Summary

You should now have an initial understanding of what WebSphere Application Server is. We have defined the server configurations:

• WebSphere Application Server Express

• WebSphere Application Server

• WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment

• WebSphere Application Server Extended Deployment

• WebSphere Application Server Enterprise

• WebSphere Application Server for z/OS

We have also looked at the platform concept and the important role of the application server as part of the platform. A quick visit to the past and some projections for the future has also been provided.

Some key points from Chapter 1 include:

• Application Servers are central to solving today's and tomorrow's business problems

• Standards are important to the application server industry and will continue to be so in the future

• Application Servers represent the results of years of product development and standards evolution

• Application Servers provide a distributed operating system concept that encapsulates and abstracts details of individual platforms

With this introduction to WebSphere now in place, let's move ahead to the details.