FAQs

The Sun ONE name on our products simplifies and solidifies the group of products that comprise the Sun ONE platform and better demonstrates Sun's commitment to Sun ONE and Services on Demand. This move also assures even stronger interoperability with all of the products under a single marketing development strategic vision.

Sun is not a "hardware company" nor is it a "software company". Sun is a "systems company." As such, we are very serious about software and here's proof:

• Three software executives report to our CEO.
• We've just created a brand-new, unified software organization under Jonathan Schwartz.
• We've sedimented core technology into the Solaris 9 Operating System (Sun ONE Application Server + Sun ONE Directory Server + SunScreen Firewall + Solar is Containers) that delivers a comprehensive software services platform that's tuned, tested, and integrated into the world's most popular UNIX® platform.
  
  For our customers, the payoffs of this are:
  • Savings in acquisition costs
  • Reduction in time and resources dedicated to integrating applications
  • Ease of management

The Sun ONE platform runs on the Solaris, Linux, and Windows Operating Environments. In addition, some components of the Sun ONE platform also support AIX, HP-UX, and other operating systems. Refer to product pages on Sun.com for additional information about platform support.

Sun Open Net Environment (Sun ONE) is Sun's software strategy. Sun ONE is the vision, architecture, platform, and expertise to build and deploy Services on Demand.

• Vision: Services on Demand: pulls legacy and Web applications, and emerging Web services together into a cohesive strategy to deliver services to your important communities (anyone), any time, anywhere, on any device
• Architecture: open, standards-based, interoperable, based on Java technology and XML
• Platform: integrated and integratable, based on the SolarisTM Operating Environment, Sun ONE Middleware (formerly iPlanet), and Sun ONE Studio (formerly Forte Tools)
• Expertise: Sun Services, Sun Partner solutions and services, Sun Partner Community, SunTone program

For our customers, integratable means that the Sun ONE family of products adhere to open standards. As such, our products are integratable with products from other vendors that may already be present at the customer site. For our customers, integratable means that a Sun ONE solution will "work with what you already have" rather than require you to "rip and replace." In addition, the integratability of the Sun ONE platform preserves our customers' freedom of choice of vendors and products both now and in the future.

For our customers, integrated means that the products in the Sun ONE product family are designed and engineered to work together. The integrated Sun ONE platform of products reduces complexity by combining appropriate software products into an integrated, coordinated offering that enables Services on Demand.

Services on Demand encompass not just simple Web services but also Web applications which can be rapidly developed and deployed to provide information, data and applications to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere on Any device.

A Web service is any executable code (program) that can be discovered, described, and invoked using XML-based messages via Internet-based protocols.

Today, the leading XML-based standards are UDDI for discovery, WSDL for description, as well as SOAP and ebXML for XML message handling and service invocation. ebXML is considered "Web services for business" because of its ability to define transactions and business processes in XML, as well as define a business registry. ebXML provides SOAP and UDDI type capabilities that are robust enough for B2B commerce.

The most common Internet-based protocol for Web services is HTTP.

Web services standards, unlike CORBA and COM/DCOM, are Internet friendly, extremely flexible and extensible, and completely platform and vendor neutral. Additionally, their discoverability and self-describing capabilities make them far more dynamic than any other programming (object) model.

The Sun ONE platform fully supports Web services. By "Web service enabling" existing environments, Sun ONE provides a complete, easy, and open way of creating, managing, deploying, and consuming Web services.

Web services are considered "loosely coupled" because they are extremely abstract, unlike their predecessors CORBA and COM/DCOM. The user need not know much about a Web service in order to use one. This is because a Web service will describe itself telling you how to use it, where to find it, etc. Even more remarkable, the architecture of a Web service hides the "plumbing" of the service, including the language it is written in, the platform it runs on, the type of network, O/S, and hardware it runs on, etc.

In contrast, a "tightly coupled" interface requires a tremendous amount of prior knowledge about a service in order to use it. This is because it is tightly tied to a particular platform, O/S, or language.

The advantage of a "loosely coupled" approach is flexibility and convenience. You can change every single piece of the plumbing (O/S, platform, language, and hardware) without the consumer of the service knowing or caring. You can even add capabilities. This is because the interface never changes and therefore applications and services calling the service do not have to change either. A consumer of the services need only access the capabilities that apply to her, thus reducing the need to "upgrade" to features she does not need.

SOAP Builders is a loosely organized forum of SOAP vendors working towards a testbed for interoperability between SOAP implementations. This forum started as a Yahoogroup in late January 2001 and has over 1000 individuals subscribed to it. Most major SOAP vendors -- including Sun, BEA, Oracle, Microsoft, Axis and Systinet -- are member companies participating in this forum. SOAP Builders is not formally organized and does not have a board or different tiers of voting members. Rather, the effort has a grass-roots approach to advancing interoperability among the different vendors' implementations. SOAP Builders is driven by quarterly face-to-face meetings where interoperability is tested in a "bake off" setting.

