IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS)

IBM WebSphere Application Accelerator — provides a global scope of users of the client with crucial corporate applications, using the Internet for acceleration of delivery of applications to users at any time and the place and also provides service for optimization of applications "on network edge".

IBM Websphere Application Server 8

The WebSphere Application Server (WAS) application server of version 8 is the software intended for acceleration of application development and services. The new version of WAS improves safety of clients and a possibility of control and also gives enhanced capabilities to automation for installation, service, testing and problem solving of business applications.

Besides, these improvements are complemented with new features which extend possibilities of WAS in support of the broad spectrum of applications (covering platforms from desktop PCs to mobile devices) to popular smartphones and tablet computers, including iPad, iPhone, Droid, BlackBerry and many others. Support of these devices is essential for business as mobile applications are one of the largest fast-growing directions today. According to the forecast provided in one of recently published reports on market researches, the world market of mobile applications can grow from 6.8 billion dollars in 2010 to 25 billion dollars by 2015.

WebSphere is a main product of category of the software of IBM called binding or the middleware (middleware) which allows Web applications and operating systems to interact with each other. Originally developed in 1997, became software of WebSphere one of the most important accelerators of business development of IBM out of borders of the sphere of hardware, to the area of the application software and services. Within the celebration of the centenary, IBM defined WebSphere as one of key catalysts of development of technologies which gave to the Internet the chance to become the platform for application of information and communication technologies in business.

Now in the world there are over 100000 clients of WebSphere. One of them – giant of the heavy industry Caterpillar – already began to test how the new software can expand scopes of its corporate applications for achievement of new clients.

IBM Websphere Application Server 8.5 Liberty

The IBM company announced in April, 2012 the new version of the IBM Websphere Application Server 8.5 application server under the name Liberty which is faster and dynamic intermediate instrument of creation of industrial applications for different clients. Completely operable Websphere App Server 8.5 application server occupies only 50 MB that allows to place it even in such systems as Raspberry Pi.

The new platform allows to set updates and corrections to applications "on the fly" – reset of the application server is not required. When installing the official environment of execution Java SE of versions 7 or 8 serious work on setup is necessary, and resource consumption goes beyond all admissible framework. For this reason modern Java applications for cloud and mobile systems even more often use alternative environments of execution like Apache Tomcat. As well as Tomcat, the new version of IBM Websphere Application Server offers small resource consumption, fast start and convenient adding of new applications without restart.

Special attention on the platform should be paid to the enterprises which three times a year are forced to update completely the basic applications – with the advent of the Liberty platform this process becomes easier and quicker. Besides, all new features of Liberty have backward compatibility so already existing Websphere-applications can get all advantages of the new platform without rewriting of the code.