I received I/NET's investors package last week, among other things that were included in the package, i found the following quite interesting. Its an interview with Steve Markee and Chuck Bartholomew, which discusses I/NETS technology and explains their agreement with Netscape Corporation to port Netscape's Web server products to the native AS/400 environment. The article is somewhat lengthy, buy well worth the read.
I transferred this article via a OCR, so if some words are misspelled or misplaced you know why, these things arent perfect :)
Enjoy
Steve Markee,
I/NET Corporation
Chuck Bartholomew, I/NET Corporation
The Internet, intranets and E-commerce
One on One:
Internet Vendor Brings
Netscape Web Servers
to the AS/400
Lost October I/NET Corporation revealed it had signed a landmark agreement with Netscape Corporation to port Netscape '5 Web server products to the native AS/400 environment. Since that time, I/NET has said little publicly about the agreement. Now, in an exclusive interview with AS/400 Technology SHOWCASE Editor Lee Kroon, I/NET President and CEO Steve Markee joins with Project Manager Chuck Barth olomew to discuss the company's porting efforts and long-range strategy.
What motivated I/NET to port Netscape Web server technology to the AS/400?
Steve Markee: Just short of a year ago, Netscape approached IBM about getting their [SuiteSpot] server products unto the AS/400. After much discussion and negotiation, IBM pointed them in I/NET's direction, because I/NET had AS/400 skills
and experience in the development and support of Web applications. We began contract negotiations with Netscape and IBM and, as of September 30 of last year, we reached an agreement. Under the agreement, we have the right to port Netscape [SuiteSpot] servers onto the AS/400 and distribution rights for those ported servers for the next three years.
What steps ore involved in importing Netscape's SuiteSpot Web server family to the AS/400?
Chuck Bartholomew: The first thing that happened is that IBM sent a [testing] tool out to Netscape. They ran it against the [SuiteSpot] source code to give us an idea of the compatibility of the C code with the AS/400. That showed us that the port was feasible to do. We then took a trip to Netscape in July, along with the IBM folks, arid looked at as much code as we could take in a day or two to get a feeling of how we would handle the port. The next step
was to make sure that we could get the source code. After some legal negotiations, we got the first source code from Netscape in October.
The first shipment of the source code however, was missing quite a few key pieces. That's because much of the SuiteSpot source code is licensed from third parties. While Netscape has a license to the code, they have to get authorization from the third parties to pass it on to another party like ourselves. Among other things, third-party code provides security, content management, filtering, and many other functions within SuiteSpot. Arid since Netscape uses this code, we will attempt to use it as well,
What other steps are involved in porting Netscape servers to the AS/400?
SM: You actually get into porting and testing each and every component. We're doing that right now with {Netscape's] Enterprise Server As far as the other
servers, we're going to go through the same pieces of work. So say we want to do Directory Server next. If so, [obtaining) Directory Server's third-party components is going to be one of the major work efforts we undertake. Right now, however, we are just concentrating on Enterprise Server.
Let me just add that we have pretty much dropped any [plans to port Netscape's] Fast Track server because we're not really sure It will make a meaningful contribution to the As/400 com-munity Our existing products offer more function than Fast Track. So, If we're going to offer Netscape as a migration path to our existing customers, it has to have more function than Fast Track. Therefore, our first product will be an Enterprise Server-like product as opposed to Fast Track.
You're saying your first product will be "Enterprise Server-Like " Does this mean there will not necessarily be a feature to feature correspondence between Enterprise Server Mr the As/400 and the Enterprise Server that Netscape offers on other platforms?
SM: That's correct. Our current products offer some unique things that Enterprise Server doesn't. We're still deciding whether we'll offer a modified Enter-prise Server or offer an update that is independent of the As/400 Enterprise Server product.
What will be different about Netscape SuiteSpot servers on the AS/400 vs. those on other systems?
CD: One difference is the way we want to Implement server-side Java applications. All Netscape servers currently run Java through the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that Is included with the Netscape servers. However, the As/400 has a native JVM. We'd much rather use the native JVM than the Netscape ported version. IBM has told us that the native JVM Is the way we want to go for performance. However, the Netscape code does not realize there's a native JVM. So we may or may not support the As/400's JVM right
away for server side Java. We're going to have to look at the source and see how we can bend the Netscape code around to use the native SVM.
So your goal is to support the native AS/400 JVM your SuiteSpot ports, and you will achieve that goal ft's just a question Of whether you reach it in the first release of these products or whether you reach it In a later release.
CD: That's right.
That brings up the whole question of dates and time Can you say when you anticipate shipping a beta version of the first SuiteSpot components?
SM: We plan to have a beta version of our first [Enterprise Server] release, with what-ever function we can have in it, early in the second quarter. [We would] then have a period of beta testing after that to get the product Into the marketplace by the end of the second quarter
When could we see other SuiteSpot products besides Enterprise Server ported to the AS/400?
CD: We'll probably port Directory Server next. Certificate Server may be the third product. Alter that, I'm not sure we have any order, but Messaging Server and Collabra Server are likely. The very last [port] would be Calendar Server.
By the end of 1998, how many of the Suitdspot servers do you anticipate will actually be ported to the As/400?
CD: I'm anticipating all of them. That's what we would like to do. However, we will have a better idea of how quickly we can port them as soon as we get Enterprise Server done. Until we get it out and working, It's a little difficult to say, but that's our anticipation.
SM: As we move down these contractual paths with Netscape and the third parties, we'll get better at not only understanding
what porting needs to be done, but also in understanding the legal side. The first third-party code agreements have been slow to come. Hopefully, as people get to know who I/NET is, things should move more smoothly.
How will the SuiteSpot port affect license holders to your current products?
SM: Naturally you would think that since Netscape servers are being ported by I/NET, Its logical to assume the upgrade strategy would be from I/NET server products to Netscape. You would be absolutely correct! I/NET will encourage any AS/400 customer using a version of OS/400 below V4R2 to begin their Internet/intranet programs using Web Server/400 or Commerce Server/400. Although pricing Information has not been finalized, we will provide a migration path for current I/NET customers to upgrade to Netscape on V4R2.
How would you position Netscape on the AS/400 against competitive products, such as Domino for As/400?
SM: Domino brings notes to the browser, and has its roots In collaborative comput-ing. Netscape has focused on minimizing application development and training costs. The open standards used by Netscape provide cross platform support, flexibility, and high performance. In this world, there are Lotus people and there are Netscape people. Offering both products to the AS/400 community will allow cus-tomers to decide for themselves which product fits their needs. We believe this is good for the market, and It is my personal view that IBM shares this belief, as they were Instrumental in assisting with the negotiations to afford I/NET the opportuni-ty to port the Netscape servers.
Lee Kroon is the editor of AS/400 Technology SHOWCASE. He can be reached at kroon@ midrange computing.com. |