Sun has been an active participating member in the SOAP Builders community since June 2002. Sun has published a SOAP service endpoint based upon the test specifications proposed in the previous 4 rounds and has also written clients that interoperate with the published endpoints from the other vendors. Our Java Web Services technologies have been tested and are interoperable with the other vendors. Sun also owned and proposed a test specification recently for one of the features in SOAP implementation. For more information on SOAP Builders and Sun's service endpoint, please see: http://java.sun.com/wsinterop/sb/.

The Sun ONE platform fully supports Web services standards. We will continue to support these and other Web services standards as they evolve and mature. Some of the key products and technologies that have or will have support for these standards are:

Sun Products:

• Sun ONE Application Server (all versions): XML, SOAP, WSDL
• Sun ONE Application Server 7: Java Web Services Developer Pack (v7 only)
• Sun ONE Identity Server: Liberty, SAML, XML, SOAP
• Sun ONE Integration Server: XML, SOAP, WSDL
• Sun ONE Directory Server: DSML, UDDI, XML
• Sun ONE Portal Server: WSDL
• Sun ONE Studio: XML, SOAP, WSDL, UDDI

Sun JSRs:

• SOAP with Attachments API for Java (SAAJ): SOAP 1.1 with Attachments
• Java API for XML-based RPC (JAX-RPC): WSDL, SOAP
• Java API for XML Registries (JAXR): UDDI, ebXML Registry/Repository
• Java API for XML Messaging (JAXM): ebXML Message Handling Service

Other JSRs:

• Java APIs for WSDL, (JSR 110): WSDL
• ebXML CPP/A APIs for Java (JSR 157): ebXML CPP/A

The Liberty Alliance is a multi-industry business alliance initiated by Sun and other companies to develop standards for Network Identity. The mission of the Liberty Alliance Project is to establish an open standard for federated network identity through open technical specifications. The first version of the specification was launched on July 15, 2002. Sun has expressed a commitment to deliver products with Liberty support that are best of class beginning with the Sun ONE Identity Server 6 due to FCS in Q4 of 2002.

For a technical introduction to the Liberty Alliance Specification, please see http://research.sun.com/techrep/2002/abstract-113.html.

For more information on Network Identity, please see www.sun.com/software/sunone/identity.

The opportunities provided by the Web also come with increased risks and vulnerabilities. It is critical to build Web applications and services on top of a secure architecture in order to ensure the availability of your systems and protect the confidentiality and integrity of your data and that of your customers.

Sun ONE is one of the most secure platforms available today. At Sun, security is not an afterthought. It is designed into our products from the beginning. Security is not a feature that should be bolted on to an existing platform, it should be part of the architecture.

Sun has been delivering network security for twenty years. Our products have garnered a reputation for being leaders in security and trust. Our leading security experts are recognized as some of the foremost authorities on security in the world. The research, thought leadership, and expertise of pioneers like Whit Diffie, who invented Public Key Encryption, are reflected in our products.

From back-end servers to consumer devices, Java technology is the choice for building distributed, scalable, cross-platform applications and services. This flexibility and openness make Sun ONE the ideal platform on which to develop and deploy Services on Demand.

Services on Demand are developed and deployed with a wide range of Java technologies - Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), Java Servlet, and JavaServer Pages (JSP). And the Java APIs for XML enable the use of familiar JSP and EJB component technologies with support for WSDL, SOAP, UDDI, and ebXML. For more information, please see java.sun.com/webservices.

With its end-to-end application software architecture, Java technology gives Sun ONE the ability to support a broad range of application services, without limiting the developer to any one platform or single-vendor solution.

Sun announced full support for Sun ONE products running on Linux Intel-based systems at the February 2002 Worldwide Analyst Conference in San Francisco. Sun has supported Linux on some Sun ONE products for a several years including the underlying Java technology and the Sun ONE Studio (formerly Forte for Java) IDE.

Sun ONE Reference Architectures deliver key proof points and complete integration of Sun ONE products into a tested, documented Business Ready Infrastructure architecture. The first step is to review the Sun ONE family of Reference Architectures which provide, at no cost, an architectural overview, implementation guide, and sizing guide for specific product or solution deployments. The customer is provided a higher level of assurance prior to purchase and deployment since the configurations have already been tested in a lab at Sun and system sizing information is readily available. The "Reference Architecture for Sun ONE Application Services" is one particular Reference Architecture that covers the Sun ONE Application Server 6.5.

