WebSphere Reverse Investor: Better high-availability Web application configuration

In each column, "WebSphere contrarian investors" will answer questions, provide guidance and discuss the underlying topics associated with the use of WebSphere products, often giving proven recommendations that contradict popular perceptions.

The meaning of the name

I have been submitting columns such as comments for the past few years, and the editor of the Ibm®websphere Developer Technology Journal asked me if I would consider opening a regular column in that style. Weakness, I replied, "Yes." "After reviewing the types of advice I often had to offer, I named this column a WebSphere contrarian investor. Merriman-webster's Online Dictionary defines the term "contrarian" (reverse investor) as follows:

Figure 1. Contrarian definition

I am not here to offer advice on investing in the stock market. If you've read any of my "comment columns" articles, you might have realized that I do often look at the opposite side of the problem when answering WebSphere-related questions. For this reason, I will discuss it in the opposite way almost when answering questions about any matter. (I am such a person who has a headache.) While some may view me as a skeptic, the Murphy's law effect I have experienced compels me to wonder if anything is really very certain or very simple, thus forming my skepticism or contrarian investor opinion!

Let's turn to the topic ...

High Availability alternatives

When I deliver a speech on high availability (AVAILABILITY,HA) topics, slides often contain "layered ha", which discusses various HA alternatives for most of the typical components of j2ee™ application deployments. Part of this slide is shown in Figure 2, including the topics I'm going to discuss here.

Figure 2. Tiered High Availability