Article on Application Web Servers: The application server is a software platform that sits on top of the operating system and provides an array of services to support the software development of custom applications. See what industry-leading application server implementations share in common in this comparison review of Microsoft .NET, BEA WebLogic, and IBM WebSphere. Read this article to learn more.

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by Matt Gillespie, technical author. Intel Corp.

The application server is a software platform that sits on top of the operating system and provides an array of services to support applications. This article describes what industry-leading application server implementations share in common, specifically calling out points of similarity and difference among Microsoft .NET, BEA Web Logic, and IBM WebSphere. It targets IT managers and decision makers, and to a lesser extent, solutions architects and developers, building familiarity with application servers generally and with these three products specifically. The paper also shows, at a high level, how each of these application servers target implementation on Intel® architecture, building upon Intel's strategic alliances with Microsoft, BEA, and IBM.

Intel has worked closely with major producers of application servers to ensure that the full range of these software platforms take advantage of the architectural features of Intel processors. Commercial application servers of particular note for the purposes of enterprise applications include Microsoft .NET on Windows Server 2003, BEA WebLogic Server 8.1, and IBM WebSphere Application Server 5.0.2.

In simple three-tier application architecture, the application server makes up the middle tier: