Sun ONE Gets A Pre-Fab

Building on its Web Services strategy, Sun Microsystems Tuesday said it is offering an out of the box solution for its Sun Fire servers.

Sun Microsystems ramps up its Web Services strategy with the release of pre-designed and pre-tuned software for its Sun Fire servers and operating protocols.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based networking giant said it has added Application Services Reference Architecture to its Sun Open Net Environment (Sun ONE).

The addition is designed to help companies turn Sun Fire servers into a one-stop Web Services platform with pre-designed, pre-tested, pre-tuned and documented solutions based on the company’s popular server and protocols.

The improvements are also expected to keep Sun in its race with IBM and Microsoft as “Web Services” king.

Just like the competition, the Sun ONE platform uses open standards and lets businesses use the systems, platforms and environments they already own to upgrade to the latest XML- and SOAP-enhanced apps.

“IT decision-makers are under increasing pressure to bring services on demand to their enterprises and keep a watchful eye on the bottom line. The Application Services Reference Architecture solves this challenge by providing a more compelling, integrated solution,” said Sun Integrated Products Group vice president Gary Beck. “We’ve eliminated the guesswork and risk on our customers’ side, by offering a comprehensive recommended solution for deployments on the Sun ONE platform.

The company said its Professional Services division worked with the iForce Ready Center and Sun ONE product engineers as part of the design.

“We work side-by-side with our customers to test out solutions in the Sun iForce Ready Centers, and ensure that it fits their needs for safe, fast and reliable Web services deployments, prior to going through the implementation process – at no costs to them,” said Beck.

Sun ONE includes the company’s portfolio of software products such as the Solaris Operating Environment. The Application Services Reference Architecture features Sun’s SPARC and Solaris binary-compatible Sun Fire servers.

Sun has been working diligently to keep its Web Services edge. Recently, the board of the Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) approved a new working group to form proposals for expanding the board from its current nine members to 11. Sun hopes to be one of those two.

The company Monday also announced key partnerships with Oracle and Agile Software for its Web Services initiatives.

The first Sun ONE components supported by Agile are the Solaris 9.0 Operating Environment (Solaris OE) for Unix servers.

“In response to the needs of our global customers, Agile has added the Sun ONE platform as a reliable and scalable platform option. The first customer to be running on this offering will be the Kimball Electronics Group,” stated Paul Fu, Agile vice president of product marketing.