Featured White Papers

• Java Web Hosting | DailyRazor.com - Over 10yrs Of Java Web Hosting Exp!

Sponsored Links

Sponsored Links

Optimize with a SATA RAID Storage Solution
Range of capacities as low as $1250 per TB. Ideal if you currently rely on servers/disks/JBODs

Oracle readies major app server upgrade

Java, Web services, ID management, RFID highlighted

By Paul Krill, InfoWorld, 12/13/04

December 13, 2004—Oracle has introduced Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2, which is being characterized as a significant upgrade, with improvements in Java, Web services, and identity management and the addition of RFID backing.

The company plans to ship the application server and the JDeveloper 10g Release 2 development tool in three weeks, said Thomas Kurian, Oracle senior vice president of development for Oracle Application Server.

"Release 2 is a major update release for us. There are 432 features in the new release," Kurian said. The company, with its application development platform, is looking to help users build business applications in accordance with SOAs (service-oriented architectures) based on componentized applications, Kurian noted.

Featured in Release 2 is support for the J2EE 1.4 specification, including enhanced, reliable messaging via Java Message Service and Web services improvements. J2EE 1.4 provides APIs for building Web services in Java, such as JAX RPC (Java API for XML-based Remote Procedure Call). The Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) Basic Profile is also supported, as is interoperability with .Net applications.

A SOAP stack and the UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration) Web services registry are featured. A Web services management gateway in Release 2, meanwhile, provides a centralized point to log, trace, and enforce policies across Oracle's and other vendors' application servers. Also featured for Web services functionality is support of the Web Services Reliable Messaging specification.

To boost deployment in compute grids, the application server features distributed configuration management. An improved transaction manager in Release 2 provides for two-phase commit, according to Kurian.

Release 2 of the application server also offers an improved Oracle Interconnect ESB (enterprise service bus), which provides messaging capabilities for systems integration. The ESB is 40 percent faster than the previous iteration, according to Kurian.

A "business event monitoring dashboard" is being touted in the new release, enabling users to set up key performance indicators and tie them to specific business events, such as whether a supplier is late, said Kurian. Security alerts also can be monitored.

The new application server features software called "Instant Portal," providing a starting point for using portals. "We give you a portal in the box, [which] you can start with and customize, and it allows a business user to be much more quick and productive," Kurian said. Also supported in Release 2: Java Specification Request 168 and Web Services for Remote Portlets, for boosting enterprise portal development.

Oracle, with the application service, introduces "RFID edge" capabilities, providing support for the radio-based tagging standard. An enhanced Oracle Forms function, meanwhile, makes it easier to call forms from Java and use Java in forms.

Identity management has been enhanced to allow for synchronization between Oracle's directory and products such as Microsoft Active Directory or the iPlanet directory. It is now easier to manage directories across a distributed environment, said Kurian. Federated identity is being supported to let users create and propagate identities from one organization to another using SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) or Liberty Alliance technologies.

For more enterprise computing news, visit InfoWorld. Story copyright InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.