For more details on the Reference Architectures program, please visit the following URL: www.sun.com/products/architectures-platforms/refarch.

The Solaris Operating Environment is the platform of choice for the Sun ONE Software stack. In particular, the Solaris 9 Operating System offers enhancements that make it deployment-ready for Services on Demand based on the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) platform standard. For more information on the Sun ONE platform, please visit the following URL: www.sun.com/software/sunone/overview/platform/.

There are two key reasons why the Solaris 9 Operating System is the recommended platform for Services on Demand. The Solaris 9 Operating System delivers high service levels at low service level cost, and comes with Services on Demand-enabling components that are built-in to the operating environment. Customers have chosen the Solaris Operating Environment because of its ability to deliver High Service Levels at Low Service Level Cost. Solaris 9 Operating System, is the result of an evolution of features and capabilities that continue to make the Solaris Operating Environment one of the most reliable computing platforms by providing infrastructure to deliver reliability, availability, manageability, security, performance and scalability. This capability is why the Solaris 9 Operating System and its extension, the SunPlex framework is the recommended platform for Services on Demand.

The following have been integrated into the Solaris 9 Operating System:

• Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE)
• Sun ONE Directory Server
• Sun ONE Application Server (J2EE Certified)
• Sun ONE Message Queue
• Apache Web Server

Note: Integrated components imply production licenses which in-turn mean NO COST use of these value-add components.

The following have been bundled into the Solaris 9 Operating System:

• Sun ONE Integration Server
• Sun ONE Web Server
• Sun ONE Portal Server
• Other Sun ONE Advantage Software
• Sun ONE Studio (formerly Forte Tools)
• StarOffice 6 Office Suite - A Sun ONE Software Offering

Note: Bundled components are normally offered for 'Try and Buy' use, which enables customers to test a product before committing to full production use.

For updated information on what is included in the latest release of the Solaris Operating Environment's media kit, please visit the following URL: www.sun.com/software/solaris/binaries/package.html.

The Sun ONE Developer Platform is an integrated development and test platform, including tools and server software, as well as a full range of sample applications, blue prints and developer scenarios tailored for multiple developer roles. The Sun ONE Developer Platform provides an array of tools that map to specific expertise and developer roles such as are found in Java, RAD, Portlet, and Resource Adapter Development. The Sun ONE Developer Platform is intended for enterprises developing proof of concepts as well as ISVs who are building on top of the Sun ONE platform.

Sun ONE provides the platform to solve specific problems businesses face today, while providing customers a smooth path to Web services and Network Identity in the future.

Today, businesses are focused on capitalizing on the proven cost savings and increased productivity offered by the Internet. The Sun ONE platform enables customers to reduce costs and increase revenue while leveraging their investments in existing IT assets.

Developer Productivity: The standard Java APIs allow programmers to

• Do What They Do Best: code in the Java programming language. They do not have to become XML experts because the Java technologies for XML have been implemented to do that for them.
• Be More Productive: by learning one standard Java API that leverages multiple XML technologies. For example, JAXR supports both UDDI and ebXML registries.
• Maintain CHOICE and FREEDOM: by allowing them to use the technology that works best for what they are trying to accomplish. For example JAXP supports both DOM and SAX, DTDs and Schema.

Employee Productivity: Delivering customized enterprise information, applications, and services to your employees through a Web portal streamlines processes and facilitates greater exchange of information and communication between workgroups. It also enables remote employees to stay connected with the rest of the company. This streamlining of processes and empowering remote employees can dramatically reduce costs and increase productivity, a real business benefit reflected directly on the bottom line.

An example of improving employee productivity and reducing costs is moving typical HR functions on to the Net. Employees can look up their benefits eligibility, sign up for new benefits plans, control their retirement savings plans, and find answers to frequently asked HR questions online. This reduces the need for live HR reps to answer questions on the phone or in person, while employees can access a customized view of the information they need any time, any where.

Value Chain: Web portals also enable businesses to drive efficiencies into their supply chain, by enabling them to streamline processes such as purchasing, demand forecasting, materials planning, design collaboration, and more.

An example of improving efficiencies in the supply chain is providing suppliers a customized view of inventory, back-orders, and demand forecast. This enables suppliers to fulfill demand faster and respond dynamically to changing business conditions.

One-To-One Marketing: The Web enables businesses to move closer to their customers and develop a significantly improved one-to-one relationship with each of them. Simply providing information on products and services on the Web can result in drastic cost savings, improved customer satisfaction, and increased revenues. Taking this further by providing customized information and services tailored to each customer can result in increased customer satisfaction, drastically improved customer loyalty, and even further cost savings. Understanding each customer's preferences and buying habits allows businesses to customize their marketing to each customer in an automated manner. It also opens the door to customized delivery of services creating new revenue opportunities.

