Covalent Announces New Contributions and Further Commitment to Open Source and Apache.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Covalent Technologies, the leading provider of open source software to the enterprise, demonstrated its ongoing commitment to the open source movement today by announcing its latest contributions to that community.

Covalent's ASP.NET module for Apache, which was previously proprietary, has been accepted by the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) for consideration as a new subproject of the Apache httpd Server project. The ASP.NET module is significant because it enables businesses to front ASP.NET applications with the Apache Web server. "Users of the module are able to deploy and host ASP.NET applications within the proven Apache httpd Server on Windows platforms. The long term goal of this ASF project is to extend the Apache httpd Server framework to support loadable modules written expressly for the Apache server with any .NET language, such as C#," comments William Rowe, Apache Software Foundation member and senior engineer at Covalent.

Covalent is also in the midst of finalizing plans for open sourcing its proprietary FTP protocol module for Apache, Covalent Enterprise FTP Server. Of this latest development, Covalent lead engineer and Apache Software Foundation Secretary, Jim Jagielski, states, "The plan is to offer the FTP module to the Apache Software Foundation for consideration for the ASF Incubator."

These above contributions add to the technology that Covalent has previously submitted to the open source community such as the Perl Test Framework for Apache, and substantial contributions to the redesign and implementation of Apache 2.0, based on the Apache Portable Runtime (APR) project.

Numerous Fortune 1000 companies use Covalent Enterprise FTP Server as a standard for transferring their content securely over the Internet. For example, Cisco relies on Covalent Enterprise FTP Server as the backbone for Cisco.com, which has over one million registered users. Commenting on Cisco's use of the FTP module, Mike Low, IT project manager at Cisco, observes, "Covalent's FTP Server's main advantage was the fact that it's Apache. Our engineers know and love Apache. With Covalent FTP, they wouldn't have to learn a whole knew system. It made it very easy for us to decide to go with Covalent."

Covalent's continued involvement with open source, however, extends beyond the above submissions to the open source community. Renown as being an abundantly rich Web server, one of Apache's key defining features is its rich and comprehensive API, which fosters the development of a wide range of modules. With such a large collection of modules, it is often difficult finding the right module. The www.modules.apache.org web site, which Covalent hosts, is the most comprehensive resource for those seeking or developing modules. It provides a central location for module developers to list their modules and for module seekers to find modules to fit their requirements. This site and the corresponding [e-mail] forum are invaluable resources for module developers to collaborate their ideas and share their knowledge about Apache.

Of Covalent's contributions to and continuous support of the open source community, Mark Brewer, Covalent CEO, says, "It is imperative as a benefactor of the open source community, namely the ASF, that Covalent contributes its resources and technology back to the community. As more enterprises move to open source based technology solutions, it is increasingly important to have vendors like Covalent provide the technical support and services companies require."

About Covalent

Covalent Technologies is the leader in products and services for Apache, the world's leading Web server, and the only source of full commercial support for the Apache Web server. Currently in use by many of the world's largest IT Operations groups, Covalent products manage many of the world's largest Web infrastructures, including many of the Fortune 1000. Founders of Covalent helped develop the Apache Web server -- the most widely used Web server in the world. Based in San Francisco, Covalent has a proven track record of solving complex Web application problems.