Calif.-based vendor under the JXTA Project, a Sun-funded initiative devoted to developing peer-to-peer protocols and a collaboration framework for Java.

Sources say Sun plans to incorporate JXTA technology into N1 and Project Orion, a Sun effort to integrate its middleware products into one software platform. Some also say Sun is pondering the use of JXTA for StarOffice.

Meanwhile, Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft plans this summer to release a Windows XP update that supports P2P technology, a company spokeswoman confirmed.

In February, the software giant released a Windows XP Peer-to-Peer Software Development Kit designed to enable developers to write distributed applications that can take advantage of P2P infrastructures.

While earlier incarnations of file-sharing P2P technology such as Napster targeted consumers, software vendors are now polishing tools and platforms for collaborative corporate applications, sources say.

"In terms of P2P, the killer application was instant messaging. But now that we have that, where should we go?" said Gerry Seidman, a member of the JXTA Project and CEO of Internet Access Consulting, a Java consulting firm and ISV based in New York. "We're using P2P to develop collaborative applications."

Sun declined to comment on plans to incorporate JXTA into its platform software, but Juan Carlos Soto, group manager of Sun's Advanced Technologies Group, said the vendor has already shipped JXTA code on its Linux-based LX50 servers and that JXTA might be extended to the company's Sun ONE Collaboration Server.

In the future, JXTA, which debuted in 2001, will play a more important role in facilitating file sharing among wired and wireless devices, Soto said.

JXTA 2.0, which became available in March, provided increased scalability and performance over its predecessor, and at its JavaOne conference in June, Sun debuted a version of JXTA 2.1 for business users. That edition included expanded metering and monitoring, a new access-control service, and JXTA sockets and bidirectional pipes for enhanced P2P application networking.

The access-control service lets users check digital certificates to be sure that one user is not posing as another, Soto said.

JXTA can be used for basic file sharing between PCs or for collaboration among a variety of computing devices, Soto said. The technology will permit customers to collaborate, interact and exchange data using desktop-class machines, but "P2P does not mean PC-to-PC," he said. "The vision for Sun is much broader, and collaboration is possible from a [handheld] sensor to a superserver."

Sources say Microsoft is developing robust P2P technology that will be incorporated in the next Windows client, code-named Longhorn and expected in 2005.

Also in the works at Microsoft is a plan to enable more complex application sharing in the Windows Real-Time Communications Server 2003, which was formerly code-named Greenwich and is due to be released this fall.

"In Greenwich, there will be some P2P services for app-to-app sharing, which is also becoming more important in the enterprise space," said one solution provider who requested anonymity.

Some channel partners acknowledged the availability of JXTA and other P2P technologies but maintained that they're deploying current collaboration technologies for today's corporate needs.

"Today, for collaboration, we've developed solutions for many of our Sun ONE clients using Sun ONE Portal 6 and the Instant Collaboration Pack," said Curt Stevenson, co-founder and vice president of business development at Back Bay Technologies, a Boston-based Sun solution provider. "As Portal 6 becomes part of [Project] Orion in the future, this will become even more attractive."