Sun’s one-Web vision

Imagine a world where you can dial up your house to start the hot tub after a lengthy workout, or preheat the oven on your way home from work. Imagine one where you insert your smart card into a vending machine to get a soft drink. The vending machine gets your name and favorite airline from the card, and adds you to its database with a note that says you get frequent-flier miles for your purchase. Later that night, the airline company dials up the vending machine and gets back a list of names and the frequent-flier miles they are owed. A display on the vending machine advertises the frequent-flier mileage special this week. Next week, it may be advertising a merchandising tie-in with a popular movie.

Imagine a world where you “dial in” to work from home, from a laptop at the airport, or even from your office. In this world, you connect to a single network, no matter where you are. The company does not have to invest in an internal network or special modems. Instead, it utilizes a standard network offered by an ISP or one of the telephone companies (telcos). The security safeguards are such that companies can rely on such standard networks without fear. Meanwhile, the software on your workstation, wherever it is, integrates seamlessly with the network. You have the convenience of a personal workstation, coupled with the flexibility of network computing.

Alan Baratz, president of Sun Microsystems’ Java Software division, pointed out that ISPs and even browser manufacturers are tending to become portals — doorways to the Web where you not only access information stored on the Web, but also utilize applications. Today, the applications center around e-mail, chat rooms, and similar services. Tomorrow, they will extend to calendaring and many other applications that you might currently use at the home or office.

At Sun Microsystems’ Software Strategy Day, Baratz laid out this vision for the future — a world in which everything and anything electrical is connected to the Internet. His major point was that the technology necessary to make it happen already is available.

One of the most important points that Baratz made was that companies like Sun no longer need to be in the business of providing an internal network for their own employees. Instead, they can outsource the network to a Web services provider like AT&T. When employees access the company database over the secure Internet connection, that application could also be outsourced. For example, a database could be provided by Oracle and run on a server at Oracle headquarters, again accessed over the Internet.

With outsourcing, companies don’t need to invest in internal networks, proprietary modems, or large servers. They can do so when the cost/benefit analysis favors it, or they can take advantage of the investment other companies have made, along with the expertise they have developed.

Baratz pointed out that the technology necessary to create that reality is in place today. The secure Web-connection protocol, http/s, plays an important role in this vision. The http/s protocol encrypts the transmissions between a client and server, which lets the Web replace the internal network. Meanwhile, the XML standard allows for information exchange between applications. And the applications themselves can use Java technology — a platform-independent, network-enabled, secure, and scalable technology that allows devices of any size, from a smart card to a supercomputer, running virtually any operating system, to interact over the network in an inherently secure manner.

According to Jonathan Schwartz, Director of Enterprise Products at Sun, any device that has an electrical plug is a candidate for connecting to the Web. But the candidate list is even larger than that. Given cellular phone technology, any device that has a power supply is a candidate. That includes cars, trucks, planes, cellular phones, wrist watches, flashlights, mini-robots, and kids’ toys. Nearly anything that runs on electrical power could conceivably interact with the network, be operated remotely, or provide a service to a remote client.

In that new world, Sun aims to be a technology supplier. It is for that reason that Sun acquired Net Dynamics, which provides the software that companies need to develop their own “portals” on the Web. In addition, Sun announced a Linux version of JDK 1.2. Linux, a freely-available verison of Unix that is frequently used on low-end servers, is poised to become a major player in the world of ubiquitous servers that the Web is evolving into. (See the section on embedded servers below for more information.) And Sun plans to be part of that movement.

These visions reflect a future of totally integrated connectivity — a future where the network is the computer, and the web is the network. One world, one network. One heck of an opportunity. As Sun prepares itself to provide the tecnology that enables the Web, it might not even matter if Microsoft grabs the desktop — Sun has its sights on the rest of the world!

What about HP?

One potential distraction that may stand in the way of enabling that vision is HP’s recent move to create a consortium to develop a real-time alternative to standard Java. If history has taught us anything at all, it has taught us that the key technolgy is standards.

