Open source firm JBoss is adding more flesh to its service oriented architecture (SOA) portfolio for the enterprise market with new open source JBoss Messaging and JBoss Web Server products.
JBoss Messaging is a standards-based messaging platform geared to help big corporations communicate via computers. JBoss Web offers high-performance Web server capabilities to Apache Tomcat and JBoss Application Server users.
JBoss Messaging and JBoss Web are free to download and use under the Lesser General Public License (LGPL).
The new software products were created to boost the company’s JBoss Enterprise Middleware Suite (JEMS), which the company markets as an open source alternative to proprietary runtime platforms from giants IBM, Oracle and BEA Systems.
While the market for infrastructure software that helps applications run remains pretty crowded, JBoss believes its open source approach of offering software free under the Lesser GNU Public License (LGPL) will appeal to corporations looking to escape traditional per-processor licensing models.
JBoss said in a statement that JBoss Messaging 1.0 uses a messaging core capable of supporting large SOAs, which provide a framework for Web services Messaging 1.0 is compatible with Java Message Service (JMS) 1.1 and 1.0.2b standard applications running on JBossMQ without any changes. The software also allows a JMS client to connect to a JBoss Messaging server, send and receive messages, and interact with queues, topics and other key elements of a messaging platform. The tool also includes a messaging core, which is a transactional and distributed messaging foundation, and integrates with the company’s flagship JBoss Application Server. In fact, while JBoss Messaging is currently available as a standalone product, it will be the default JMS technology in JBoss Application Server 5.0, as well as the foundation for JBoss ESB 1.0. Both of these products will appear later this year. JBoss Web Server provides enterprises with a runtime platform for Java Server Pages (JSP) and Java Servlet technologies, Microsoft ASP.NET, PHP and CGI. To provide a speed boost over competing Web servers, the product employs a hybrid design that incorporates open source technologies for crunching data with support for Java Enterprise Edition (EE) specifications. JBoss Web Server is built on Apache Tomcat, incorporating the Apache Portable Runtime (APR) and a Tomcat native layer, all of which adds up to allow the software to handle over 10,000 concurrent connections. Other JBoss Web Server features include support for the HTTP, HTTPS and Apache JServ Protocol protocols; OpenSSL for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) support; real-time URL rewriting that supports an unlimited number of rules and rule conditions; support for CGI and PHP scripts and ASP.NET applications; and an application load balancer. JBoss Web 1.0 is currently in a community release, with a final production release targeted for June 2006. JBoss expects the new products will help bring JEMS, already running in trading exchanges and e-commerce businesses, even greater penetration into what IDC said is a $7 billion market that was carved out by giants IBM, BEA, Oracle and others over the last decade or so. Unlike those larger vendors who charge customers with per processor licenses, JBoss makes its money through a number of subscription services that offer professional support for every stage of the application lifecycle. While smaller than those giants, JBoss is highly regarded for its technology, so much so that Oracle was reportedly considering whether or not to purchase the company. Such a buy would give Oracle’s application middleware offerings a new dimension at a time when open source software continues to gain steam.
