After a lot interesting discussions at the Eclipse Summit we recognized that we have more to offer to the Eclipse community than just e-commerce solutions. We are currently discussing a change to our project scope. Please read on for our new proposed scope.

The CloudFree Server Platform will develop infrastructure, components, and tools that will support development, provisioning and operation of scalable server solutions. Development of a fully-fledged JavaEE application server is out-of-scope of this project. Instead, we will focus on the runtime infrastructure and core components around Equinox which are essential for building server solutions or server application products. Additionally, exemplary services will be provided which demonstrate the extensibility and flexibility of the CloudFree Server Application Platform. Where possible, existing Eclipse technologies will be re-used and integrated.

The CloudFree Server Platform Project includes the following components and exemplary services:

• Contextual Runtime - This is a central model for establishing a “context” for building multi-tenant applications offered as software as a service (SaaS). Typically, certain aspects in a SaaS system are not static. For example, some extensions contributed to an extension point should be available to some tenants but not to others. The contextual runtime will allow such filtering based on the current execution context.
• Clustering & Monitoring Service - With scalability and operational simplicity in mind, the clustering service will enable multiple installations to form an application cluster and provide operators with an intuitive management interface based on the admin service. Monitoring will be built into the platform as an essential concept and will also provide integration and extension points.
• Admin Service - A central administration interface provided by the platform. The service will provide extension points to allow extenders to integrate nicely with the platform.
• Exemplary Web Application - An exemplary web application will be created which demonstrates programming, scalability and operational concepts provided by the platform.

Although the project’s main focus is building a server platform based on Equinox running standalone, it is also anticipated that the platform can run embedded in an existing JavaEE application container and integrated with container specific APIs and tools to implement the features provided by the platform. However, the development of such vendor-specific integrations is out of the project’s scope. The CloudFree platform will provide frameworks and extension points to allow third parties building such integrations.

Please join us for discussing the new scope on our mailing list or in the newsgroup. One item that we are also discussing is the project name. Should we change it? We’ve opened a bug to discuss that. What do you think?

Thanks to the Foundation people you can view them online right in the submission.

I’ve prepared a short version with just the CloudFree part.

The next important event, the Eclipse Summit, will take place in Ludwigsburg next week. CloudFree will have an own booth and will be presented in a more technical way. We hope to get in contact with other developers, to share ideas and experiences.

Tom

About the person behind: Tom Gruner is a 21 years old “engineering management”- student and an intern at igniti GmbH. He is a member of the igniti taskforce for CloudFree.

It is a great chance to come closer with other eclipse project committer, mainly to exchange experiences and to socialize. On the one hand, coders can share their problems and solutions with each other. On the other hand, new project ideas can be discussed and realized.

To summarize: being an eclipse community member offers us a lot of advantages.

The next event will be the Insight E-Commerce, which takes place on November 4/5, 2008 in Jena and the Eclipse Summit, which takes places on November 18-20, 2008 in Ludwigsburg. We will present a nice fan shop which we are currently working on - the first e-commerce application based on CloudFree.

As u can see, work is in progress and we are looking forward to showcase first impressions.

Tom

About the person behind: Tom Gruner is a 21 years old “engineering management”- student and an intern at igniti GmbH. He is a member of the igniti taskforce for CloudFree.

• CloudFree newsgroup at Eclipse.org - Note, access to the newsgroup server requires a password. You can get it here. It also comes with convenient web access. The web access requires a different account which you can get here. The advantage of the last account is that you can use it everywhere at Eclipse. For example, it allows you to submit bugs and enhancement requests.
• Read and comment on this blog.
• Watch us on Twitter.

Currently, I’m busy coding for our first milestone. It’s an important one because we want to show you, what CloudFree is all about. It’s not just yet another e-commerce system. Well, you could say I do have to say that. Anyway, you will see soon. Jut a few more weeks.

In the meantime, we are very interested in your pains with today’s e-commerce solutions. Is maintenance and operations eating up all your resources? Or are the customization efforts blowing your budget? Let us know! Tell us in the newsgroup or by using the comment functionality on this blog.

Very often e-commerce solutions are extensive and offer a lot of extra functionality, so new users may feel overwhelmed by its complexity. The customer working with our system should say: “It’s easy, I can manage it! “and not “Can you please explain …”.

Shop operators and customers should find a platform which comprises both depth and a clear scheme.

The idea to keep it simple sounds easier than actually keeping it simple. Developers grow up with their development and want to improve it over and over. They know every “corner” of their program and want to extend its functionality. In doing so they always keep overview over their creation, but forget that a user doesn’t have that insight and experience and is soon overchallenged.

Tom

The Person behind: Tom Gruner is a 21 years old “engineering management”- student and an intern at igniti GmbH. He is a member of the igniti taskforce for this project.

Think of the CloudFree platform as the strong back-end, implemented in Java and providing the back-office administration interface and HTTP services for front-ends, while the actual front-ends may be served by a set of Apache/PHP/Memcached machines or whatever you prefer. By giving several interfaces, CloudFree can be used multi-functional to realize small, to medium, to large e-commerce sites.

The project is lead by Ageto GmbH and supported by igniti GmbH and Towerbyte eG (an consortium of 28 companies with a strong focus on e-commerce in Jena).

For further information check out the Eclipse project proposal:
http://www.eclipse.org/proposals/cloudfree/

If you are interested, have questions or suggestions or want to take part in discussions feel free to visit the official newsgroup:
http://www.eclipse.org/newsportal/thread.php?group=eclipse.cloudfree

We are open for any kind of participation and feedback, so please do not hesitate.

Tom

About the Person behind: Tom Gruner is a 21 years old “engineering management”- student and an intern at igniti GmbH. He is a member of the igniti taskforce for this project.