A New Jini?

By Doug Barney

A few (or more) years ago Sunannounced Jini,a technology that was supposed to let users discover and automatically startusing devices across the Internet wherever they may be located. It’s a greatconcept, but reality and the sheer complexity of the problem soon emerged (mostof us have enough problems keeping our locally attached printers working!). Jinifailed to be God’s gift to automatic device configuration, but lives on as partof the Apache community.

Tempe, AZ-based Leaf Networks, LCC is taking its own stab. Initially aimed at gamers, thesoftware helps users create private networks and share files and hardwareresources across the Internet. 

But the same techniques can also work withbusiness folk, programmers, and engineers by helping set up simple privatevirtual networks. And the company promises high-performance as the networks usewhat the company calls “out of band TCP signaling” it claims has far lessoverhead.

http://www.leafnetworks.net/