Introduction: Messaging resources

WebSphere® Application Server supports asynchronous messaging based on the Java™ Message Service (JMS) and Java EE Connector Architecture (JCA) specifications, which provide a common way for Java programs (clients and Java EE applications) to create, send, receive, and read asynchronous requests, as messages.

JMS support enables applications to exchange messages asynchronously with other JMS clients by using JMS destinations (queues or topics). Some messaging providers also allow WebSphere Application Server applications to use JMS support to exchange messages asynchronously with non-JMS applications; for example, WebSphere Application Server applications often need to exchange messages with WebSphere MQ applications. Applications can explicitly poll for messages from JMS destinations, or they can use message-driven beans to automatically retrieve messages from JMS destinations without explicitly polling for messages.

WebSphere Application Server supports the following messaging providers:
  • The WebSphere Application Server default messaging provider (which uses service integration as the provider)
  • The WebSphere MQ messaging provider (which uses your WebSphere MQ system as the provider)
  • Third-party messaging providers that implement either a JCA Version 1.5 or 1.6 resource adapter or the ASF component of the JMS Version 1.0.2 specification

Your applications can use messaging resources from any of these JMS providers. The choice of provider is most often dictated by requirements to use or integrate with an existing messaging system. For example, you might already have a messaging infrastructure based on WebSphere MQ. In this case, you can either connect directly by using the WebSphere MQ messaging provider, or configure a service integration bus with links to a WebSphere MQ network and then access the bus through the default messaging provider.

If you mainly want to use messaging between applications in WebSphere Application Server, perhaps with some interaction with a WebSphere MQ system, the default messaging provider is a logical choice. If your business also uses WebSphere MQ, and you want to integrate WebSphere Application Server messaging applications into a predominately WebSphere MQ network, choose the WebSphere MQ messaging provider. To administer a third-party messaging provider, you use either the resource adaptor (for a Java EE Connector Architecture (JCA) 1.5-compliant or 1.6-compliant messaging provider) or the client (for a non-JCA messaging provider) that is supplied by the third party.