How to Select a laBVaNtaGe applicatioN SerVer

2012 LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

pUrpoSe aND Scope Thisdocumentprovidesguidanceonhowtoselectan applicationserverasthefoundationforaLABVANTAGE system.Itiswrittenforanaudiencethatisfamiliarwith applicationserverenvironmentsandtheassociatedIT tasksandtechnologies. applicatioN SerVer oVerView Becauseeverytechnicalcomputingenvironmentis different,LABVANTAGE6maybedeployedonseveral differentapplicationservers.

Doestheapplicationservervendorregularlyprovide Areapplicationserverupdateseasilylocatedor
updates? announcedthroughemail,viaRSSfeeds,onthe vendorwebsite,etc? Areapplicationserverupdateseasytoapplygiven thesupportresourcesavailable?

RedHatJBossEnterpriseApplicationPlatform5.1 OracleWebLogic11G IBMWebSphere7.0.0.19

Eachoftheseapplicationserversfullysupportall featuresoftheLABVANTAGEsoftwareandtogether providearobustfoundationforapplicationserver-based applications.ForanoverviewofLABVANTAGEswebbasedarchitecture,pleasedownloadthatwhitepaper. SelectioN criteria Thissectiondescribesthevariousselectioncriteriaby whichapplicationserversmaybeevaluated. ease of installation and Management LABVANTAGEprovideshigh-levelinstallationguidance foreachoftheapplicationserverssupportedby LABVANTAGE.However,thereisalwayssomelevelof installerknowledgethatisrequiredorassumedinthese documents.Therefore,itisimportanttoevaluatethe technicalcomplexityorlevelofeducationandtraining requiredforeachapplicationserver.Forexample,the installationofoneapplicationservermightbeassimple asrunningWindowsinstallersoftwarewhileanother applicationservermightrequireaconsiderableamount ofmanualconfigurationusingstructuredtextinXML. Additionally,aftertheapplicationserverisinstalledand runningongoingmaintenanceandmanagementwill berequired.Forexample,servervendorsmayrelease softwareupdatesthataffectthestability,reliability,or securityofitssoftware.Sincetheseapplicationservers arethefoundationoftheLABVANTAGEsoftware,itis importanttokeepthemuptodatewithinthesupported patchlevelsdocumentedbyLABVANTAGE.The responsibilityforapplyingtheseupdateswillmostlikely fallonlocalITorlaboratoryresources. Withthesepointsinmind,considerthefollowingwhen makingadecisionassociatedwitheaseofinstallation andmanagement.
2012 laBVaNtaGe Solutions, inc. all rights reserved. 1204al05cYl

cost considerations Aswithanybusinessdecision,youshouldconsider thecostassociatedwithaparticularapplicationserver. Themostobviouscostassociatedwithanapplication serveristhepurchasepriceoftheruntimelicenses. Certainapplicationserversareavailableatnocharge whileotherscomeataverysignificantpurchaseprice. However,sincepurchasepricevariabilityisalmost alwaystiedtootherfactorssuchasrobustnessand supportability,itshouldnotbecomethedecidingfactor. AdditionalcostfactorsarethoseassociatedwithIT resourcetraining,theimplementationofclusteredand failoverservers,theexistenceofpreferredvendor relationships,etc. Withthesepointsinmind,considerthefollowingwhen makingacostdecision:

Whatisthepurchasepriceoftheapplicationserver Isthepurchasepricecommensuratetothelevelof
licenses? supportandrobustnessofferedbytheapplication server? Hasmyorganizationalreadyimplemented,ordothey currentlysupport,oneoftheapplicationserverson whichLABVANTAGEdeploys? Canmyorganizationleverageanexistingrelationship withanapplicationservervendor? Willmyinstallationanddevelopmentresources requireapplicationservertraining?Ifso,thecost ofthetrainingandtheproductivitylostduring familiarizationshouldbefactoredintothedecision.

