IBM Corp is releasing to beta WebSphere Extended Deployment, combining policy definition, server partitioning, load balancing, and manual and autonomic management for the company’s Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) application server.
WebSphere Extended Deployment is planned for launch in the fourth quarter, as an add-on to IBM’s main application server, providing high-availability, high-performance and management for IBM’s portfolio of 200 software products, such as portal and Commerce Server, that sit on atop IBM’s application server.
Bob Sutor, IBM director of WebSphere infrastructure software, said IBM would next year promote WebSphere Extended Deployment’s ability to turbo charge applications, from both IBM and ISVs, running on WebSphere
WebSphere Extended Deployment is based on IBM’s experience in building high-transaction web sites serving major events like the UK’s Wimbledon tennis and US Masters golf tournaments. Sutor said IBM has combined this with its experience in mainframe computing, where actions like policies can be set to prioritize certain jobs.
We have learned how to put these systems together to deliver quality of service. We are bringing that experience and mainframe [techniques] into WebSphere Extended Deployment, Sutor said.
IBM claims more than 21 patents are pending on technologies created specifically for WepShere Extended Deployment. Algorithms are included for load balancing between groups of servers, prioritization of loads and tasks according to importance, caching between the application server and data source to speed the handling of frequent requests, a new management console, and self configuration.
WebSphere Extended Deployment will run hidden, behind the application server, according to IBM, without the need for applications to be modified.
IBM is targeting customers in financial services, settling large and unpredictable quantities of stock trades, retailers and online auction houses running unexpectedly popular offerings, and sites handing webcasts of popular news and sports events.
This will be use in certain industries like financial services, that are looking to move away from home grown systems, Sutor said.