An example of the Web enabling One-To-One Marketing is a portal that enables customers to purchase goods and services online. Each time the customer returns to the portal, specific products can be recommended to her based on her purchase history, areas of the portal she has browsed, and preferences she might have input earlier.

Moving forward, Web services promote even greater cost reductions for enterprises. The Sun ONE platform fully supports Web services standards today and will continue to offer leading edge solutions around Web services in the future as these standards evolve and mature. Customers can deploy the Sun ONE architecture today with the peace of mind that they will be able to fully leverage this investment when they are ready to build and deploy Web services.

Web services can enable enterprises to streamline their Enterprise Application Integration efforts, while reducing the cost of B2B commerce. XML based protocols make Web services simple, yet flexible, while industry agreement on the standards makes them interoperable across platforms and multiple vendor offerings.

Enterprises can easily expose their legacy applications with Web services, thus enabling disparate systems to integrate quickly and in a loosely coupled manner. This can result in drastically reduced integration costs. The flexible nature of XML also allows IT departments to adapt quickly to changing business needs.

In Business-to-Business (B2B) commerce, Web services promote reduction of the cost of traditional Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) transactions by taking advantage of the public Internet. Lowered costs also enable small-to-medium sized business partners - those traditionally unable to afford EDI - to participate in the supply chain, hence driving further efficiencies into the value chain.

Through our Services division, Sun works to deliver industry-leading services enabling Sun's customers to architect, implement, and manage the most scalable and highly available network computing platforms in the world.

• Sun's strong commitment to continuous learning is what drives it to develop learning solutions to support a wide array of software offerings that make up the Sun ONE platform for Services on Demand. Our learning solutions mazimize the efficiency and effectiveness of the enterprise, the IT organization and the IT professional.
• Sun's consulting experts can help build a flexible, robust, customized Sun ONE architecture designed to meet specific technical and business requirements. We employ proven methodologies, repeatable design patterns, and best practices, speeding delivery while reducing business and technical risk.
• Sun's support team exists to preserve our customers' ability to capitalize on the power of Sun products and technologies.

Please see www.sun.com/service/sunone/ for more detailed information on the services Sun offers.

The Sun ONE Architecture Guide describes the various standards and technologies that comprise the Sun ONE architecture. The guide breaks the architecture into six easy to understand sections such as service container, service integration, and service delivery among others and describes how these parts fit together. The Sun ONE Architecture is the basis for Sun's Sun ONE product implementation.

Although of interest to anyone involved with the creation and implementation of e-business solutions, Web services, and Services on Demand, the Sun ONE architecture Guide is specifically intended for four primary audiences:

• Developers who want the shortest path to Web services and Services on Demand by leveraging the tools and technologies that they already know.
• CTOs, systems architects, systems integrators, and programmers involved in the development of e-business initiatives, all of whom will benefit from a greater understanding of the Sun ONE architecture and its role in the creation and implementation of Services on Demand.
• Technical architects who need to understand how the Sun ONE architecture can help them achieve a technical architecture that supports their organization's needs.
• Independent software vendors (ISVs) who want to leverage the open nature of the Sun ONE architecture by using it as a foundation to build new applications and services or to incorporate major components such as directories or content management systems.

Yes. In conjunction with the Sun ONE Starter Kit, the Sun ONE Architecture Guide will allow IT Architects to evaluate the technology used by the Sun ONE platform. Web service developers will understand the Java programming language API's, Java platforms, and application development tools that are available today and the direction that these will take as the Sun ONE architecture matures. ISVs will understand how to develop products that conform to the Sun ONE architecture leveraging emerging standards.

The Sun ONE Architecture Guide contains comprehensive interface tables with information and pointers to all of the products, APIs, JSRs and other open standards used to define the Sun ONE architecture.

Some of the standards and technology used by the Sun ONE architecture are still evolving. Check the Interface Tables for complete information. Future versions of the Sun ONE architecture and components will align their interfaces with these standards as they are approved. The Sun ONE Architecture Guide provides information on standards, platforms and technology that is available today and provides information and URL pointers to emerging standards and technology.

Go to www.sun.com/sunone/docs/arch/ for your own copy of the Sun ONE Architecture Guide.

The Sun ONE Architecture Guide (book) will be available for $19.95 (includes shipping charges) through the Sun Download Center.

The Architecture Guide is currently available in English. Sun will evaluate possibilities for localization based on demand in various geographies.

The Architecture Guide will be updated and revised as needed and as specifications for new technologies are developed and refined.