Greetings,
I recently attended a conference at which Sybase demonstrated their
latest application server product, which they call Enterprise
Application Server. It manages and distributes server objects such as
CORBA, COM, Java, and native PowerBuilder objects for use in distributed
applications. Obviously, this activity requires a client-server
connection using some kind of protocol. I began to get a queasy feeling,
so I interrupted their enthusiastic demo with a question about what had
been done to address the inevitable firewall issues. They stared blankly
at me for a few seconds, and then asked me what I meant. I explained
that if I wanted to deploy an application based on their product, I
would need such information so that I could "negotiate" intelligently
with the client's network admins. More staring. Finally, one of the
reps. explained that their setup will attempt to talk using its native,
proprietary protocol. If this fails, it tries again, tunneling via HTTP.
I didn't ask what happens if that fails, since I was getting dirty looks
from those sitting around me, who had apparently come for a pep rally.
But the reps. seemed to think it strange that any admin would have a
problem with multitudes of binary payloads being tunneled through their
carefully tended security.
Any comments?
-Andy
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