AOLserver is a scalable platform (at least for large-scale projects) that
works very well for a number of applications. It's used in AOL for a
number of applications, and outside of AOL for even more. It runs
24x7x365.24+.
However, there may be bugs. There may always be bugs. Most folks
deploying AOLserver take measures to monitor the server, and to have quick
recovery in place. You've probably read the guidelines more than once --
ArsDigita has a nice set, for example.
The question of whether you should use AOLserver, or JBoss, or WebObjects,
or whatever is really going to be answered by what you have developed and
what tools you're comfortable using. If AOLserver offers the right tools
for you, then go for it. If you'd prefer to write Java, then use
something else (or use AOLserver with nstomcat or nsjava). As with JBoss,
you get the source with AOLserver, so if you hit a nasty bug, you've got a
good chance of getting it fixed.
One thing to consider is that whenever you push a platform to its limits,
you are more likely to encounter bugs than when you don't test the limits.
If your application requires more nsv variables than any variable ever
written, it's possible you'll hit a bug that no one else has ever
encountered. It's your choice to construct the application in the way
you've described, so you should also make a choice to create the risky
parts of the application in such a way that you can provide reproducible
test cases if you should encounter those bugs. You also may want to
consider whether your architecture is really appropriate to your problem.
Not having knowledge of your specific application problem, I have no
basis to judge whether there is an alternative architecture that may work
for you and may not stress the platform as much. Philip Greenspun wrote
somewhere that your DB vendor has invested millions of dollars and
countless staff-hours of work in producing a product which handles
concurrency and caching, so you shouldn't reproduce that work unless you
can make a similar investment.
I've used AOLserver for several applications within and outside of AOL,
all of which ran around the clock with minimal intervention. I certainly
don't think you'd be making a mistake using AOLserver. And I think, given
what you've told us, that's the best guidance you're going to get.
Pete.
On Wed, 26 Sep 2001, Constantin Teodorescu wrote:
> So, please, give me an advice is I should continue using AOL 3.x for
> that application or I should abandon it and try other variants as EJB
> servers (JBoss for example).