Vendor Support Althoughyourorganizationwillundoubtedlyrelyon aLABVANTAGEsupportcontracttoprovideworldclasssupportforyourLABVANTAGEsystem,you willeventuallyconfrontissuesthataresolelythe responsibilityoftheapplicationservervendor.For example,whileLABVANTAGEmayprovidetechnical papersandinstructionsonhowtoconfigureaparticular applicationserverforaclusteredenvironment,allofthis informationandknowledgecomesoriginallyfromthe applicationservervendor.Ifavendornolongersupports aparticularversionofanapplicationserver,orifaserver
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How to Select a laBVaNtaGe applicatioN SerVer

isbeingmodifiedandreleasedbyanopen-source community,thesefactorsmayimpactthetimeandcost requiredtoimplementtheclusteredsolution. Withthesepointsinmind,considerthefollowingwhen makingasupportabilitydecision:

Istheapplicationserverbeingmodifiedandreleased

technologyforelectronicformcreation,certainlabsmay wishtodevelopcustomJSPpagesandjavaclasses outsideoftheLIMS.Inthiscase,youshouldconsider theeaseofcustomizationanddevelopment.Because LABVANTAGEiswrittenforaJavawebenvironment, mostJavaIntegratedDevelopmentEnvironments(IDE) maybeused;forexample,EmbarcaderoJBuilder, Eclipse,IntelliJIDEA,NetBeans,etc. Additionally,applicationservervendorssometimes releaseaJavaIDEthatmakescommondevelopment tasksfortheirapplicationservereasier.Forexample, vendor-specificIDEsmayallowdeveloperstodebug codebyattachingdirectlytotheapplicationserverjava thread,automaticallypackageanddeployWARand EARfiles,createwebserviceswithallofthenecessary dependenciesalreadyincluded,andcreatetemplatebasedJSPfileswiththepropertaglibrariesalready referenced. Withthesepointsinmind,considerthefollowingwhen makingacustomizationordevelopmentdecision:

bythevendororbyanorganizationthatalsoprovides support? Ifnot,aresupportcontractsofferedbyother reputableorganizations? Howmuchdoesvendorsupportcost? Issupportofferedperincidentoronlyunderaterm contract? Doesthevendorhavefreesupportresourcesontheir website? Doestheapplicationserverhaveanactiveuser community?

Scalability & redundancy Ifyourorganizationintendstosupportalargenumber ofusers,orifyourLIMSenvironmentmustbehighavailability,thenyoushouldconsidertheissuesof scalabilityandredundancy.Scalabilityreferstoa systemsabilitytosupportincreasedthroughputorload; forexample,whenanorganizationaddsseveraldozen userstoanexistingLIMSsystemfortheproductionof anewproduct.Redundancyreflectsasystemsability tocontinueworkingwhenprimarycomponentsofthat systembecomeunavailable;forexample,whenone applicationserverbecomesunavailableabackupserver isused. ImplementingLABVANTAGEasahighlyreliable,highly availablesystemwillincreasetheoverallqualityofthe solutionbutwillcertainlyaffecteachpointintheproject managementtriangle:scope,cost,andschedule. Withthesepointsinmind,considerthefollowingwhen makingascalabilityandredundancydecision:

DoesLABVANTAGEalreadymeetallofmypage Howmuchcustomdevelopmentisanticipated? Howimportantisittomakethedevelopersjob Willhavingavendor-specificJavaIDEpositively

easier? affecttheresourcesallocatedtomyimplementation? configurationneeds?

