Difference between WebSphere Application Server profiles and WAS editions

Question

I am currently trying to create a Websphere cluster, but the release names of the Websphere application server (e.g. Base, Developers, Network deployment, etc.) and the concept of profiles confuse me.

• Is there a difference in the code base in different versions of the Websphere server, such as Base, Express, Network Deployment, etc.?

• Is the only version of network deployment that supports clustering?

• If I create a dmgr profile in any of the other versions (e.g. WAS for developers, etc.), can I get the cluster to work?

• Does Installation Manager use the only way to install the WAS 8.5 network deployment version on Linux? I read on this blog http://ianrobinson.blogspot.in/ that there is another easier way, however I am not sure if this is intended to install a network deployment version.

• How is the WAS developer version different than the network deployment version?

Answer 1

1. Is there a difference in the code base in different versions of the WebSphere server, such as Base, Express, Network Deployment, etc.

In the context of Java EE and the programming API, there is no difference - the same code base. Of course, the difference in licensing and cost. In addition, ND has the components necessary to support clustering and distributed installations (for example, deployment manager, secure proxy server, or edge components). There is also smart management (formerly known as WebSphere Virtual Enterprise) integrated into ND with 8.5. The express limit is currently a maximum of 480 processor units. It is limited to a 32-bit application server implementation. But it changes from version to version, so you should always check the website for actual data.

In addition, with WAS v8.5, a new lightweight, modular, Java EE 6 web profile certified by WebSphere Liberty Edition has appeared. It is based on the same code as the OSGi modules, so you can only compose a server from the necessary components. It also already supports some Java EE 7 features. For the latest information, check wasdev.net

2. Is the only network deployment version that supports clustering?

If you are thinking about centralized management and deployment, then yes, it is only available in ND.

However, other versions support something called simple load balancing .

Simple load balancing distributes HTTP requests across multiple IBM® WebSphere® Application Server instances. You can configure a simple load balancer to provide a transition to another resource of the application state that is supported in an HTTP session.

In this case, each server instance is separately maintained and administered, and you need to manually install the same application in each. This is a kind of server farm approach. A session can be shared between servers using a database.

Similar light clustering is also possible with the WebSphere Liberty collections .

3. If I create a dmgr profile in any other version (for example, WAS for developers, etc.), can I make the cluster work?

In other versions there is no dmgr profile, which is ND. You can combine this instance in dmgr for management. Even if you can create a cluster, it will be a violation of the license.

4. Does Installation Manager use the only way to install the WAS 8.5 network deployment version on Linux?

In general, yes.
But:

• each edition can be installed silently if you do not have X-Windows
• Hypervisor Edition comes with a preinstalled image that you simply deploy as a virtual machine and run configuration scripts, so there is no installation using IM.

WebSphere Liberty can be installed using the installation manager or downloaded as an archive and extracted.

5. How is the WAS developer version different from the network deployment version? The developers' edition is free for development, not licensed for use in production. Does not support clustering - see Ad 1).

Answer 2

• No difference, but the functions are different and have limitations. For example, Express has only 32 bits and the maximum PVU is limited. The base has no clustering.

• Yes

• You cannot group WAS Express and WAS Base, although you can control them with Dmgr, making them part of the cell. This is called a node union.

• Not sure about this, but I think there is a console installer.

• WAS Developper is designed to provide the same features as the production environment for free, but you should only use it for development on the local desktop.

Answer 3

The database has clustering, not memory to memory (only through database persistence).

However, you need to combine the plugin configurations http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v7r0/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.websphere.base.doc%2Finfo%2Faes%2Fae%2Ftwsv_configsimplelb.html

Answer 4

I believe that the base version has a cluster while maintaining database clustering with some limitation. Feel free to correct me; -)

You can add cache clustering with frameworks like infinispan