Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Twists Of Java Deployment
Deploying Java software is not like deploying other software executables. The large range of
capabilities covered by Java executables on so many different platforms makes covering all the
possible cases a large task. We conclude this chapter by examining how our deployment model
applies to a very particular case.
Figure 2.10 showed a case that is not as rare as one may think at first. A Java-enabled decoder
set-top-box supports the viewing of encrypted satellite television. Periodically, not only the
encryption keys, but the whole client-side software needs to be replaced in order to keep
pirates at bay. At first, this situation seems quite far from the large-sized, Internet-minded
deployment model we concentrated on in the previous discussion. We won't talk about security
issues here, but instead we will see how the model shown in Figures 2.3 and 2.5 applies to
diverse cases of Java deployment.
Deployment
Server
Client
Platforms
F
IGURE
2.10
A particular case of deployment.
First of all, the presence or absence of an AH in our deployment strategy will influence all the
involved steps. Let's examine the case in which we don't have an AH at all, so that all the
deployment phases must be accomplished with only minimal help from the client-side. Then,
we see that this case presents a sever connection hurdle because the client-server connection is
unidirectional; that is, from the server satellite toward the sky-dish and no way back.
Distribution of new software happens at given server-directed times by simply flooding the
client with the software to be installed at a given signal. Let's briefly gather some observations
from the application of our abstract model to this case.
