Porting practices from IBM was to IBM WVE

Porting practices from IBM WebSphere Application Server to IBM WebSphere Virtual Enterprise

Brief introduction of WVE and middleware virtualization scheme

Was is the industry-leading Java EE middleware, has been widely used in all walks of life in the world. Based on was, IBM launched a new middleware product for middleware virtualization-websphere Virtual Enterprise (which was previously part of the WebSphere Extended deployment product, referred to as XD). WVE provides middleware virtualization capabilities, which enables optimal matching of the workload requirements of the middleware with available resources, the ability to dynamically manage workloads and resources, the need for flexibility in the IT environment, and ensuring that resources are configured where they are most needed.

Typically, applications and Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) application servers are statically bound to specific servers. Some applications experience cyclical spikes in short-term load, and in response to this type of load the enterprise has to procure a large number of IT infrastructures. However, during the general load (most of the time), a large proportion of computing power is not used, which results in lower utilization of the IT infrastructure. Wve the virtualized, dynamically shared operating environment through resource virtualization based on the Java EE application server. In this case, resource virtualization refers to the ability of multiple application systems to share separate computing resources to meet the peak and valley values of business requirements. In an environment of WVE virtualization, WVE enables automated execution of management services and dynamic redistribution. In essence, WVE's virtualized environment conforms to the principle of "doing less." The WVE virtualized environment can run more applications and dynamically change applications and configurations when IT infrastructure is in place, as compared to static environments. At the same time, Wve also provides the service level management function, through the predefined strategy, may ensure the key application or the important customer's service quality, realizes to the business demand computation resource scheduling. In addition, in a shared environment, WVE can also implement automated exception handling to enhance system availability.

Based on WVE construction middleware virtualization scheme to Application Server dynamic cluster (hereinafter referred to as dynamic cluster) as the core, for the application to run to provide a more sharing and flexibility of the operating environment. The solution should consist mainly of three parts:

Dynamic Application Server Cluster Group: A group of server clusters based on a computational resource pool composed of multiple physical servers, which supports dynamic scale expansion, dynamic load balancing and dynamic request routing, is the main body to provide the application running environment, which is realized by multiple WVE nodes.

Application of Routing Control node: As a unified access layer for client requests, load balancing and routing among dynamic cluster members is realized by wve on Demand Router (ODR);

Management Control node: Dynamic cluster environment management and monitoring tools, through this tool can define and configure dynamic cluster and the application of the various parameters of the routing control node, including run-time dynamic cluster needs to follow the various strategies, and can monitor the operation of this environment, by WVE deployment Manager (short Dmgr) implementation.

Figure 1. Typical topological diagram of wve system

Based on Wve, the above middleware virtualization solution can:

Provide dynamic and shared computing environment to improve the utilization of computing resources;

Support Application service level management to realize dynamic computing resource allocation oriented to business requirements;

Provide automated monitoring and exception handling capabilities, improve system availability, and simplify maintenance work.