BEA Upgrades Application Server with SOA, Web 2.0 Capabilities

BEA Systems will fit its Weblogic Server Java application server with
improvements geared to Web 2.0, SOA and interoperability with
Microsoft's .Net platform, the company said at the BEAWorld San
Francisco conference on Wednesday. WebLogic Server 10.3 also features
a new modular approach in which users can selectively download only
components they want. The upgrade will be offered as a technology
preview this fall with general availability set for next year. The
application server's Web 2.0 capabilities are enabled through enhanced
support for AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). Specifically, a
publish-and-subscribe engine within WebLogic Server will provide live
updates to AJAX and Flex clients. In the SOA realm, WebLogic Server
10.3 backs SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) and improvements
to the Java API for XML Web Services. Blake Connell, Director of
Product Marketing for WebLogic Server: "The big point in SOA is
support for SAML 2.0, which provides Web single sign-on. SAML enables
people to sign on securely with a Web client and then have access to
other systems without having to keep re-logging in. Java API for XML
Web Services, meanwhile, is the specification used for writing Web
services capabilities on top of the application server. To accommodate
.Net applications, WebLogic Server 10.3 will feature a JMS (Java
Message Service) C# client. With this component, users who have
deployed .Net systems but want to standardize on JMS as a messaging
backbone can do that. Leveraging BEA's microServices Architecture,
version 10.3 allows for componentizing of WebLogic Server. For example,
users could leave out the Java development kit or Enterprise JavaBeans
and JMS capabilities if they do not need these."