Sun Microsystems has announced Java Web Services Developer Pack (Java WSDP) version 1.4 along with Sun Java System Application Server 7 Enterprise Edition. The Java WSDP is a "free integrated toolkit that allows Java developers to build and test XML applications, Web services, and Web applications with the latest Web service technologies and standards implementations. With 1.2 million downloads to date, the Java WSDP from Sun is one of the most popular toolkits for accelerating development of secure and interoperable Web services applications."

According to the Sun announcement, Java WSDP 1.4 has been enhanced to support the latest Web services security standards and Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) Basic Profile 1.1 with Attachments Profile 1.0. It also provides support for a full implementation of the OASIS Web Services Security (WSS) specification, providing message level security for SOAP. This technology helps allow developers to build reliable Web services, including XML digital signature (JSR 105), XML message encryption and authentication for Web services applications. The Java WSDP 1.4 will support a broader set of Web containers, allowing choice and flexibility for developers. In addition to Apache Tomcat, developers will be able to deploy to the Sun Java System Application Server and the Sun Java System Web Server." The toolkit is scheduled for general availability in June 2004, downloadable from the Sun Developer Network web site.

Sun also announced the immediate availability the new Sun Java System Application Server 7 which features greater enterprise Java technology-based Web services performance, with scalability reaching over 100 linear CPUs and new technology that supports five-nines (99.999%) availability. Java System Application Server 7 EE provides a high performance, scalable and robust enterprise Java platform for delivering enterprise-class application services and Web services. The Application Server offers an economically compelling platform for deploying mission-critical applications that require extremely high availability and massive scalability. New features of the Java System Application Server 7 EE include a reference architecture that provides best practice recommendations for high availability; support for multiple platforms, including the Solaris Operating System, Linux, Red Hat, HP-UX 11i and Windows, and full enterprise Java platform application failover with added Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs) specification support and Remote Method Invocation over Internet Inter-Orb Protocol (RMI/IIOP) failover."

From the Sun Announcement 2004-05-27

Sun Microsystems, Inc., the inventor and leading advocate of the Java technology platform, today announced the newest version of the Java Web Services Developer Pack (Java WSDP) version 1.4. The new Java WSDP helps enable developers to more rapidly build and deploy secure and interoperable Web services. In addition, the company released a new edition of the Sun Java System Application Server 7 — Enterprise Edition. With its new reference architecture, which scales to over 100 CPUs, and "five nines (99.999%)" availability, the Sun Java System Application Server 7 helps reduce deployment costs without compromising standards of quality, reliability or performance.

"Executives within today's enterprise organizations see Web services as a major driving force behind the next wave of application integration and business-to-business transactions," said Mark Bauhaus, vice president, Java Web Services, Sun Microsystems. "Sun is delivering solutions that make it possible to implement reliable Web services architectures more quickly by reducing complexity, resulting in significant cost savings."

Today Sun also announced that the new Sun Java System Application Server 7 EE is available now and features greater enterprise Java technology-based Web services performance, with scalability reaching over 100 linear CPUs and new technology that supports "five nines" availability. The Java System Application Server 7 offers wider Web server support, including the award-winning Sun Java System Web Server, Apache Tomcat and Microsoft IIS, along with broader database interoperability, supporting Oracle, IBM, Sybase, PointBase and Microsoft SQL Server.

Java System Application Server 7 EE provides a high performance, scalable and robust enterprise Java platform for delivering enterprise-class application services and Web services. The Application Server offers an economically compelling platform for deploying mission-critical applications that require extremely high availability and massive scalability. New features of the Java System Application Server 7 EE include a reference architecture that provides best practice recommendations for high availability; support for multiple platforms, including the Solaris Operating System, Linux, Red Hat, HP-UX 11i and Windows, and full enterprise Java platform application failover with added Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs) specification support and Remote Method Invocation over Internet Inter-Orb Protocol (RMI/IIOP) failover.

The Sun Java System Application Server is a fundamental component of the Sun Java Enterprise System. The Java Enterprise System provides an integrated and open standards based software system that delivers a core set of industry-leading shared enterprise network services to help meet every business need.

About the Java Enterprise System

The Java Enterprise System delivers the following enterprise network services:

• Network Identity Services: Network Identity services improve security and protection of key corporate information assets by ensuring that appropriate access control policies are enforced across all communities, applications, and services on a global basis. These services work with a repository for storing and managing identity profiles, access privileges, and application and network resource information.

• Web and Application Services: Web and Application services are essential in enabling IT organizations to develop, deploy, and manage applications for a broad range of servers, clients, and devices. Based on J2EE technology, these services maximize application reuse and developer collaboration. Fast and reliable Web content delivery is an essential competency for virtually all companies today, while security and availability are the hallmarks of the Web content services, enabling organizations to deliver content to end users at high trust and service levels.

• Portal Services: Portal services provide anytime, anywhere access capabilities to user communities, delivering personalization, aggregation, security, integration, mobile access, and search. Portal services enable mobile employees, telecommuters, knowledge workers, business partners, suppliers, and customers to securely access their personalized corporate portal from anywhere outside the corporate network through the Internet or extranet. These services also extend portal services to hundreds of mobile devices and disconnected applications.

• Communication and Collaboration Services: Communication and collaboration services enable the secure interchange of information among diverse user communities, thereby accelerating enterprise decision-making and taking productivity to the next level. Specific capabilities include messaging, real-time collaboration, calendaring, and scheduling in the context of the user's business environment. Users can communicate and collaborate across a broad range of services to increase productivity as well as employer, partner, and customer satisfaction. IT organizations benefit by consolidating heterogeneous communications infrastructures for reduced complexity and cost.

• Availability Services: Availability services deliver a unique approach to application service level management, enabling the predictability and resilience that businesses expect from their application infrastructure. Availability services also provide the patented "Always-On" technology for application and Web services, delivering extremely high quality service and massive scalability. With the Always-On technology, application session state data is synchronously replicated delivering near-continuous availability for application session state data — without the management and hardware requirements of a traditional relational database.

• Security Services: The Java Enterprise System's Security services span the entire System to deliver the peace of mind business today demands. Security services provide consistent single sign-on to online resources. They protect content using the latest security standards and resilient authentication and access control options. With the System's Security services, customers can securely extend their enterprise portal to their remote and mobile employees or business partners — without the additional cost of administration and maintenance found in a traditional virtual private network (VPN) solution... [from the Data Sheet]