Streaming apps to users

While application service provider solutions for " rentable " applications haven't taken off, the potential for a similar model deployed in-house is enormous. While most reviews of these technologies focus on the application service provider model as being young and unproven, the in-house version is quite different - it looks a lot more like a deployment and license management strategy than a business model.

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A new player in this market is AppStream (www.appstream.com ) with its eponymous product, AppStream.

AppStream takes an interesting approach to applications delivery, concentrating on perceived performance and management by using streaming and caching.

The product consists of the AppStream Platform, a Web server extension that delivers the applications for Windows NT and 2000 (Linux and Solaris are promised); and the AppStream client, a browser plug-in (for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape promised). Also included is a control application (all versions of Windows are supported except XP, which is planned for a future release).

Applications are prepared for AppStream through the Application Packager, a wizard process that breaks the software into Streamlets - the company's name for modules that are streamed to the client in a statistically optimized order to maximize performance.

The idea is that by monitoring application use, functions that are frequently accessed are streamed down to the client first. The company claims that in most cases, only about 10% of an application is required before it can be launched on the client.

Streaming is done through AppStream's proprietary software streaming protocol - an HTTP variant that can traverse firewalls. Once the client components are downloaded they are cached and, when the server version is changed, updated transparently in the background. This strategy reduces load time after the first invocation and ensures a controlled rollout of new versions.

The company offers versions specifically for Java and Windows applications. The products are nearing the end of beta testing and pricing is not yet available.

I would bet on the future of this company in the corporate market although for the right applications on the Internet, this could be a powerful delivery mechanism.

Mark Gibbs is a consultant, author, journalist, and columnist. He writes the weekly Backspin and Gearhead columns in Network World.

Mark Gibbs is a consultant, author, journalist, and columnist. He writes the weekly Backspin and Gearhead columns in Network World. Gibbs is also co-conspirator of the Vitally Important Information Web site.

Gibbs can be contacted at webapps@gibbs.com. Press releases to pr@gibbs.com.