JBoss, Inc., has announced an agreement with Sun Microsystems, Inc. aimed at certifying Sun enterprise-class servers with the JBoss Application Server (AS). Sun becomes a Premier level partner in the JBoss Certified Solution Partner Program, which is focused on optimizing third-party technologies on the JBoss platform to offer enterprise customers certified solutions that will jumpstart application development and deployment.

The company also announced that the solution certification of the JBoss AS is now available on standards-based HP ProLiant and HP Integrity servers. As part of JBoss’ alliance with HP, the JBoss AS is supported worldwide by HP as a core component of HP’s Linux Reference Architectures (LRA).

Sun Agreement
Within its engineering labs, JBoss has tested and certified specific configurations of Sun’s SPARC, x86 and x64 systems running Solaris 10 with the JBoss Application Server, the market-leading open source Java EE application server. As a JBoss partner, Sun will have access to engineering resources supporting solution certification, as well as the JBoss selfcertification tool kit used to evaluate the environment, implementation, performance and integration of Sun enterprise-class servers running with JBoss.

“Sun and JBoss share a common purpose of working together to deliver certified solutions that have been rigorously tested for performance and interoperability and essentially take out the guess work for the end customer,” said Tom Cooper, vice president of worldwide channels, JBoss, Inc. “Through partnerships such as this, JBoss is committed to ensuring that enterprises have the widest range of complementary technologies available to support their JBoss-based applications.”

“Working with open source vendors to ensure that applications are certified for the Solaris 10 OS is a key priority,” said Stephen Borcich, vice president of Partner Marketing for Sun Microsystems, Inc. “This agreement with JBoss to support Sun's newest technologies will allow customers to choose from Sun’s SPARC®, x86 and x64 systems running the most advanced operating system on the planet, Solaris 10 and maximizing their deployment options.”

In addition to Sun becoming a Premier level partner in the JBoss Certified Partner Program, JBoss also joins Sun’s iForceSM initiative, a program that brings together under one umbrella Sun systems, software, services and best-in-class partners. JBoss will partner with Sun to create and deliver customer-driven solutions that enable customers to improve business processes.

HP Agreement
“HP has been a strong proponent of open source, as evidenced by their Linux Reference Architectures and its worldwide open source and Linux consulting and integration services. This newest development in our alliance will only benefit our mutual enterprise customers,” Cooper said.“Solution certification will make it easier than ever for enterprises to develop powerful business applications on JBoss and deploy them seamlessly on HP servers. JBoss is working continuously to ensure that JBoss customers are supported by a wide ecosystem of third-party technologies.”

Specific configurations of HP ProLiant and HP Integrity servers were tested and certified with the JBoss AS, the market-leading open source J2EE application server. HP had direct access to JBoss engineering resources supporting solution certification, as well as the Jboss self-certification toolkit used to evaluate the environment, implementation, performance and integration of HP servers running with JBoss.

“The demand for open source technologies continues to accelerate, and customers are increasingly turning to HP for our expertise in integrated solutions and the value and choice we provide,” said Efrain Rovira, director of marketing, Open Source and Linux Organization, HP. “Customers are already deploying open source software such as JBoss AS on HP industry-standard platforms; completing this next level of certification with Jboss provides added confidence to customers that our technologies have been tested and optimized to work together.”