BEA's Next-Generation App Server Ready For Download

WebLogic Server 9.0 was designed to be the foundation of BEA's upcoming WebLogic Platform 9.0, which will include the forthcoming WebLogic Portal, WebLogic Integration and Liquid Data software. The announcement was made the same day Oracle said 10g Release 2 of its application server will become available later this month.

The new application platform provides a number of new capabilities that further BEA's strategy for enabling a services-oriented architecture (SOA). These include the ability to write and deploy Web services, either through a graphical user IDE or via manual annotations. "But our real sweet spot is the orchestration of Web services into new composite applications," said Eric Stahl, senior director of product marketing at BEA. "That's where we think we have the most differentiated offering on the market because it leverages all aspects of our unified platform--with built-in integration, as well as orchestration that lets companies weave Web services into new composite processes. And they can put our portal to work to create a new user interface on the front end."

Server 9.0 also will include a messaging infrastructure that lets developers craft Web services without having to leave the IDE. A new portal-based management console allows companies to assign management tasks on the application server, such as handling security or configuring clusters, to different users. Users and applications can be shifted to the new version without disruption.

WebLogic Server 9.0 will be generally available by midsummer.

In addition to the server beta, BEA also said developers can download BEA's WebLogic JRockit 5.0 Java Development Kit. BEA said it worked with Intel to bring its JVM to Intel-based enterprise deployments.