Now seven months under VMware's wing, SpringSource trundled out tc Server Spring Edition Wednesday.

It's advertised as the best place to build and run Spring applications because of the end-to-end visibility that SpringSource has added to the thing not only for the Java developer, but for the poor neglected admin, giving them both tools to manage the health, performance and quality of their Spring apps.

VP of product management Shaun Connolly says, "We've knock down the brick wall between the admin and the developer."

As a come-on, VMware is running a promotion until May 8 offering two free CPU licenses to tc Server with each paid license to its vSphere, vCenter, View or ThinApp products plus 60 days of evaluation support.

It's the first time SpringSource solutions have been made available through the VMware channel.

As a lightweight Tomcat-based platform, SpringSource is still trying to wean Java developers off of their heavyweight J2EE widgetry by promising fast template-driven creation and deployment of multiple application server instances per machine in virtualized and cloud environments as well as optimal resource utilization.

Connolly says, "Our customers have proven that to deploy applications properly in virtual environments, the application server must require a very small footprint."

The new mojo is supposed to make it easier for folks running Spring applications on Java EE servers to migrate. Ditto folks running on Tomcat servers who want enterprise features and customer support.

The developer gets a performance dashboard and the admin gets to measure performance against SLAs. They should be able to see problem areas and possible root causes of issues.

SpringSource tc Server 2.0 will be out early next month and come in a Spring Edition starting at $750 per CPU; a Standard Edition starting at $500 per CPU; and a free Developer Edition that's either standalone or part of the SpringSource Tool Suite.