applicatioN SerVer reView Thissectionprovidesabriefreviewforeachofthe applicationserversonwhichLABVANTAGEmaybe deployed. red Hat JBoss JBossistheapplicationserveronwhichLABVANTAGE softwareisdeveloped,thefirsttoreceivetesting,and maybepurchaseddirectlyfromLABVANTAGE.JBoss iswidelyknownasarobustopen-sourceapplication server.LABVANTAGEmaybedeployedonthe enterpriseversionofthecommercialJBossApplication PlatformthatisreleasedandsupportedbyRedHat.This JEEapplicationservercanrunonanyoperatingsystem thatsupportstheSun(Oracle)JavaVirtualMachine. Detaileddocumentationprovidedbythevendorisalmost alwayswrittenforaLinux-likeenvironment,althoughthe LABVANTAGEinstallationandmaintenanceinstructions aresimplifiedforanyoperatingsystem. InstallationanddeploymentofLABVANTAGEonJBoss issimplerthantheotherapplicationserversbecausethe
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DoIexpecttosupportalargenumberofadditional Whenanapplicationserverbecomesunavailable
usersinthefuture? howmuchtimecanpassbeforeitnegativelyaffects mybusiness? Istheadditionalcostandtimeacceptablewithinthe scopeofmycurrentimplementationproject?

ease of customization & Development AlthoughLABVANTAGEcanquicklyconfigurenew pagesusingtheLABVANTAGEDesignerandeForms

How to Select a laBVaNtaGe applicatioN SerVer

2012 laBVaNtaGe Solutions, inc. all rights reserved. 1204al05cYl

LABVANTAGEconsoleisespeciallydesignedtoexecute advancedtaskswhenrunningonJBoss.Onceinstalled, itshighlymodulardesignmeansthatJBossscalesto bothsmallandlargeorganizationsverywell. OperatingsystemssupportedonJBossarenearly exhaustiveandincludeanyoperatingsystemthat supportsa32-or64-bitofaversion1.5JVMfromSun, HP-UX,IBM,orAzul.Inaddition,mostrecent32-and 64-bitversionsofRedHatLinux,Windows,Solaris,and HP-UXhavebeencertified. JBosshasanactiveusercommunityandenterprisequalitysupportandtrainingisavailablefromRedHat. Clustering,failover,andloadbalancingareallsupported andmanydevelopmentenvironmentssupportJBoss specificallyduringdevelopmentanddebuggingactivities. Oncedevelopmentiscomplete,customizationsmaybe packagedtogetherintotheLABVANTAGEEARfileand droppedintoafolderforautomaticdeployment. oracle weblogic WebLogichasrecentlybecometheheartoftheOracle middlewareplatformandhasstrongcross-product integrationwithotherOracleproducts.Suitablefor mediumandlargeorganizationsthatrequireawide varietyofperformanceandscalabilityoptions,WebLogic providesasimple,webbasedgraphicaluserinterface formostinstallationandmaintenanceactivities.Oracle providesawidevarietyofon-siteandremotetraining opportunitiesandhasanactiveusercommunityand robustdocumentation. OracleWebLogicsupportsmostrecent32-and64bitoperatingsystems,includingHP-UX,AIX,Linux, Windows,SUSELinux,OracleEnterpriseLinux,Red HatLinux,Solaris,andmore. Clustering,failover,andloadbalancingareimplemented inWebLogicusingtheweb-basedadministration interface.OracleWorkshopforWebLogicisa developmentenvironmentreleasedspecificallyfor developingcustomjavaclassesandJSPpagesthat willrunonWebLogic,althoughanyJEEdevelopment environmentmaybeused.Oncedevelopmentis complete,customizationsmaybepackagedtogether intotheLABVANTAGEEARfileanddeployedtothe applicationserverorclusterusingtheadministration interface. iBM webSphere SimilartoOracleWebLogic,IBMWebSphereissuitable
How to Select a laBVaNtaGe applicatioN SerVer

