The strong set of standard Java programming interfaces in BEA
Systems Inc.'s BEA Web Logic Server 4.5.1 application server makes it
a good choice for some e-commerce applications, but its poor
manageability, tools and enterprise connectivity mean competitors have the
edge in larger projects.
In tests, PC Week Labs found that many of the changes in this
release are a result of BEA running in place while adding J2EE (Java2
Enterprise Edition)-compatible programming interfaces that largely
duplicate functionality present in earlier releases.
The move to standard APIs is welcome, but as BEA scrambles to keep from
slipping off Java's cutting edge, competitors who waited a bit longer
before moving forward are already matching WebLogic's Java support and
have left WebLogic behind in areas such as manageability, interoperability
with nondatabase sources and development tools. However, WebLogic still
maintains an edge in Java messaging.
We recommend that any organization planning to make an
infrastructure-level purchase first investigate IBM's WebSphere,
Bluestone Software Inc.'s Sapphire/Web
and the Sun/Netscape
Alliance's Netscape Application Server.
For current WebLogic customers, the upgrade is a good choice, as
WebLogic's new features will let them modify their applications to use
only standard J2EE APIs. JSP (Java Server Pages) and JMS features have
respectively supplanted JHTML, which is WebLogic's proprietary dynamic
HTML page technology, and WebLogic's publish-and-subscribe events system.
WebLogic 4.5.1 supports these older, nonstandard APIs, but WebLogic
customers who use them should rewrite code to keep the applications
running.
WebLogic 4.5.1, the first generally available release of the 4.5
platform, shipped last month. It supports Java 1.1 and Java2 as well as
Web servers from Netscape Communications Corp. and Microsoft Corp., but it
lacks support for the widely used Apache open-source Web server.
WebLogic 4.5.1 is priced at $9,995 per CPU for the base product and
$14,490 per CPU for the multiserver cluster-enabled version. It runs on
Tru64 Unix, HP-UX, AIX, Linux, OS/400, Irix, Reliant Unix, Solaris and
Windows NT.
The best thing we found in this release was WebLogic's new support for
Java-based publish-and-subscribe message queuing. WebLogic is the first
product we've seen on the market that supports the JMS (Java Messaging
Service) standard, making it ideal for publishing applications where
information such as prices or buy orders needs to be distributed to many
parties at once.
In addition, WebLogic's new support for automatic in-memory state
replication provides fast, fault-tolerant operation matched only by
Netscape Application Server.
WebLogic's new support for JMS provides both point-to-point and
publish-and-subscribe message queuing services through a shared database
table. Using JMS, we were able to send messages from a client program to a
message queue on the server that stored our messages even after we shut
our client down. By contrast, most server-side components need to talk to
client-side components in real time. Our server-side processing logic was
then able to retrieve the messages when convenient.
JMS provides a disconnected communications design that is highly
resistant to slow or intermittent communication links. If communications
failures prevent a message from being retrieved, server-side logic can try
again, knowing the message is still stored safely on the server. JMS also
provides built-in protection for load surges because the message queue
will buffer extra incoming requests that would otherwise overload the
system.
Another major improvement is support for JSP, an easy-to-use way to
develop dynamic Web pages. WebLogic made it easy and fast to deploy and
update our JSP files by detecting updates to source files and recompiling
and redeploying them automatically.
Writing code was another story, however, because WebLogic includes no
code editing, compiling or debugging tools. The only tools included are an
EJB Deployment Wizard that helped us build EJB (Enterprise Java Bean) 1.0
descriptor files (see screen) and a Zero Administration Client publishing
wizard that nicely packaged our Java applications or applets for easy
client download and installation.
WebLogic offers an integration tool kit for Symantec Corp.'s Visual
Caf��, and BEA officials promise similar menu integration for IBM's
VisualAge for Java later this month. WebLogic's management tools were
similarly lacking, offering only rudimentary performance tuning and
operational monitoring features and no support for SNMP or any enterprise
management systems.
With the exception of BEA's Tuxedo transaction monitor, which is
directly supported, WebLogic has no native connectivity to enterprise
resource planning, mainframe or transaction monitoring systems. Indirect
connectivity to these systems is available through the purchase of BEA's
WebLogic Enterprise, a non-EJB, CORBA (Common Object Request Broker
Architecture)-based application server.
Senior Analyst Timothy Dyck can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED].
| Executive Summary: BEA WebLogic Server
4.5.1 |
| USABILITY |
C |
| CAPABILITY |
B |
| PERFORMANCE |
B |
| INTEROPERABILITY |
C |
| MANAGEABILITY |
C |
BEA WebLogic Server 4.5.1 is a
capable Java application server with support for almost all the
latest Java standards, but its lack of development tools and poor
manageability make it less attractive than its competitors to
managers in large enterprise settings.
Short-term Business
Impact: WebLogic's new support for the easy-to-use JSP means
current customers can port older WebLogic code to standards-based
APIs, and new customers can get going quickly.
Long-term Business
Impact: WebLogic's long-term customer impact depends on BEA's
ability to integrate WebLogic with its Tuxedo transaction monitor
and CORBA technologies. The more seamlessly WebLogic can provide a
single view of back-end services, the more attractive the product
will be to customers. 
 Gains J2EE support with the addition of JSP; JMS provides
built-in messaging middleware; in-memory state replication provides
fast yet fault-tolerant cluster operation.
 Management tools offer few performance monitoring features
and no integration with enterprise management platforms; customers
must rely on third parties for development and debugging tools; no
Apache module.
BEA
Systems Inc.
San Jose, CA
(800) 817-4232
Scoring
Methodology
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