WAS v6.1: Technical Overview

WebSphere Application Server V6.1:

Technical Overview

WebSphere® Application Server is the implementation by IBM® of the Java™ 2

Enterprise Edition (J2EE™) platform. It conforms to the J2EE 1.4 specification.

WebSphere Application Server is available in unique packages that are designed

to meet a wide range of customer requirements. At the heart of each package is

a WebSphere Application Server that provides the runtime environment for

enterprise applications.

This discussion centers on the runtime server component of WebSphere

Application Server.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006. All rights rese rved. ibm.com

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WebSphere Application Server packaging

WebSphere Application Server comes in several packaging options. In addition

to the application server component, each package contains an appropriate

combination of complementary products (for example, IBM HTTP Server,

Application Server Toolkit, and Edge components).

Distributed platforms

WebSphere Application Server V6.1 has the following packaging options for

distributed platforms, including IBM AIX®, HP-UX, Linux®, Solaris™, and

Microsoft® Windows®:

Express

IBM WebSphere Application Server - Express V6.1, referred to as

(target availability: fourth quarter 2006)

Base

IBM WebSphere Application Server V6.1, referred to as

IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V6.1, referred to as

Network Deployment

Packaging information for Base and Network Deployment can be found at:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v6r1/topic/com.ibm.web

sphere.nd.doc/info/ae/ae/rtop_overview.html

The home page for WebSphere Application Server on distributed platforms can

be found at:

http://www-306.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/was/index.html

System z

For WebSphere Application Server on System z™, the following edition is

available:

IBM WebSphere Application Server for z/OS® V6.1, a full-function version of

the Network Deployment product

Packaging information for WebSphere on System z can be found at:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v6r1/topic/com.ibm.web

sphere.zseries.doc/info/zseries/ae/rtop_overview.html

The home page for WebSphere Application Server for z/OS can be found at:

http://www-306.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/zos_os390/

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WebSphere Application Ser ver V6.1: Technical Ove rview

System i

WebSphere Application Server on System i™ has the following packaging

options:

WebSphere Application Server V6.1 for i5/OS®

WebSphere Application Server for Developers V6.1 for i5/OS

WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V6.1 for i5/OS

WebSphere Application Server – Express V6.1 for i5/OS

The home page for WebSphere Application Server on System i can be found at:

http://www-03.ibm.com/servers/eserver/iseries/software/websphere/wsapps

erver/

Application support

WebSphere Application Server V6.1 can run the following types of applications:

J2EE applications

Portlet applications

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) applications

J2EE applications

The Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition specification is the standard for

developing, deploying, and running enterprise applications. WebSphere

Application Server V6.1 provides full support for the J2EE 1.4 specification.

The J2EE programming model has four types of application components:

Enterprise beans

Servlets and JavaServer™ Pages™ files

Application clients

The primary development tool for WebSphere Application Server J2EE 1.4

applications is Rational® Application Developer. The Application Server Toolkit,

shipped with WebSphere Application Server, also contains the tools needed to

create, test, and deploy J2EE 1.4 applications and, in addition, includes full

support for the new features of J2SE™ 5.0. Applications are packaged as

enterprise application archives (EAR files).

For information about the J2EE specification, see

http://java.sun.com

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WebSphere Application Server V6.1: Technical Overview

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Portlet applications

The Portlet container in WebSphere Application Server V6.1 provides the

runtime environment for JSR 168 compliant portlets.

Portlet applications are intended to be combined with other portlets to collectively

create a single page of output. The Portlet container takes the output of one or

more Portlets and generates a complete page that can be displayed.

The primary development tool for portlets on WebSphere Application Server

portlet applications is the Application Server Toolkit. You can also use Rational

Application Developer, but should review the following item in the WebSphere

Information Center:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v6r1/topic/com.ibm.web

sphere.nd.doc/info/ae/ae/cport_portlets.html

Portlets are packaged in WAR files.

Note that the portlet runtime does not provide the advanced capabilities of

WebSphere Portal, such as portlet aggregation and page layout, personalization

and member services, or collaboration features.

For more information about JSR 168, see:

http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=168

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) applications

SIP applications are Java programs that use at least one Session Initiation

Protocol servlet written to the JSR 116 specification. SIP is used to establish,

modify, and terminate multimedia IP sessions. SIP negotiates the medium, the

transport, and the encoding for the call. After the SIP call has been established,

the communication takes place over the specified transport mechanism,

independent of SIP. Examples of application types that use SIP include voice

over IP, click-to-call, and instant messaging.

The Application Server Toolkit provides special tools for developing SIP

applications. SIP applications are packaged as SIP archive (SAR) files and are

deployed to the application server using the standard WebSphere Application

Server administrative tools. SAR files can also be bundled within a J2EE

application archive (EAR file), similar to other J2EE components.

For more information, see:

JSR 116 SIP Servlet API 1.0 Specification

http://www .jc p.o rg/a bou tJava/communityprocess/final/jsr116/

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WebSphere Application Ser ver V6.1: Technical Ove rview

RFT 3261

http://www.ie tf. org/ rfc /rfc3261.txt

Application server configurations

At the heart of each member of the WebSphere Application Server family is an

application server. Each family has essentially the same architectural structure.

Although the application server structure for Base and Express is identical, there

are differences in licensing terms, the development tool that is provided, and

platform support.

With Base and Express, you are limited to stand-alone application servers.

Network Deployment enables more advanced topologies that provide workload

management, scalability, high availability, and central management of multiple

application servers.

Runtime environments are built by creating profiles. A profile can define a

deployment manager, a stand-alone application server, or an empty node to be

federated (added) to a cell. Each profile contains files specific to that runtime

such as logs and configuration files. Profiles can be created during and after

installation. After the profiles have been created, further configuration and

administration is performed using the WebSphere administrative tools.

Stand-alone server configuration

Express, Base, and Network Deployment all support a single stand-alone server

environment. With a stand-alone configuration, each application server acts as a

unique entity. An application server runs one or more J2EE applications and

provides the services that are required to run those applications. Each

stand-alone server is created by defining an application server profile.

Multiple stand-alone application servers can exist on a machine, either through

independent installations of the WebSphere Application Server code or through

multiple profiles within one installation. However, WebSphere Application Server

does not provide for central management or administration for multiple

application servers. Stand-alone application servers do not provide workload

management or failover capabilities.

Figure 1 on page 6 shows an architectural overview of a stand-alone application

server.

WebSphere Application Server V6.1: Technical Overview

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