Servers
The IBM® TRIRIGA® Application Platform uses many different types of servers. The word "server" is often used to mean a physical piece of equipment, but it can also represent a logical separation that is based on function. Each of these logical servers can be collocated on physical servers, or separated so that each logical tier is installed on their own physical server.
- Web server
- Receives HTTP requests for web content. Also referred to as a front-end server.
- Application server
- Carries out the user business logic with WebLogic Server or WebSphere® Application Server.
- Process server
- Carries out the background processing and analytics with WebLogic Server or WebSphere Application Server.
- Tools server
- Carries out the reporting.
- Database server
- Holds the relational database and supported database management system such as Oracle Database, IBM DB2® server, or Microsoft SQL Server.
Web server
The web server is the tier with which each user web browser communicates. Examples of web servers include IBM HTTP Server, Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS), and Apache HTTP Server. The web server handles HTTP requests only and does not run business logic. The IBM TRIRIGA Application Platform also supports Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) by using HTTPS. Typically, HTTP uses port 80 (non-secure connection) and 443 (secure connection), but it can be configured to use other ports. Each time a user requests a JavaServer Page (JSP), the web server passes the request to the application server for processing. The web server is a physical manifestation of the web tier.
Application server
The application server is a Java virtual machine (JVM) with an instance of the runtime application. This server runs most of the business logic. Application server processes are CPU-intensive and require a great deal of memory. The application tier consists of JavaServer Pages (JSP) and Java classes. The Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) application server provides a JSP container, a database connection pool, and transaction management services. The application server is a physical manifestation of the application (middleware) tier.
Process server
The process server is a JVM with an instance of the runtime application that is set up as a dedicated processing or analytics engine. This server is configured almost exactly like an application server, but no users sign on to this server. It handles all workflow requests that are queued from users or by the IBM TRIRIGA software. The process server is a physical manifestation of the application (middleware) tier.
Tools server
The tools server houses the third-party extensions from IBM TRIRIGA. You can designate a IBM TRIRIGA application server as a BIRT process server. If you choose to run both BIRT and IBM TRIRIGA on the same server, expect BIRT report handling operations to increase the load on the server. BIRT is run in the same JVM as IBM TRIRIGA in all cases.
Database server
The database server runs the database process. The database is where data is stored. The major database servers use Structured Query Language (SQL) to store and retrieve data. The Oracle Database server, IBM DB2 server, and Microsoft SQL Server use SQL. But each server is a different database engine and each has its own extended SQL for competitive differentiation. The application tier communicates with the database tier by using JDBC connection pools. The database server is a physical manifestation of the database tier.