Jini Connection Technology

Jini technology smashes traditional network barriers by enabling users to simply connect virtually any consumer and enterprise device to the network from anywhere. With emphasis on simplicity, Jini technology removes the traditional compatibility, reliability and administration constraints that in the past have impeded the successful deployment of heterogeneous networks.

Unveiled at Sun's Worldwide Analyst Conference in San Francisco, Jini technology emerged with the backing of more than three dozen major industry partners who are currently integrating the technology into next-generation devices for home and business -- all of which are designed to interact in the network. The community forming around Jini technology signals a broad spectrum of devices to come -- ranging from disk drives to dishwashers -- as vendors across the industry who are adopting the Jini technology source code are now armed with an entirely new means of achieving product innovation and differentiation.

Building Upon the Power of Java Technology

What Java technology does for platform independence, Jini technology does for device interplay. Jini technology presents an unrestricted standard that enables any manner of traditionally and non-traditionally networked devices to "talk" to each other, and as a result perform and share services as never before. Because it is a platform independent, language based technology built upon the Java platform, Jini technology does not require any particular operating system (OS), processor or application environment. It renders previously incompatible systems compatible, thereby allowing users to seamlessly and instantaneously "plug and participate" anything from a personal digital assistant (PDA) to a digital video device (DVD) into a truly open, ubiquitous network. With the instant connectivity that Jini technology enables, users gain an easy new way to interact with the digital world, linking the home to the office to the street through anytime, anywhere, anything access.

Similar to the dial tone representing continuous access to the telephone, Jini technology provides for a seamless Web tone on the network. The technology is a radical departure from OS-controlled networks, as it completely bypasses the need for a bloated, complex OS and instead allows for direct plug-in to the network using intelligent interfaces. Jini technology uses the existing infrastructure of the network, so legacy devices can be sustained and brought forward as the network evolves.

There are four pillars that comprise Jini technology, which combine to make connectivity truly simple:

Instant On: Plug a device into a Jini network, and it just works, instantly. The device maintains itself, and behaves like a "good network citizen."

Special Delivery: All devices connected through Jini technology offer their services to the entire network, thus users can take advantage of any available service on demand.

Impromptu Community: Jini technology empowers users to create their own personal communities of networked devices, which are mobile, can interact quickly and easily with other communities, and do not require system administration.

Resilience: Jini technology is fundamentally a distributed system, not dependent on any central server. If a single device should fail, there is no effect on other devices. As a result, the environment is more flexible and adaptive.

Changing the Way Information Is Used

Because the Jini environment is so dynamic and responsive, devices work together to provide continuous, reliable access to a whole new realm of network based information services. For example, devices linked by Jini technology can automatically interact to continuously shop around for the lowest utility rates, or can tailor and submit multiple home mortgage applications simultaneously. Here is how it works:

Objects: In the Jini network, every device is recognized as an object. The result is a distributed system that is understood to be a set of distributed services -- everything is recognized, easy to control and resilient.

Discover and Join: The basic mechanism behind Jini technology is the ability to plug in, look around the network to determine what other kinds of devices and services are in the community, and become connected. The look-up service allows users to browse and see what is available on the network at any given time.

Automatic Recognition: Devices identify themselves and are brought into the community. No other device drivers are needed for instant connectivity.

Leasing: Provides a method of managing, sharing and renewing resources in a networked environment.

Synchronized Transactions: Enables distributed entities to cooperate and coordinate for network resources such as memory, storage, print capability, and bandwidth. [...read more...]

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