Alternative implementations that adhere to a common standard are good. Alternative standards are divisive. If all hot tubs have standard network connections, and they respond to standard addressing and commands, then I can buy my hot tub from one vendor, my network from a second, and my device-control program from a third. I can mix and match the best value to produce the network of my dreams. But, if there are no standards, I may have a long wait before it ever comes together at all, with limited choices when it does. At the moment, no hot tub company makes a controller I can access from my cell phone. Without standards, it is likely to be a very long time before one does.

Whether the HP move contributes to the evolution of the network or detracts from it remains to be seen. It seems clear, though, that the outlook can only improve if Sun and HP are on the same page.

Embedded servers

To help make the vision a reality, Sun plans to focus on embedded server technology. In the old days, a server was a big, massive computer used by many small clients. A client ran a small program that derived most of its functionality from the server. A server could handle many clients running the same application, or it might might have multiple clients running different applications. In those days, the server sat around with nothing to do until the client called up and initiated a session. The server then satisfied the client’s request, and sat around waiting for another request from that client or from another client.

Nowadays, though, that role is changing. Consider the vending machine. If it sits there collecting information until the soft drink company calls up to get it, the vending machine starts looking more like a server than a client (and I mean an information server, not a drink server). If it sits around waiting for information requests from the airline company, as well, the vending machine is definitely starting to look like a server.

But since the vending machine’s server software is running in a device that (typically) does not have a display, it is called an embedded server. Such a system is called an embedded system. In contrast, a device with a minimal display that is not a computer is a personal system in Sun parlance, while a home computer or office workstation is a desktop system.

Now that JDK is essentially complete (one wonders what there is left that Sun could possibly add after JDK 1.2, which will ship later this month), Sun plans to pour major resources into the development of technologies that enable the development of embedded servers. Sun expects that its investment in embedded server technology, coupled with its acquisition of Network Dynamics for portal-development technology, will position it as a major technology supplier in the years to come.

HotJava browser

In addition to investing in embedded server technology, Sun also will be rededicating itself (according to Schwartz) to the development of its browser product, HotJava. The reason is not hard to see. Netscape, Microsoft, and the major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are positioning themselves more and more as portals — places where an individual can access e-mail and other applications, as well as Internet content.

But that trend produces a need for a portal-independent browser that a company can use as part of its own portal. For example, when General Motors creates a portal for its employees and salespeople to use, it needs a browser that can view XML-based content and launch applications — one which is not tied to any other portal. Hence the renewed interest in developing HotJava into a serious, XML-based browser.

Developer support

Sun explicitly aims at being a technology supplier, not a portal provider or network provider. An important piece of that puzzle is developer support. According to Baratz, Sun recognizes that Microsoft has set the standard for developer support, and has established its goals accordingly. In his words, Sun intends to become “as good as or better than Microsoft” at developer and ISV (independent software vendor) support.

Gary Hornbuckle, the Director of Developer Programs at Sun, announced some important initiatives in this regard. One was a range of CD-based subscription services reminiscient of Microsoft’s developer CDs. The subscription services range from 95 a year for quarterly CDs suitable for a solo developer, up to ,995 a year for developers of Web-based enterprise applications. Higher-level custom programs also are available to help companies market their applications.

Hornbuckle also announced “one-stop shopping” for developers of Java programs under Solaris. Instead of interacting with two different organizations in an attempt to isolate the cause of a problem, developers will have a single contact in a single organization that is responsible for identifying and solving the problem, whereever it may be.

Summary

In an effort to be the major technology supplier behind the one-Web world, Sun plans to focus its efforts on embedded server technology, a portal-independent browser, and developer support. Their Net Dynamics acquisition and announcement of a JDK port to Linux are part of that effort. It is clear that their vision is realistic and obtainable. If they have as much success achieving these goals as they have had with the Java platform, then the outlook is good. If HP and Sun can find areas of commonality, success should come that much sooner. If not, the day may be delayed. The world Sun envisions is inevitable. The only question is, who will spearhead the effort?