0.14: What is data access?

The following table summarizes data access concepts central to IBM WebSphere Application Server:

data store or database A relational database such as DB2 or Oracle, or another product that manages and accesses data
application database Holds data accessed by applications managed with IBM WebSphere Application Server
administrative database Holds data for the IBM WebSphere Application Server administrative server
JDBC resource provider Software that enables Java applications, such as those supported by the product, to connect to JDBC-compliant databases through the use of DataSource objects
JDBC resource provider configuration An administrative configuration that specifies the location of the JDBC DataSource code for connecting Java applications to a database
data source configuration An administrative configuration that establishes a pool of connections to a database, for use by Java components. It also specifies connection pooling parameters, such as the maximum number of connections to maintain in the pool.

A data source instance (and the associated connection pool) is created for every application server instance that uses the data source. The connection pool associated with a data source is in turn shared by all application components (servlets, JSP files, and enterprise beans) that are running in an application server.

connection pooling A scheme that addresses inefficiencies in obtaining and releasing database connections