Hi,
I have been listening on the Turbine and JServ mailing lists for a while,
installing the packages, and evaluating them for a (hopefully) large-scale
web development project. For this project, we need a web application
server and web application development framework.
The combination of JServ and Turbine appears very powerful and capable.
The decision facing me is whether to go with an open source solution
with its attendant costs and benefits (of which JServ+Turbine is the
leading candidate), or to go with a commercial web application server
product (of which BEA WebLogic is the leading candidate).
QUESTIONS
* How does JServ+Turbine compare to commercial web application
server packages?
* How does it compare to BEA WebLogic in particular?
* Under what technical or project conditions would you recommend
one or the other?
* Would it ever make sense to use both? (or do they overlap too much)
* What are the features/capabilities which are lacking in
JServ+Turbine that are available BEA WebLogic? vice-versa?
If JServ+Turbine is sufficiently functional/scalable, I would prefer
to go with it as the open source solution, and thus contribute more
developers to the Turbine community. However, since the Turbine
developers also seem to know WebLogic, I would appreciate a candid
assessment so I can make the right decision.
Thanks,
Stephen Adkins
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
P.S. If I get enough substantial feedback on this, I will be happy to
create a feature matrix which makes clear the comparisons and which
may assist in creating a roadmap for future Turbine development.
______________________________________________________________________
BACKGROUND
I consulted the Turbine Functional Design document at
http://java.apache.org/turbine/fsd.html
and read the following.
Turbine is not a web application server. It is a tool for building web
applications.
Your servlet engine is your application server and the application that
you develop
using this framework is your web application.
So I concluded that the combination of JServ+Turbine is an open-source
alternative
to BEA WebLogic's Application Server software.
Meanwhile, I installed all of the packages on which Turbine depends,
including Village,
and read the statement at
http://www.working-dogs.com/village/
which says
History
-------
Village is inspired by the dbKona API documents available on
BEA/Weblogic's website
http://weblogic.beasys.com/.
The BEA WebXpress product is an excellent piece of software and it is
highly
recommended that you purchase it.
So I was not sure whether the developers would in fact recommend WebLogic for
those who could afford it.
Meanwhile, I did a good bit of research on available web application servers,
and I thought this might be valuable to share with the Turbine community.
Commercial Application Servers
BEA Systems WebLogic 4.5.1
http://www.beasys.com/products/weblogic/
GemStone Systems, Inc.
http://www.gemstone.com/index_gemj.html
HAHT Software - HAHTsite Web Application Server
http://www.hahtsite.com/
IBM Software WebSphere Web Application Servers
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/webservers/
Inprise Application Server 4
http://www.borland.com/appserver/
NetDynamics Products
http://www.netdynamics.com/products/
Netscape Application Server
http://www.netscape.com/appserver/v2.1/index.html
Novera Software Inc.
http://www.novera.com/Products/products.htm
Oracle Application Server
http://www.oracle.com/appserver/
Persistence PowerTier
http://www.persistence.com/Products/index.html
Progress Apptivity Application Server
http://www.progress.com/java/apptivity/appserv.htm
Bluestone Sapphire-Web
http://www.bluestone.com/products/sapphire/
Silver Stream Application Server
http://www.silverstream.com/website/SilverStream/Pages/products_f.html
Sybase Enterprise Application Server
http://www.sybase.com/products/easerver/
Open Source Application Servers
Apache JServ + Turbine
http://java.apache.org/jserv/
http://java.apache.org/turbine/
The Locomotive Project
http://www.locomotive.org/locolink/disp?home
Microstate Hamilton
http://www.microstate.com/hamilton/
Power Tier
http://www.powertier.com/
Reviews
Appserver Comparison Matrix, (updated frequently)
http://www.flashline.com/components/appservermatrix.jsp
Web Review - App Servers -- UNIX
http://www.webreview.com/wr/pub/asunix
Web Review - The Application Server Marketplace
http://webreview.com/wr/pub/1999/02/26/appservers/index.html
Web Review - What Do Application Servers Really Do
http://webreview.com/wr/pub/1999/02/26/appservers/index2.html
webreview.com - Application Server
http://webreview.com/wr/pub/pt/Application_Server
webreview.com - Applications Servers
http://www.webreview.com/wr/pub/app_servers
ZDNet App Server Comparison - Support for J2EE
http://www.zdnet.com/devhead/stories/articles/0,4413,2275579,00.html
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