Covalent Unites Apache Versions in Latest ERS Release

Covalent Technologies Monday released version 3.0 of Enterprise Ready Server (ERS), a Web infrastructure stack that includes the Apache HTTP Web Server and the Apache Tomcat Application Server. Like the previous version, ERS 3.0 is aimed at Fortune 500 enterprises.

Version 3.0 of Covalent’s Enterprise Ready Server merges the enterprise grade software stack with its Fast Start Server, enabling customers to run Apache 1.3 and 2.0 and Tomcat 4.1 and 5.0 on the same system.

ERS 3.0 merges Covalent’s Enterprise Ready Server with its Fast Start Server offering, thus uniting its Apache 2.0 and 1.3 Web servers in a single package. The two versions can now coexist on the same machine, working either as separate instances or in conjunction with each other using mod_proxy. It also includes two releases of Apache Tomcat — version 4.1 and the current version 5.0. Support for Tomcat 5.5 will be available soon. Customers can mix and match Apache and Tomcat versions to suit their specific business-critical requirements.

Other features new to ERS 3.0 are:

• Java server functionality in the form of the J2SE environment and the Jakarta Tomcat software module
• Seamless integration with the installed Apache infrastructures through its support of Dynamic Shared Objects
• Full PHP and mod_perl support, as well as support for other development platforms
• Supports RFC 2228 for FTP transmissions over SSL, which means both implicit and explicit SSL connections are now supported when the TC/IP protocol is in use

Covalent ERS 3.0 is installed, configured, and deployed through an easy-to-use Apache GUI. The Installshield X package installer enabled Covalent to design a single installation tool to target all supported platforms. The two-step installer first distributes the binaries and packaging to the target machine; the secondary installer then creates an instance of ERS on the machine in the user’s chosen configuration. The secondary installer can be invoked multiple times to create multiple instances of ERS on the same machine in different configurations.

ERS 3.0 runs on Solaris, Linux, HP-UX, IBM AIX, and Windows. Enterprises have the option of purchasing as a ERS though a commercial license or an annual subscription plan.