What is Websphere?

Websphere Application Server

The core product of the Websphere family is the Websphere Application Server (WAS), which is a Java-based server runtime environment that hosts and runs web applications and services. WAS supports various web standards and protocols, such as HTTP, HTTPS, SOAP, REST, JMS, JDBC, JNDI, JTA, JPA, JAX-WS, JAX-RS, CDI, JSF, Servlets, JSPs, EJBs and more. WAS also provides features and functions for application development, testing, deployment, configuration, administration, monitoring, tuning, clustering, load balancing, failover, security and integration.

WAS comes in different editions and versions to suit different needs and environments. For example:

WAS Liberty: A lightweight and flexible edition of WAS that can run on various platforms and cloud environments. It allows developers to choose only the features they need for their applications and services.
WAS Network Deployment: An edition of WAS that provides advanced capabilities for large-scale and distributed deployments. It enables administrators to manage multiple WAS instances and clusters across different servers and locations.
WAS Family Edition: A bundle of WAS editions that allows customers to switch between them without additional licensing costs.
WAS Version 9.0.5: The latest release of WAS that delivers new components and services for modernizing applications and operations on Kubernetes. It includes the IBM Application Navigator app that provides visibility to applications across traditional and container-based deployments, and Kubernetes-based services that centralize logging and monitoring for existing Websphere environments.

Other Websphere Products

Besides WAS, there are other Websphere products that offer specialized solutions for different domains and scenarios. For example:

Websphere Portal: A product that provides tools and frameworks for creating and managing web portals that deliver personalized and interactive content and services to users.
Websphere Commerce: A product that provides tools and platforms for creating and managing e-commerce solutions that support online shopping, marketing, sales and order management.
Websphere MQ: A product that provides a messaging middleware that enables reliable and secure communication between applications and services across different platforms and networks.
Websphere Integration Developer: A product that provides an integrated development environment (IDE) for creating and testing integration solutions using various technologies and standards, such as Service Component Architecture (SCA), Business Process Execution Language (BPEL), Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) and more.

Benefits of Websphere

Websphere products offer many benefits for businesses and organizations that need to create and manage web-based applications and services. Some of these benefits are:

Compatibility: Websphere products support various web standards and protocols that enable interoperability with other systems and technologies.
Flexibility: Websphere products allow developers to choose from different programming models, languages, frameworks and tools that suit their preferences and requirements.
Scalability: Websphere products provide features and functions for scaling up or down the applications and services according to the demand and workload.
Reliability: Websphere products provide features and functions for ensuring the availability and continuity of the applications and services in case of failures or errors.
Security: Websphere products provide features and functions for protecting the applications and services from unauthorized access or attacks.
Integration: Websphere products provide features and functions for connecting the applications and services with other systems or data sources using various methods or technologies.
Modernization: Websphere products provide features and functions for transforming the applications and services to leverage the latest technologies or platforms, such as cloud computing or Kubernetes.

Conclusion

Websphere is a brand name for a set of software products developed by IBM that provide tools and platforms for building, deploying and managing web-based applications and services. Websphere products are designed to support enterprise-level solutions that require high performance, scalability, reliability and security. The core product of the Websphere family is the Websphere Application Server (WAS), which is a Java-based server runtime environment that hosts and runs web applications and services. Besides WAS, there are other Websphere products that offer specialized solutions for different domains and scenarios. Websphere products offer many benefits for businesses and organizations that need to create and manage web-based applications and services.

What is Websphere?