SpringSource revamps Java app server

SpringSource, the Java middleware developer acquired by VMware last August, has released an update for its Apache Tomcat-based TC Server application server, promising to make it easier for Java application developers to work together with managers deploying those applications in operations.

SpringSource TC Server Spring Edition, released on Wednesday, adds tools designed to give a consistent view into application performance for both developers and operations managers, SpringSource said.

On the developer side, the new software adds tools for analysing application code and finding underperforming areas, while on the operations side there is a new dashboard for analysing performance, as well as other features designed to help find and fix performance problems.

Spring Edition allows a manager to define conditions that trigger alerts, such as application response times falling below certain thresholds. A string of alerts can be made to trigger an automatic control action, SpringSource said.

Other new features include a template-driven system for rapidly deploying multiple application server instances on a single physical machine, which can be important for improving responsiveness, SpringSource said.

Apache Tomcat is an open source container for deploying Java servlets, a Java class used to add dynamic content to a web server. The servlet is responsible for receiving end-user requests and generating responses, meaning its performance is key in ensuring a responsive user experience — for instance, in an online hotel bookings system, a servlet could be used to generate the HTML that is seen by the user.

SpringSource said that, while its TC Server adds enterprise-level tools on top of Tomcat, the server maintains the "streamlined" quality of the Apache project.

VMware paid $420m (£277m) for SpringSource last August, saying the acquisition would help strengthen its cloud infrastructure offerings. In the cloud infrastructure market, VMware competes with companies such as Oracle, Microsoft and Red Hat.

SpringSource's Spring Framework supports half of all enterprise Java projects, and supplies more than 95 percent of the Apache Tomcat bug fixes, according to VMware.