P2P tool to take on Lotus Notes

Application software specialist Alberg Software has released a business peer-to-peer tool which allows users to share their computing resources without a centralised server.

The tool, called Hive 1.0, is based on the JXTA P2P enterprise platform, which is an open source distributed computing standard.

It has a suite of tools and components to make the management of the tool suitable for organisations. These tools include discussion groups, IM, file sharing and a calendar.

Alberg claims Hive will compete with client-server platform products such as Lotus Notes.

It does not have a central server for regulating processes or for storage of data. Instead it invites users to join in on a conversation by sending an email or an instant message. The platform automatically detects clients on the LAN.

The company said: "From a user's perspective, the absence of a central server hugely simplifies the cumbersome administrative barriers that are associated with joining, say, a Lotus Notes discussion database, especially if the participants are from different companies or geographies."