Java Security

I need to put together a statement of how secure this is.
Can anyone answer the following?

Ref SHA256 password encryption on Solaris 10

*1/*
Is the password Salt: prepended, appended or intermingled in some other way with the password prior to hashing?

*2/*
The password Salt must be different for each user. How is this achieved?
E.G. Salt includes identifying data such as User id, time, sudo random constant….?

*3/*
Is the salt protected to the same extent as the hash values are protected?

*4/*
Does the salt have a minimum length of 64 bits, 128 or higher is preferred?