Talking about the Internet of Application Server
1. Overview Application Server Middleware is also known as "Application Server Software Platform", is the infrastructure of contemporary software, is the most important type of middleware. Application Server can integrate different applications as a component into a collaborative work, and provide names, transactions, security, messages, data access services, and services, and it also provides development, deployment, operation, and operation of application components. Management function. 2. Development History Traditional middleware has data access middleware, remote procedure calling middleware, message middleware, online transaction middleware, etc. The emergence of the Internet has gave birth to the early Web server to meet the needs of information exchange based on information-based web browsers. However, since the web server does not provide high-performance and high reliability support for large-scale commercial applications, the application's scalability is limited, and the software architecture is also experiencing from C / S, B / S to three. Layer / multi-layer profound change.
The rise of object-oriented technology and component technologies, the distributed object / component calculation model represented by Java / EJB, DNA / COM, and CORBA, using the application server middleware of the above technology covers the function of traditional middleware, full support The three-layer / multi-layer software architecture development and software reuse gradually became the mainstream of middleware products. As component technologies further develop, Java / EJB combines the advantages of CORBA and evolved into J2EE, Microsoft DNA / COM evolution into .NET, CORBA also absorbed J2EE components / container ideas to introduce CCM architecture. Since .NET is a closed system, it limits its promotion in other platforms, especially in enterprise applications. J2EE is initiated by Sun and has been developed by many important manufacturers, providing an open and complete underlying framework for application servers, open, standardized, componentized, interoperable, and scalable features. The applications created by users can run on this standard. More importantly, under the conditions that meet the J2EE compatibility, the application components on different application servers can be well interoperable, which can reduce the risk and cost of transplant, improve the application's flexibility, help protect users. Investment, so its industry is very high. After several years of development, the main application server vendors have turned to the J2EE standard, J2EE has become a factual application server implementation standard. 3. Status Quo J2EE Since the production of continuous development, the development of application server products is tight with J2EE's footsteps. The current application server vendor is the most widely used in J2EE 1.3 version. J2EE 1.4 The new version has also been released in November 2003, and the core architecture has not changed, adding some value-added services and upgrades some original specification. The new features of J2EE 1.4 mainly include support for Web Service (Web Service, JAX-RPC, SAAJ, JAXR), Message Transfer (EJB2.1), deployment and management enhancement (JMX, MGMT), and makes Web Application development makes it easier (servlet2.4, jsp2.0). With the release of J2EE1.4, it has begun to follow J2EE 1.4 application server products, and more and more vendors begin to start or conduct upgrades from J2EE 1.3 to J2EE1.4. The J2EE application server architecture is shown below:
The J2EE application server acts as a bridge connected to any network client and various data storage layers, inside inside can transparently complete a comprehensive task of business logic, transaction management, message delivery, security management, etc.; , Integrated application framework, simplify application development.
In recent years, the development of the application server industry has presented a good situation of hundreds of contending. Not only the famous manufacturers IBM, BEA, ORACLE, etc. have launched their application servers, but also with the expansion of domestic market demand, China Middleware manufacturers have begun to participate in the field of application server and form a competitive product. At present, the domestic J2EE application server products mainly include the InforWeb application server of China Software Commercial Middleware, Kingdee Software's APUSIC Application Server, oriental TongWeb Application Server. 4. Trend
The basic functions of each applicable server product have become homogeneous, so the competitiveness of various manufacturers will provide more value-added functional services and better performance for applications. In response to this feature, Gartner proposed the concept of Application Platform Suites (APS). According to the definition of Gartner, the APS is assembled by a batch of basic software, which provides the architecture required to create an enterprise application, such as enterprise application servers, portal products, and enterprise application packages, etc., and according to Gartner's report, to 2007 Most of the large number of large companies will use APS technology (probability 0.8) in their projects, and most software architecture products on the market are modular integrated kits composed of professional infrastructure components (probability 0.8) . In addition, many application server products have gradually developed a platform suite that supports software lifecycle management. This type of suite provides software definition, design, development, testing, deployment and management to maintain a series of functions, companies can better and better Build an application system, simplify management and reduce system operations and maintenance costs, and get the best return on investment.
Therefore, in general, the application server is moving towards the large and full direction, "an application server, all middleware" may become the goal of the next generation of application servers.
