A Publication of iSeries 400 Experts Total Information Service
By Heather Ellwood
Monday May 22, 2006
Shops
running i5/OS V5R3 or V5R4 will be able
to implement WebSphere Application Server
Express (WASE) version 6.1 in early July
2006, along with the new enhanced features
that come along with it, including support
for Java Development Kit (JDK) v5 and
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) servlets.
“The
key functional enhancements in WASE v6.1
are support for JDK v5 and SIP servlet
support for real-time, program-to-program
applications using Web services. This
provides the capability for applications
such as instant messaging, chat, and
video conferencing, which run on other
hosts (such as the free Yahoo! services),
to run directly on i5 servers. It’s
nice that IBM finally supports both of
these capabilities for WASE on the iSeries.
I’ve been using the free messaging
and video conferencing services from
Yahoo! for about two years now. With
the JDK v5 support, iSeries customers
have had the ability to run the Apache
Tomcat Web application server v5.5.x
with the iSeries Java 5 virtual machine
support for at least a year now. It’s
a very simple installation for i5/OS
and it is easy to use. It also supports
advanced features like clustering for
scalability,” says Jim Mason, technical
services director, ebt-now, Plymouth,
MA.
WASE
is shipped with i5/OS, making it possible
for shops to easily access and implement
this new technology. “The key issue
for running WASE on the iSeries is the
cost. WASE v6.1 requires i5/OS, which
is roughly $45,000 to order per processor.
Most customers need to order an additional
processor to run WASE if they have any
real application and data volume,” says
Mason.
He
highlighted three options that shops
have available for running WASE on i5/OS:
- Run IBM’s free WebSphere Application
Server Community Edition (WASCE) on
the i5 under a Linux partition for
$2,000, resulting in a savings of over
$42,000.
- Buy WASE for approximately $2,000,
and run it on Linux in an i5 partition
(this is also about $2,000), resulting
in a savings of over $40,000.
- Run any J2EE Web application server
on a Windows, Linux, or other operating
system.
Shops
trying to make the decision between WASE
v6.1 and another Web application server
can heed this advice: “If you already
have WASE installed and don’t need
to buy an additional i5 processor to
support your Web workloads, then an upgrade
makes a lot of sense. Also, if you have
a specific iSeries integration requirement
with Domino, or iSeries printer support,
WASE is the better choice. If you’re
just starting out, there are more applications
available on a standard J2EE platform,
like WASCE, and you still get the benefit
of IBM middleware integrations. In addition,
if you need an additional i5 processor
to handle the workloads, WASCE might
be a better choice. The WASCE approach
will offer more choices for tools and,
ultimately, more options for building
Web applications faster for less,” says
Mason.
Mason
recommends making informed decisions
based on your current environment. “Where
will WASE fit in your future given the
growth of WASCE and both IBM’s
input for middleware integration and
the open-source community’s software
innovation? In truth, it’s not
clear. What we can do now is make a good,
short-term recommendation based on what
your specific needs are. We can also
plan for the long term given your goals
of putting your Web workload under i5/OS
or a different i5 operating system, such
as Linux.”
The
bottom line, according to Mason, is getting
first-class engineering support up-front. “The
number-one cause of cost-overruns and
failed Web projects is poor engineering.
Despite the IBM announcements, WebSphere
servers and the related development tools
on the i5 aren’t the key factors
for success in iSeries Web applications,” says
Mason.
WASE
is being made available by IBM through
Web Enablement for i5/OS. It supports
Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) v1.4,
and Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE) v5.0.
IBM will make this solution available
on July 7, 2006. For more information,
see the IBM announcement letter #206-105,
dated May 9, 2006.
For
additional Web enablement features announced
by IBM, see the box below.
Additional
Web enablement enhancements from
Big Blue
Domino
Fax. Also included
in the Web enablement for i5/OS
enhancements is support for
Integrated Domino Fax for i5/OS
V5R4. This announcement includes
support for current Lotus Notes
and Domino release levels,
as well as the latest fixes.
Big Blue has enhanced ease
of upgrade, installation, and
configuration with this release.
Domino Fax administration using
Domino Directory is no longer
supported; as of this announcement,
the Fax Administration database
must be used instead.
"There
has been a Domino Fax version
For years, but most of my customers
use a separate fax solution.
Most people want to use their
Domino Directory, so I don't
know that many people will be
that happy about these enhancements," says
Kim Greene, president, Kim Greene
Consulting, Rochester, MN.
Operating
system order. Shops
can now order both i5/OS V5R3
and V5R4 on a single i5 system
with logical partitions (LPARs),
whereas before this announcement,
only one version of the operating
system could be ordered. Multiple
licensed products, and multiple
releases of those products,
can be ordered as well. Big
Blue will also preload the
ordered releases by partition.
For
more information, see the IBM
announ-cement letter #206-105,
dated May 9, 2006. |
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