Maximizing Performance and Scalability with IBM WebSphere
Now that I've discussed the high-level component architecture of the two versions of the WebSphere platform, Table 3-1 summarizes the key differences between them.
| Component Type | WebSphere 4 Offering | WebSphere 5 Offering | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontend HTTP plug-in | HTTP server plug-in (uses HTTP) | HTTP server plug-in (uses HTTP) | Both platforms offer the same capability via the plug-in. |
| Workload management/ high-availability HTTP capabilities | Domains, server groups, clones , plug-in | Cells , nodes, deployment manager, HTTP plug-in | Version 5 does away with server groups and clones. |
| Data storage | WebSphere administration repository, repository, application database, session database | XML-based configuration XML-based master repository, application database, session database, DRS | The key difference is in configuration storage medium in version 5. |
| Administration capabilities | X-based GUI, WSCP, XMLConfig | Web-based console, wsadmin | Version 5 has greatly expanded on the management control interfaces. |
| Server-to-server replication | Custom application, shared session database, load-balanced JNDI contexts | DRS, custom application, shared session database | DRS is a powerful tool featured in version 5. It provides memory-to-memory object replication technologies. |