More Jini News From the San Jose Mercury News ..........
Posted at 9:51 p.m. PDT Tuesday, July 14, 1998
New Sun technology to extend PC power
BY MIGUEL HELFT
Mercury News Staff Writer
Computer networks could soon become as easy to use as telephones, thanks to a new technology that aims to fundamentally alter the way
computers interact with each other. Sun Microsystems Inc. of Palo Alto is getting ready to unveil a new software technology called Jini (pronounced "genie") that would allow any computing device to connect to a network as easily as a phone plugs into the wall. If successful, the technology could boost the fledgling market for connected consumer products, from cell phones and digital assistants to home appliances. It could also open up the traditional computer market in ways yet unknown. In principle, the technology would alter the way networks currently operate. Now, a few powerful computers act as the traffic cops that channel data and files between smaller computers, printers and other peripherals. With the new technology, computing power would become more distributed among devices connected to a network, making them able to share each other's resources. "We don't really know exactly where we are going, but we understand that significant technologies like this one don't come along very often," said Billy Moon, director of new concepts at wireless phone maker Ericsson, one of the approximately 30 companies that have tested Sun's technology. "I see this is as a majorly significant technical event." "This is outstanding stuff," said Paul Borrill, vice president and chief
architect for disk-drive maker Quantum Corp. "We intend to go into
full commercialization with it." The technology, which is based on Sun's Java programming language, would essentially let appliances plug into a computer network as simply as a tape deck and a CD player plug into a receiver. Once connected, the device would announce itself and tell the network what it is able to. A printer, for instance, would identify itself and give some details about its capabilities, such as its color quality, resolution and speed. After that, any device already on the network could use the printer. Currently, connecting a printer into a computer is much more cumbersome, requiring a lengthy installation and rebooting of computers. Jini is the fruit of a research-and-development project quietly headed by Sun co-founder Bill Joy over the past four years. Sun says that in the future, Jini will turn devices connected onto a network into peers providing services to each other. A disk-drive maker, for example, could create drives that can plug into a network and act as a storage service for anyone on that network. That is precisely what Quantum plans to do, Borrill said, adding that Jini could open new business opportunities for companies like his. Disk-drive makers, which currently sell most of their products to computer makers who insert them into their machines, could now have their brand visible on the stand-alone disk. They could also offer valuable services in addition to their products, which have become commodities. For instance, Borrill said, Quantum could sell a Jini-enabled drive along with a similarly enabled backup tape drive and the Java software to create automatic backups on tape. Mike Clary, project director for Jini, and one of a handful of scientists working with Joy at Sun's facility in Aspen, Colo., said even computing power could become a service, as computers on a network could effectively rent their brains to other devices. "It's spontaneous networking,'' Clary said. A device such as a cell phone could connect to a network and introduce itself, saying whether it has a color screen, a black-and-white screen or no screen at all. Based on that description, a service provider could decide what functions are appropriate for that cell phone and deliver them. Even a video camera could be easily plugged into a Jini network. The images captured by the camera could be processed by various service providers along the network: A surveillance computer would automatically process the images, a printer could selectively print them and a storage device could archive them. Internal bulletin board Sun's Jini performs its magic through a "lookup service," a piece of the Jini architecture that acts as an electronic bulletin board keeping track of all the devices available on the network. It is Java's ability to run on different types of computers that lets Jini-enabled devices send their
own software code to the lookup service and receive instructions from
others on the network. Others have tried different, more general approaches to simplify networking but have not been entirely successful. "You can't get there by taking what we have and making it easier," said Greg Papadopoulos, Sun's chief technology officer.
Analysts said Sun was able to address what is essentially a very
complex problem by focusing on one small part. Jini works on top of
existing networking software and protocols and only aims to simplify
connections and interactions between devices. It doesn't address the
more complex underlying technology that allows data to go from one
place to another. Sun still faces some major challenges. Testing of the technology isn't complete, and its success, as with most networking technologies, will be directly tied to its acceptance in the market. "As a technology, it is very significant," said Eric Schmidt, president and chief executive of networking software maker Novell Inc. As Sun's former chief technology officer, Schmidt had a hand in Jini's genesis. "The real problem it has is that it is not from Microsoft." Schmidt said that anyone trying to create a new software architecture needs a good strategy to outmaneuver the software giant. Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a San Jose technology consulting firm, agreed, saying that for the "fascinating technology" to succeed, it has to have "serious" industry adoption. Sun hopes that its business plans for Jini will help it spread quickly. The company plans to offer a free license for the Jini code, much like Netscape Communications Corp. has made its Internet browser code free. The company hopes that many companies will adopt the free technology and make it nearly ubiquitous. Clary said Sun may charge for a trademark that would indicate a device is Jini-enabled, but he said details of the technology's commercialization have not yet been finalized. Besides any revenues it may get from the trademark, Sun said it will reap its benefits by delivering the computing, storage and other network services that will be in high demand if Jini takes off. "We want to be a technology supplier for the consumer and embedded world," said Papadopoulos. The technology is already in what is known as beta, an industry term describing working technology that is being tested for bugs. On Monday, Sun expects to post details of Jini on its Web site. The company intends to incorporate some of the feedback it gets from software developers and industry leaders into its first full release of Jini, which it expects by the end of the year. But several companies, including Quantum, Ericsson, Canon, Epson, Toshiba and Mitsubishi are already working with Jini. "This is not going to happen overnight," Quantum's Borrill said. "But it is the beginning of a seed for a new paradigm shift." Borrill said he expects the first Jini-enabled products to be available late in 1999. "I think you will see a lot of companies investing in it now, but the marketplace will start flowering around the year 2000." |
