Locked in a high-stakes race to launch an all-encompassing Web Services
platform, Sun Microsystems Inc. on Tuesday announced
the acquisition of Clustra Systems, a software firm that develops clustering
technology that enables continuous real-time computing.
Sun said the technology from privately-held Clustra Systems would be tied
into its Sun ONE platform, the Web Services initiative that competes
head-to-head with Microsoft’s Visual Studio.Net and IBM’s WebSphere.
Financial terms of the transaction were not released.
The company said integration of the Clustra technology would enable multiple
software products from Sun, beginning with the iPlanet Application Server.
“Clustra’s highly specialized features will play a key role within the
Sun(tm) ONE architecture and platform and other Sun product offerings,
extending the reliability and availability of Sun’s software and clustering
products.”
Sun, headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., said the latest acquisition is part of
its growing investment in the Web Services initiative. It comes on the
heels of Sun’s purchase of HighGround Systems, a storage software and file
system software company and NetBeans, for open source tools and Cobalt
systems for Internet server appliances.
With the Clustra acquisition, Sun adds an architecture that builds
availability and automatic self-repair into the core underlying design.
Clustra CEO Gary Ebersole, who lands the job of senior director at Sun
Microsystems, described the company as a “perfect match” to help Sun’s push
in the Web Services industry. “This technology is a perfect match to help
Sun achieve its three big bets: massive scalability, continuous
availability, and an integrated software stack.”
Mark Tolliver, executive VP and general manager of Sun’s iPlanet Products
division, said Clustra’s always-on technology would play a key role within
the Sun ONE platform by extending the reliability and availability of the
iPlanet Application Server.
Separately, Sun announced a deal with Cisco Systems
jointly offer the Sun-Cisco Optimized Platform Recommendations for network
management applications.
The platform, which includes a combination of Sun and Cisco products and
software, is aimed at helping enterprises and service providers deploy
mission-critical networking capabilities.
Among other applications, The Sun-Cisco Optimized Platform includes:
- Cisco Access Registrar (AR) management application, which provides
access for emerging mobile wireless IP connectivity. - Cisco VPN Solution Center (VPNSC), which permits a customer to provision
and manage Virtual Private Networks. - Cisco Network Registrar (CNR) a DNS/DHCP system that provides naming and
addressing services for enterprise and service provider networks.
The companies said cell phone maker Motorola was among the
first companies integrating applications from Sun-Cisco platform. Motorola,
the world’s number two mobile phone company, would add the Cisco Access
Registrar product built on the Sun Cluster 3.0 application into its
Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) Server component of its
cdma2000 Packet Data Network service.
