DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / MAY 19, 2003: VOL. 2 NO. 20    ( Table of Contents )

Breaking News - Operating Systems & Middleware:

Novell exteNd Application Server 5 Now Shipping

Featuring a robust deployment platform, high-productivity development tools and support for the latest industry standards, the Novell exteNd Application Server 5 is now shipping worldwide to provide organizations with an enterprise-class J2EE and Web services development and deployment platform. This release provides a powerful platform for the Novell exteNd Web application development suite, and for Novell NetWare 6.5 when it ships later this summer. For customers of Novell exteNd and NetWare, the Novell exteNd Application Server 5 can dramatically reduce the costs associated with a separate application server, increasing the value provided by these leading Novell products.

Recently named the "Editor's Choice" for best Web services platform following an in-depth review by Network Computing magazine in the April 3, 2003 issue, the Novell exteNd Application Server was chosen for its seamless IDE integration and enterprise-class feature set -- both of which have been enhanced in Novell exteNd Application Server 5. An additional testament to the strength of Novell's commitment to J2EE technology, this product has been invited to power TheServerSide.com Web site, the industry's leading development community focused on J2EE. The Novell exteNd Application Server 5 will be running on a Linux*-based cluster that includes J2EE compatible application servers from BEA, Oracle and Sun. Following the general availability of NetWare 6.5 this summer, TheServerSide.com will add a NetWare server running the Novell exteNd Application Server 5 to this cluster.

"We only partner with J2EE leaders and Novell has demonstrated its commitment to this community on the strength of its technology," said Floyd Marinescu, director of TheServerSide.com community. "TheServerSide.com is more than just the leading J2EE community, it's also a J2EE application. To demonstrate the promise of J2EE portability, we've invited the leading J2EE vendors to participate in the cluster that runs our site. We're pleased to have Novell's participation with the Novell exteNd Application Server 5 on Linux now, and with NetWare 6.5 later this summer."

The Novell exteNd Application Server 5 provides a complete foundation for deploying applications built with the Novell exteNd Web application development suite. The Novell exteNd suite includes the Novell exteNd Application Server and the following components:

• Novell exteNd Composer: a comprehensive integration server that provides a unified, standards-based solution for mission critical enterprise application integration, business process automation and legacy to Web service enablement.
• Novell exteNd Director: an interaction and portal server that enables IT organizations to rapidly deliver and easily maintain rich, personalized Web applications.

In keeping with Novell's cross-platform strategy, the Novell exteNd suite is specifically tested to support both the IBM WebSphere* and BEA WebLogic* application servers as well as the Novell exteNd Application Server.

The Novell exteNd Application Server also runs on all major operating systems including Linux, Solaris, Windows, HP-UX, and now NetWare. When it ships this summer, NetWare 6.5 will include the Enterprise Edition of the Novell exteNd Application Server 5. NetWare customers will now have a tightly integrated, fully J2EE-compatible application server for deploying Web services-based applications. This includes Novell's industry-leading developer productivity tools to simplify and accelerate the development and deployment of standards- based applications, as well as the Novell exteNd Application Server's proven scalability, clustering, fault tolerance and failover to ensure high availability.

"The addition of the Novell exteNd Application Server makes NetWare an even more valuable piece of our IT infrastructure," said Doug Boval, Systems Engineer, at St. Vincent Hospital, a NetWare 6.5 beta tester. "We can now deploy more of our applications to NetWare and benefit from its rock-solid performance, as well as develop new applications with Novell exteNd included in NetWare 6.5. Moreover, we figure we'll be able to save a substantial amount of money in the long term because we no longer need to license an application server from a separate vendor since the Novell exteNd Application Server comes right along with our NetWare upgrade."