IBM today unveiled plans for a new Web software product line that includes a Web application server platform and scaling software for efficient management of Web sites.
The new product line, called IBM WebSphere, delivers a foundation that customers can use to build, deploy, and manage Java-based enterprise applications.
The initial offerings in the product line include the IBM WebSphere
Application Server (previously code named Hurricane), which provides the base technology for supporting Web applications, and the IBM WebSphere Performance Pack (previously code named Nagano), which is designed to enhance the reliability, scalability, and availability of a Web site.
In a future release, IBM plans to extend the WebSphere product line with an integrated tool set for building dynamic Java applications that can be deployed and managed on a Web site on the Internet, an intranet, or an extranet. The tool set is expected to include content and application creation “wizards” to more easily build and deploy dynamic Web applications.
IBM intends to enable Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) support in a
future release of the WebSphere Application Server and plans to provide a growth path to transactional environments like IBM’s
TXSeries and Component Broker.
IBM said it will also enable WebSphere Application Server capabilities to work with the Lotus Domino Web application server and IBM Net.Commerce merchant server. Future plans also call for the integration of NetObjects Fusion and IBM VisualAge for Java with WebSphere.
The first release of IBM WebSphere Application Server–which
will include the runtime environment, initial connectors, and an HTTP
server–is planned for release by the end of June. At that time,
pricing and availability information will be provided.
An update of the IBM WebSphere Application Server runtime beta code, known as ServletExpress, is available today for download. Developers have already requested more than 5,000 downloads of the prior beta version.