formediumandlargeorganizationsthatrequirerobust scalabilityandperformance.Installationusesawizardlikegraphicaluserinterfaceandprovidesamyriad ofoptionsforclusteringandfailover.IBMoffersa largenumberofWebSpheretrainingandcertification programsandthecorporatewebsitecontainsaccess toalargelibraryofdocumentation,troubleshootingtips, forums,anddownloadresources. Clustering,failover,andloadbalancingareall implementedinWebSphereandaresomewhateasier toconfigurecomparedtootherenterpriseapplication servers.WebSpheredevelopmentcanbeexecuted inmoststandardJavaIDEsaswellasusingtheIBM RationalApplicationDeveloperforWebSphereSoftware. WebSpherehasthelargestlistofsupportedoperating systems,includingmostrecent32-and64-bitversions ofAIX,HP-UX,RedHatLinux,SUSELinux,iSeries, Solaris,Windows,z/OS,andmore. SUMMarY Choosinganapplicationserveronwhichtodeploy LABVANTAGEdoesnotneedtobeadifficultdecision. Usethisdocumentasaguidetodecision-makingand considermakingaprosandconslistforeachserver andoperatingsystemcombination.Asalways,please feelfreetocontacttheLABVANTAGESalesorSupport organizationsifwecanhelptalkyouthroughthe decision-makingprocess.Finally,ifyouwouldprefer tohaveaprofessionaltechniciansurveyandmakea formalrecommendation,askaboutabriefscopingstudy fromourProfessionalServicesorganization.

2012 laBVaNtaGe Solutions, inc. all rights reserved. 1204al05cYl

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Criteria

RedHatJBoss Ipreferasimplifiedinstallation thathasbeentailored especiallyforthisappserver Iwanttopurchasemy appserverdirectlyfrom LABVANTAGEatthelowest cost Iwillusethevendorfor softwareupdates,butprefer theapplicationservermost usedwithinLABVANTAGE.

OracleWebLogic Irequireaneasytouse installationprocessthatgives meamyriadofinstallationand maintenanceoptionsusinga GUIinterface. Iwanttopurchaseanapp serverfromavendorthatoffers robustsupportandtraining opportunities Iwillusethevendorfor softwareupdatesandmay choosetousethevendorforits world-classsupportresources andsystems Iwantscalabilityand redundancyforahighly available,highly-redundant system

IBMWebSphere Irequireaneasytouse installationprocessthatgives meamyriadofinstallationand maintenanceoptionsusinga GUIinterface. Iwanttopurchaseanapp serverfromavendorthatoffers robustsupportandtraining opportunities Iwillusethevendorfor softwareupdatesandmay choosetousethevendorforits world-classsupportresources andsystems Iwantscalabilityand redundancyforahighly available,highly-redundant system

Installation/Management

Cost

Supportability

Scalability/Redundancy

Iwantasystemwithverygood scalabilityandredundancy Iwantanenvironmentthat isconducivetocustom development Iwantanenvironmentthat isconducivetocustom development

Customization/Development

Iwantanenvironmentthathas Iwantanenvironmentthathas vendor-provideddevelopment vendor-provideddevelopment toolsandmethodologies toolsandmethodologies Iwantanenvironmentthathas Iwantanenvironmentthathas vendor-provideddevelopment vendor-provideddevelopment toolsandmethodologies toolsandmethodologies

Customization/Development

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2012 LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. For information regarding this and other LABVANTAGE products, please contact LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc.: The information contained in this document is proprietary and confidential to LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose, without the express written permission of LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc. This document is subject to change without notice, and LABVANTAGE does not warrant that the material contained in this document is error-free. If you find any problems with this document, please report them to LABVANTAGE in writing. LABVANTAGE, Evergreen Studio, Evergreen, LABVANTAGE Solutions Matrix and the LABVANTAGE solution icon are trademarks of LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. This document may contain statements concerning possible functionality for LABVANTAGE software products and technology. LABVANTAGE disclaims any express or implied commitment to deliver functionality or software unless or until generally commercially available. Any statements of possible future direction are for information purposes only, and LABVANTAGE makes no express or implied commitments or representations concerning the timing and content of any future functionality or releases.

2012 laBVaNtaGe Solutions, inc. all rights reserved. 1204al05cYl

How to Select a laBVaNtaGe applicatioN SerVer

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