BEA Systems is expected to detail a plan next week to speed its version of Java for servers by letting the software run directly on processors. Java, invented by Sun Microsystems 10 years ago, is sometimes criticised for being slower than native code, and there have been numerous efforts in that time to increase Java's performance.
Sources familiar with the company's plans said BEA will announce at JavaOne that it's working on a version of JRockit—its own JVM implementation—that runs directly on a computer's hardware. In contrast, most JVMs runs on top of an operating system such as Windows, Linux or Solaris.
Likely processors BEA could support include Intel's Xeon, IBM's Power and Sun's SPARC, one source said. At present, JRockit only runs on Intel processors on Windows or Linux.
BEA is one of the leading companies in the market for Java on servers. Its chief competitor is IBM, but open-source efforts such as JBoss also are catching on.
BEA isn't the only one to try to give Java hardware help. Sun was the first, launching but eventually cancelling a Java processor called PicoJava. Next came a chips to speed Java in cell phones—products from companies such as ARM Holdings that made it to market.
Most recently, start-up Azul Systems has begun selling special-purpose servers for as much as $800,000. They're packed with customized chips that provide a centralized pool of processing power for running Java applications; the company emphasizes the flexibility of its approach rather than performance.
BEA also is expected to disclose at the show a strategy that embraces virtualisation, a technology that's been generating large amounts of interest in recent months, with EMC and Microsoft both releasing new virtual machine products.
