SUN MICROSYSTEMS IFORCE(SM) READY CENTER DEMONSTRATES IDENTRUS PKI ENVIRONMENT FOR APPLICATION PROOF-OF-CONCEPT TESTING.

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) has said that its public key infrastructure (PKI) environment supporting the Identrus model for trusted business-to-business Internet commerce is available at Sun's iForce(SM) Ready Center in Menlo Park, California. In addition to offering customers easy access to solutions, quick environment settings and development, the iForce Ready Center offers an architectural blueprint for Sun customers to see how Identrus compliant technology would be implemented at their own site.

Sun and the Sun-Netscape alliance, iPlanet, have developed an Identrus testing environment to allow companies to build a customized, demonstrable proof-of-concept of the technology supporting the Identrus Four Corner Transactional Model PKI environment without incurring the cost and risk associated with testing new technology in-house. At the iForce Ready Center, a project team composed of Sun experts, independent software vendors (ISVs), and system integrators (SIs) collaborates with the customer to test for integration and interoperability of applications running on the Identrus architecture.

The iForce Ready Centers build solutions on Sun Servers running the Solaris Operating Environment and use Sun's SunConnect architecture based on the principle of open system application program interfaces (APIs). The technology components of Sun's Identrus solution include the iPlanet Trustbase Transaction Manager, along with additional iPlanet products and software products from other ISV partners. The addition of the iPlanet Trustbase Transaction Manager layer on top of the identity check service enables the Identrus community to add value to their services though messaging support, transaction signing and routing, support for diverse transport service layers, authorization, logging and billing functions.

The technology partners working with Sun to build Sun's Identrus testing environment include iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions, Baltimore Technologies, Argus Systems Group, Chrysalis-ITS, nCipher, Gemplus, Datakey, and ValiCert. These technologies enable Sun to create an open environment with end-to-end solutions that are reliable and scaleable. The iForce Ready Centers, located in Tokyo, Paris, and Menlo Park, California, assist Sun customers across all industries with everything from brainstorming the options for creating technological infrastructures, to quick proof-of-concept implementation, to actual pilot programs.