0.3.1: Server terminology

This section defines a few frequently confused terms:

WebSphere Application Server
An IBM product providing an application server runtime for deploying applications.

To support the application servers, it provides a complete environment, including an administrative server and clients, tracing and debugging, performance monitoring, and many additional features.

WebSphere application server
An application server runtime provided as part of an IBM WebSphere Application Server installation.
EJB server
A generic term for a server that handles components coded to the Enterprise JavaBeans specification.
WebSphere administrative server
The server that handles administrative data for the WebSphere Application Server product. It is not the same thing as an application server. Rather, it maintains data about the configurations of application servers and their contents.

Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.