2.2 WebSphere Application Server V5 product family

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Note

WebSphere Application Server V5.0.2 is the latest available release of WebSphere Application Server V5 at the time of writing. We will use the terms WebSphere Application Server V5.0.2 and WebSphere Application Server V5 interchangeably throughout this book.

IBM WebSphere Application Server Version 5 is IBM's fully compatible implementation of a J2EE platform conforming to J2EE 1.3 Specification. It delivers flexible configuration and deployment options. As your requirements change, you can migrate smoothly to the WAS configurations with more functionality and service. The IBM WebSphere Application Server product family is available in several different configurations that are designed to meet a wide range of customer requirements. Each edition addresses a distinct set of scenarios and needs. WebSphere Application Server includes:

WebSphere Application Server Express

This edition is a light-weight server for static content, servlets, and JSP pages, but does not support enterprise beans. It addresses the needs of mid-market companies and departments within larger organizations, and is a cost-effective starting point for businesses that want to have a presence on the Web.

The Express Edition provides a combination of development tools and application servers in a single integrated package geared toward developing Web-centric applications. It also provides a simplified programming model that allows you to create new Web applications and to convert existing static applications to dynamic applications. For more information about IBM WebSphere Application Server Express, visit the Express Edition's home page at:

http://www.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/express/
WebSphere Application Server (base configuration)

This edition addresses the basic programming and execution needs of desktop developers and single-server production scenarios. The execution environment for this edition addresses standards-based programming for Web and component-based programming, as well as Web services.

The administration model for this edition presumes a single-server environment—no clustering for failover or workload balancing, nor centralized administration of multiple server instances. However, you can add a stand-alone node to a centrally administered network (the cell) at any time after installing the next product, which controls the cell.

For more information about IBM WebSphere Application Server, see the IBM WebSphere Application Server home page at:

http://www.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/was/
WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment

The Network Deployment edition delivers world-class caching, high availability, and industry-leading Web services support on top of the base J2EE 1.3 WebSphere Application Server foundation with support for the JDK 1.4 client container. It provides centralized administration of multiple server instances, as well as basic clustering and caching support. This configuration is designed to add non-programming enhancements to the features provided in the base configuration. These enhancements add scalability features, allowing you to run applications on multiple servers and on multiple physical nodes.

In addition to the features included with the base configuration of WebSphere Application Server you get:
- The Deployment Manager, allowing you to centrally manage a number of different application server instances and clustering for workload management and failover.
- The Edge Components, including Load Balancer, Caching Proxy, and IBM HTTP Server. These features provide the edge-of-network functions required to set up a classic DMZ in front of the application server.
- A private UDDI Registry for easier deployment of internal Web services applications and a Web Services Gateway for external applications that request Web services to use rich security features to access an internal Web services provider application.
- Web Services Gateway enables Web services invocation by users from outside the firewall with the benefit of robust security protection.
For more information, you could refer to the IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment home page at:

http://www.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/was/network/
WebSphere Application Server Enterprise

This edition employs a service orientation to dynamically integrate IT assets within and across enterprises, and addresses large information technology production scenarios for applications that are designed according to the J2EE programming model and Web services. It enables advanced transactional connectivity to coordinate interactions with multiple back-end systems across the network. It delivers J2EE and Web services innovations to tackle some of today's toughest coding challenges. By using Dynamic workload management it increases application performance and flexibility. This capability allows the system to monitor the workload on each server in a cluster and automatically route the work to a server with the lightest workload.

For more information about IBM WebSphere Application Server Enterprise, visit the Enterprise edition's home page at:

http://www-3.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/enterprise/
WebSphere Application Server for z/OS®

This edition integrates the WebSphere Application Server product and the Network Deployment product into a single package that runs on a z/OS platform. It is a J2EE 1.3-compatible Web services application server specifically designed to utilize the unique qualities of service provided by IBM zSeries® hardware and z/OS operating system. It is functionally equivalent to the programming model of the Network Deployment, providing for greater flexibility in development. It provides improved deployment and management functions for a friendlier and more flexible environment, in a manner consistent with the Network Deployment.

For more information about IBM WebSphere Application Server for z/OS, visit its home page at:

http://www-3.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/zos_os390/

Figure 2-2 on page 27 shows WebSphere Application Server's product packaging for version 5. It shows you the components available in different packaging configurations and the difference between different packages. Please be aware that the Express and z/OS editions are not pictured in the figure. If you want to obtain more information for those editions, please visit their home pages mentioned in the previous pages.

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Figure 2-2: WebSphere Application Server V5 packaging

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