HP centralizes distributed apps
Hewlett-Packard will roll out a new version of the Distributed Computing Environment by the end of the year.
DCE/9000, based on the Open Group's DCE standard, is designed to help large companies create, administer, and use their own distributed software applications by providing an infrastructure that offers security, centralized naming and directories, file sharing, and timing.
New features in Release 1.7 include automatic failover, which saves master databases when a machine crashes in a cluster, a single sign-on feature extended to all enterprise applications, support for the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), and better access control and management through improvements to HP's object-oriented DCE (OODCE) development tool.
"Our goal is to make our large enterprise customers have a robust environment where they can build and deploy their applications that are crucial to running their businesses," said Diane Belknap, HP's Internet services program manager.
HP also said the Securities Industry Automation Corporation (SIAC), which provides technology to the major U.S. stock exchanges, and Helsinki Telephone were customers deploying HP DCE/9000.
Version 1.7 of DCE/9000 will be free to HP customers on support contracts. New customers will pay $3,100 to $15,500 for CDS and security services; $1,800 to $9,000 for directory services; and $995 per user for development tools.