Application server

Application Server: it’s working, categories, roles and advantages.

What is an application server?

An application server is also known as an appserver. It is a server program in the computer and handles all the application operations between the organizations’ databases and the users. It is found in a computer in a distributed network and helps in providing the business logic for any application program.

The application server is normally used for transaction-based applications which are of a complex nature. It is also used to support high-end needs. For this purpose the application server must have a built-in redundancy, a monitor for high-availability, a support for complex database access and its application services should be high-performance distributed.

What does an Application Server do?

By using the application server, an environment is provided which is suitable for running and deploying custom, server-based business applications which are built with Microsoft.NET Framework 3.0.

Application server also supports the applications which use Message Queuing, COM+, distributed transactions and Web services.

It provides a runtime that supports management and deployment of high-performance server-based business applications. By using these applications we are able to service requests from client systems which are remote or the Web browsers which are connecting from the public Internet, a corporate network or intranet. It also able to service requests from remote computer systems that send messages instead of requests.

Categories of application servers:

The three most popular types of application servers which are software applications in their own right:

• Java-based application server: It includes IBM WebSphere and Oracle WebLogic.
• Microsoft Windows Server-based
• Other application servers which are mostly built by use of open source technologies.

Who will be interested in the application server?

Mainly the IT professionals who manage and deploy an organization’s line-of-business applications are interested in the role of application servers. The lines of business (LOB) applications are normally developed for your organization or in your organization.

An application server environment does the following functions:

• Maintains and manages applications which are built with the .NET Framework 3.0
• Maintains and manages applications which are built to use Message Queuing, COM+, distributed transactions and Web services.
• Connects to the internet or an intranet in order to exchange information
• Maintains and manages applications that consume or expose Web services
• Maintains and manages applications that expose Web pages
• They help in interoperating with other remote systems which are running on disparate operating systems and platforms.

The Advantages of application servers:

Code and data integrity:

When the business logic is centralized on an individual or on a few servers then it’s guaranteed that all the applications for the users will be updated and upgraded. There’ll be no risk of the manipulation of the data by the old version of the application.

Centralized configuration

All the changes to the application configuration occur centrally e.g. system settings.

Total cost of ownership

The organizations developing enterprise applications can save a lot of cost.

Transaction Support

The end-users of the application servers benefit from the system-wide standard behavior. Moreover time and costs are saved because the server does a lot of the tedious code-generation. In this way developers will be able to focus on business logic.