WebLogic Inc has rounded off a hectic few days with the announcement of version 3.1 of its flagship Tengah application server. The software has actually been in production since July, but the company has only just got around to announcing it, says VP of marketing Scott Dietzen. Despite its 3.1 moniker he says the new features are major ones, prime among them the Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) 1.0 deployment capability. Dietzen says 12 of WebLogic’s customers will be using Tengah to deploy EJB-base d applications within a month and some 500 companies are already using the software, which is written entirely in Java. Other new features include support for Microsoft Corp’s Component Object Model (COM) – it claims to be the only application server to provide bi-directional support between EJB and COM, clustering support, a zero administration client that can distribute client applications and update them automatically and session management, among other things. The next version of Tengah, code-named Yosemite, will go into beta this month for release before the year-end. The release, which will probably be version 4.0, will include tighter Corba integration so that any EJB can also be accessed through an object request broker, with bindings being automatically generated, the fault tolerance will be stepped up, as will the failover and load balancing technology. WebLogic also formally announced its tie-in with Java database company CloudScape Inc yesterday, although we wrote about it earlier this week (08/31/98). The deal is to integrate CloudScape’s JBMS into applications deployed using Tengah. Dietzen says that in addition to a relational database, having a database to play with completes the circle for potential customers and encourages them to use Tengah. The company’s other major announcement came Tuesday when IBM announced that WebLogic is now the preferred Java application server and Enterprise JavaBean (EJB) technology for its midrange AS/400 platform. Dietzen reckons this will augur well for one of its other partnerships, that with Hewlett-Packard Co. He believes that with IBM building its own application server and Sun Microsystems Inc acquiring NetDynamics Inc for its similar technology, it will put pressure on HP to boost its application server story, which could fall into WebLogic’s lap. Tengah 3.1 starts at $10,000, depending on the volume of applications deployed.
