If you know java and scala, I would recommend you to give Play framework a try. It is extremely simple and fast to set up and develop with, plus it uses Quartz scheduler library for the jobs.
And for the rest of your needs, Play gots you covered too...
You can use play's WS class to make asynchronous HTTP calls from your server, and it integrates nicely with MySQL or your database of choice too. I think it uses Hibernate under the hoods, but leverages all its power while simplifying configuration and usage.
You can use Play with Scala, and if you do so, there is a nice database layer called Anorm.
I see Play is web dev framework. As far as my system is concerned I dont need to have a full web app. The system just needs to sit in the background read the database and then request 2-3 API's for data and put that back in the db. I expect a lot of writes to the database. I am reading about Play's support for jobs. Do you still think Play is the way to go ?
I see your point. Play is a framework based in the pattern MVC. If you just don't provide any View layer, you can use the Controller to access the Model, and use the rest of the goodies Play gives you for free, like Jobs, the WS class for easy HTTP calls, a RESTFUL interface, etc.
As I said, you can always use just Quartz for the jobs (that's what Play uses anyway), and create your own Data Access Layer or use an ORM, or what you like.
You can use play's WS class to make asynchronous HTTP calls from your server, and it integrates nicely with MySQL or your database of choice too. I think it uses Hibernate under the hoods, but leverages all its power while simplifying configuration and usage.
You can use Play with Scala, and if you do so, there is a nice database layer called Anorm.