Pro (IBM) WebSphere Application Server 7 Internals 1st ed. Edition

I wrote this book because I wanted to communicate how the WebSphere Application Server is architected and works to allow easier support and better targeting of applications and infrastructure. The internals of WAS is a subject I am often asked about at user group meetings so I know I am not alone in wanting to know more.

The subjects I cover start with a general overview of the WAS architecture and how it fits in a typical enterprise deployment, followed by a look at the JVM structure and operation and the underpinning Eclipse/OSGi component model functionality. Above this sits the core WAS runtime that is split into Eclipse/OSGi components combined into containers loaded in phases. The containers and key subsystems are examined in depth starting with how they are loaded, how they operate, how they interact with other subsystems, and how they can be extended. Most of this discussion sits in the undocumented territory, but this is shown to provide the functionality required by a modern enterprise scale application server.

Above the core containers the enterprise scalability and high availability features are examined in depth, along with a look at how the configuration of WAS in the XML files provides the information necessary to run the environment.

Throughout the book expect to see hints and tips on operation and development tricks used to derive the structure of the WAS7 source code itself.

This is probably the only place where the WAS Application Mgr Service, the collaborators, and the WAS internal component models will ever be described, so this book provides key information on extending WAS itself – although support from IBM won’t be forthcoming.

So, I hope this book is the book you are looking for as the core source on the internals of WebSphere Application Server 7 and that it helps you in your job as much as finding this information out for myself has helped me in mine.

Colin Renouf

Colin Renouf is an enterprise architect responsible for middleware technology for a large U.K.-based bank. Formerly an aeronautical engineer at an aircraft engines company, Colin has 25 years of experience in the IT industry. Colin originally specialized in Windows development and infrastructure, but being familiar with AIX from the early days and with a keen interest in Java/J2EE, Colin has added WAS and AIX to his specialties. As an active member of user communities, Colin runs some of the largest user groups in the world, notably that for AIX and jointly that for all things WebSphere. Colin has a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering and another in information technology and social sciences from reputable U.K. universities, and has studied a number of other subjects at degree level. Colin is the author of the “WAS Under The Hood” section of the WebSphere on AIX Best Practices and Optimization Redbook and “”Enterprise Infrastructure”” Redpaper, the WAS Internals series in IBM Systems Magazine, and various presentations on the subject of how WAS works as part of the user group conference scene.