Oracle Ships Upgraded Java Virtualization Tools for WebLogic

Oracle on April 19 released its first new Java-related virtualization products since closing the acquisition of Sun Microsystems back on Jan. 27.

The Redwood City, Calif.-based IT systems provider started shipping Oracle Virtual Assembly Builder and Oracle WebLogic Suite Virtualization Option. Both are expected to become mainstays of Oracle's new Sun software catalog, which is undergoing a number of revisions to optimize what Oracle already has on its shelves.

Virtual Assembly Builder is a tool kit designed to enable faster deployment of multitier Java enterprise applications in virtualized environments.

Java development can use all the configuration and provisioning shortcuts it can get, so this may well prove to be a popular item.

The VAB also enables the connection and deployment of various types of existing appliances, sometimes called assemblies, which then can be used to create multitier applications. For example, these appliances can be dedicated to handle such duties as disaster recovery, compliance and security.

The new WebLogic Suite Virtualization Option combines the company's standard WebLogic Server with JRockit Virtual Edition and optimizes the package for virtualized environments.

Oracle claims this combination is able to deliver improved application speed and better hardware utilization, but since each IT system has different power, performance and service-level requirements, performances indeed will vary.

In a development that also figures to be welcomed by many IT administrators, Oracle revealed that because JRockit Virtual Edition is in the package, WebLogic Server can now run directly on an Oracle virtual machine without a conventional Linux or Unix operating system.

"While WebLogic has been utilized by customers on the Oracle VM for quite a while, these new tools do a couple of things that weren't available before," Steve Harris, Oracle senior vice president of product development, told eWEEK.

"One is that they bring optimization in the form of 'application awareness' to the picture, so that developers have more opportnities build a set of appliances as needed in their systems.

"Second is that the process becomes more transparent, in that the metadata the application server produces and is embedded in the image is exposed and can be used for efficiency purposes," Harris said.

Oracle VM, the only x86 server virtualization certified for all Oracle software, is available as a free download here.