û	Getting Started with IBM WebSphereâ

What is WebSphere? 

You can’t touch and you can’t taste it, although a few administrators I know have colorfully described how it smells.

It’s not something you can buy, although I do know a few managers who swear they have paid for it dearly.  WebSphere isn’t something you can sell either, although IBM does plan on making a boatload of dough from it.

So, what exactly is WebSphere?

F  WebSphere is a marketing term.
F  WebSphere is an IBM trademark.
F  WebSphere is an IBM branding.
F  WebSphere will conquer the middle-tier.

WebSphere isn’t an actual product you can buy, but rather an umbrella under which all IBM middleware products reside.

WebSphere is an IBM branding, associating the vast array of tools sold to IBM customers that help enable the middle-tier.

WebSphere represents IBM's vision to take over the middle-tier, or at the very least, stop it from falling into the hands of Microsoft or Oracle.

What is the middle-tier?

If you think about it, every time we use the Internet, our interactions are data driven. Whether we are checking to see if our electricity bill is past due, or searching for the correct spelling of a word they were throwing around on last nights Charlie Rose, our interaction is data driven.

Table 1-1

Components that Reside on the Client, Middle and Data Tiers

Client Tier	Middle Tier (WebSphere)	Data Tier
È6 Web Browsers PDAs Cell Phones :Ë	 Web Services J2EE Servers .Net Servers ÂÂ	À¨ Message Queues Databases Persistent Data 4<

 

We live in the information age, and information is power. Big businesses, and domineering governments, hold huge stores of information, some of which they want us to see, and some of which they want to secure very tightly.

“Information is Power”

The terabytes of data companies store in db2 and Oracle databases represents the ‘data-tier.’ The data-tier, also known as the ‘back-end,’ is what hackers, crackers, and everyday users want to get their dirty little fingers on. 

These users, and the web browsers they use, such as Internet Explorer, Netscape and Opera, represent the client tier. The client tier is also known as the ‘front end.’

“The Internet is data driven”

So, if all of our data is stored in databases on the back end, and our clients are surfing the Internet on the front end, the middle-tier represents the infrastructure needed to bridge the gap between the client-tier and the data-tier.

What is middleware?

If the middle-tier bridges the gap between the client-tier and the data-tier, then middleware is the software that makes this middle-tier work. IBM sells a ton of software to enable the middle tier, and selling this middleware software is what WebSphere is all about.

“Selling middleware is what WebSphere is all about.”

The amount of software IBM sells under the brand name “WebSphere” is staggering.  If there is a need, IBM has a middleware solution for it.  Heck, even if there isn’t a need, IBM is willing to sell you a solution.  They’re good people in that way.

What are some of the middleware products fall under the WebSphere label?

WebSphere tools completely dominate the middle-tier, and they come in all shapes and sizes.

For supporting multiple devices and clients, IBM provides products such as WebSphere Everyplace Suite and WebSphere Voice Server.

WebSphere Host Integrator and WebSphere MQ (Message Queue) Integrator help your applications seamlessly play along with other middleware offering and back end systems that may have been implemented by vendors other than IBM.

“WebSphere tools completely dominate the middle-tier.”

WebSphere even provides a variety of tools that help you manage and monitor your runtime environment, including the Edge Server and Tivoli Performance Monitor.

The middleware product that is making the biggest waves lately is WebSphere Portal. WebSphere portal not only makes Internet development easier, but it helps centralize and simplify the management of applications, resources, and users.

If there is a middleware need, WebSphere has a middleware solution that will address it.

What is WebSphere Studio?

For development, IBM provides a suite of tools under the name WebSphere Studio.  For example, WebSphere Studio Site Developer is a powerful rapid application development (RAD) tool that facilitates the quick creation of funky websites.

WebSphere Studio Application Developer adds J2EE development functionality on top of the basic set of tools that come with Site Developer. There are a variety of development tools that come under the WebSphere Studio label that make creating applications incredibly easy.

The future release of WebSphere Studio will be known as IBM Rational® Application Developer for WebSphere.

Where does the WebSphere Application Server fit into the mix?

While IBM will sell you a plethora of products branded with the name WebSphere, there is one, central product, from which all other WebSphere products feed:

F  The WebSphere Application Server (WAS)

The WebSphere Application Server is IBM’s J2EE certified application server, and it is gaining market share faster than my mother-in-law gains weight.

The WebSphere Application Server is the foundation driving the IBM middle-tier. Any other product that falls under the WebSphere label, with perhaps the exception of WebSphere MQSeries, is merely a ‘WebSphere Extension’ or a ‘WebSphere Accelerator.’

Regardless of what a product is named, anything sold by IBM that is branded with the name WebSphere, in one way or another, owes its existence to the Application Server.

Every product that comes under the WebSphere label, at some point in time, feeds into, or runs upon, or interacts with the WebSphere Application Server.

The WebSphere Application Server is the foundation of the IBM middle-tier.

 

Think about it: when we develop applications using WebSphere Studio, the eventual goal is to deploy those applications to the WebSphere Application Server.

When we develop a portal solution, that portal solution requires the services of the WebSphere Application Server in order to run.

When we use a WebSphere Accelerator, such as WebSphere Commerce Suite, our goal is to get a handsome website deployed to the WebSphere Application Server as quickly as possible.

Every WebSphere product has the WebSphere Application Server and perhaps, WebSphere MQSeries, as its foundation. The truly great enterprise applications use both.

What are the WebSphere Extensions?

WebSphere Extensions facilitate the use of the WebSphere foundation products. There are four extensions:

1. Development Extensions:

Development extensions facilitate the development of WebSphere applications. Development extensions include:

F  WebSphere Business Components
F  WebSphere Studio Application Integrator

2. Presentation Extensions

Presentation extensions aggregate data and make content available in a variety of formats. These extensions include:

F  WebSphere Everyplace Suite
F  WebSphere Portal

3. Deployment Extensions

Deployment extensions help to monitor and scale an existing WebSphere infrastructure. They include:

F  Tivoli Site Analyzer
F  Edge Server 

4. Integration Extensions

Integration extensions help integrate non-J2EE resources into a WebSphere middle-tier environment. They include:

F  MQ Integrator
F  Host Integrator

What are WebSphere Accelerators?

WebSphere accelerators, help clients quickly develop applications, and subsequently deploy those applications to the WebSphere Application Server.

WebSphere accelerators include:

F  WebSphere Commerce Suite
F  WebSphere Business Integrator

So, what is WebSphere?

 Fundamentally, WebSphere is an IBM trademark. WebSphere is a branding that IBM affixes to all of their middleware products.

WebSphere isn’t a product itself, but there are many products that live in the shade of the WebSphere umbrella. 

WebSphere branded products include: application accelerators, extension products, and at the heart of it all, the foundation products: WebSphere MQSeries and the J2EE certified, WebSphere Application Server.

 J2EE is a hot topic these days, and the WebSphere Application Server is taking the middleware market by storm. The WebSphere Application Server is IBM’s rock solid entry in the J2EE middleware market.