10.8 The Vision

After exploring the details of the J2EE Management specification, it's worth taking some time to think about why this specification is important.

If the future of computer application delivery is really one of applications ”built from component building blocks and served to clients out of industry-standard containers ”then sooner or later those containers will need to be managed in an efficient, standard way. The vision of JSR 77 is that the same program can manage diverse J2EE application server products concurrently ”a philosophy referred to as "write once, manage anywhere ."

By identifying common management models that all standard application servers will provide, JSR 77 frees the management tools to begin addressing the more difficult issues of scale and volume. Imagine a grid computing network that has the capability to dynamically add or reduce server capacity to meet demand. Such a system is much easier to implement if the management of all application servers in the system is the same. We can achieve a common management approach if we stick with a single server vendor, but the J2EE approach is to enable applications to run in any compliant server.

Although JSR 77 is only a beginning, the vision is that it will lay the groundwork for building more complex distributed systems that can be managed regardless of vendor platform.