Coherent Intranet strategy revolves around Java
In a bid to capture the high ground in the fierce struggle for the corporate marketplace, on March 26 Sun Microsystems deployed a phalanx of new products and services outfitted to take advantage of its new Java technology. The product line consists of: Java WorkShop, an integrated Java development environment; Internet WorkShop, a universal client/server development environment; Joe, Java object software for enterprise communications; Solstice Internet Mail, platform-independent email software; SunScreen SPF-100G, an international version of Sun’s security package for corporate Intranets; Solstice FireWall-1 2.0, Internet security software; the Netra 3.0 family of Internet servers; and Internet Practice, a pair of worldwide consultation services.
“We’re staking our claim on the business side of the Internet explosion,” said Sun CEO Scott McNealy. “The action is in corporate Intranets. You’ll see the real boom in business-to-business and business-to-consumer electronic commerce. And Sun is fast becoming the choice for professionals who need real products now.”
The new products, taken as a whole, represent a concerted effort to leverage Sun’s lightning strike over the last year in hardware and software systems for the Internet — especially object-oriented programming for the World Wide Web. As explained by Sun, each product fulfills a vital mission in addressing the needs of business on the Net.
WorkShop unlocks the treasure chest
For Java aficionados, Java WorkShop is the key component in the product mix. WorkShop is an intuitive Web-centric development environment written entirely in Java. It uses a Web browser as its interface, and icons represent applets. Clicking on an icon launches a corresponding tool by loading a new Web page that contains the tool. As with any browser implementation, hypertext links are supported. Tools in WorkShop are integrated. An Applet Tester and a Debugger are included. And a Portfolio Manager offers developers ease of use in — securely or openly — publishing their work on the Web.
According to Evan Quinn, research manager for application development tools at IDC, “The release of Java WorkShop instantly renders all other application-development tools technically obsolete. While the rest of the software industry poured their energies into Windowizing Java, Sun quietly constructed the reference product. WorkShop is not a Windows application, or a Unix application, or a Mac application; it consists solely of Java applets, taking advantage of the platform independence of Java virtual machines.”
Internet WorkShop is a comprehensive development environment for building critical client/server applications in enterprises. It includes Java WorkShop, Visual WorkShop for C++, and Solaris NEO development tools. It offers solutions to taking legacy applications and turning them into Web-ready services.
But what’s missing?
Joe connects Java applets running on any Java-enabled browser to business applications running on industrial-strength corporate networks. With Joe, sophisticated and highly responsive applications can be deployed across the Intranet or the Internet. Sun promises a beta version available for download in two months. Joe is compliant with the Object Management Group’s CORBA and includes a downloadable Java Object Request Broker (ORB) and an OMG IDL-to-Java compiler. (IDL stands for Interface Definition Language.)
“Joe is the missing link,” said Steve McKay, vice president of Sun’s Solaris Products Group. “It gives corporate developers the advantage of allowing them to leverage their existing data sources and legacy applications for intranet to Internet deployment.”
And there’s more
Solstice Internet Mail, based on the nascent IMAP4 standard, allows efficient integrated e-mail access over the Internet. Heterogeneous clients and servers will be able to operate freely over the Net to provide correspondence, work flow, and data exchange. Internet Mail is comprised of a Solaris-based mail server component plus client support for Solaris, Windows 3.X, Windows 95, and Windows NT platforms. Unlike current e-mail packages, Solstice Internet Mail has no proprietary lock-in and does not require users to adopt proprietary interfaces or build their business processes on a single vendor API.
SunScreen SPF-100G, an international version of Sun’s dedicated network device that employs less stringent security than its US-only predecessor in order to adhere to export laws, enables secure communications for both intranet and Internet applications. It combines next-generation firewall technologies with encryption and is designed to be invisible on the network, eliminating the possibility of security compromises. A graphical user interface, the SunScreen Administration Station G provides secure administration of SunScreen SPF-100G from any point on the network, allowing customized control of security policies.
Solstice FireWall-1 2.0 is an enhancement of Sun’s network security product line for creating and managing TCP/IP firewalls. Initially introduced to protect transaction flow between corporate networks and the Internet, the product also permits enterprises to compartmentalize their internal networks by creating distinct, secure subnetworks or Intranets. New features include network address translation, client authentication, http authentication, and encryption.
The Netra 3.0 family consists of three new Internet servers based on Sun’s high-performance UltraSPARC processors. Starting at ,495, the new Netra servers — capable of handling 15 to 18 million hits a day — operate in the Solaris 2.5 operating system and include pre-installed Web publishing and security software from Netscape Communications Corp. and Checkpoint Software Technologies. Sun also offers a special program under which the company will customize server configurations and feature sets for customers with a minimum threshold volume commitment.
Internet Practice delivers two sets of Intranet consulting services. Sun Data and Storage Management Services provides security, reliability, and integrity of data through a storage-management solution tailored to the customer’s network environment. Sun Fault and Performance Management Services provides proactive monitoring of Intranet resources, such as routers, servers, and PCs, to quickly detect and solve problems, analyze trends in systems performance, balance server load, or manage and plan the use of network bandwidth.
The new products and services were announced at press conferences in New York and San Francisco. For more information, contact Sun Microsystems at https://www.sun.com/.
