hertenberger.co.za

With an increasing reliance on Java code, SAP has started facing quite a number of challenges: support issues related to different Java Virtual Machines and the necessity to provide specific parameterization for performance on different operating systems. Sun’s JVM is slightly different to that of IBM, for example. Each includes the Java-compliant code, but is optimized to perform best in certain environment. To counter this, SAP is launching its own JVM to supplant its reliance on the J2EE engine.

Java Enterprise Edition 5.5 is the first available release. The primary issue with Java in an enterprise environment is the fact that the standard JVM provides no isolation. All applications run in the same space, resulting in an overall failure if a single application misbehaves. SAP’s JVM has been designed to ensure that unused processes are isolated from those running applications. Furthermore, applications are combined in smaller virtual machines to ensure that there is far less impact in the case of a failure. SAP’s name for this initiative is as scary as Microsoft’s “Always On” – they’ve named it “Always On Java“.

Now that SAP owns the application, the RDBMS and a JVM, can the branding of an operating system be far behind?