WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 Feature Pack for Web Services
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Types of messaging provider

There are three main types of Java Message Service (JMS) provider that can be configured in WebSphere Application Server: The WebSphere Application Server default messaging provider (uses service integration as the provider), the WebSphere MQ messaging provider (uses your WebSphere MQ system as the provider) and 3rd party messaging providers (use another company's product as the provider). For backwards compatibility with earlier releases, there is also support for the Version 5 default messaging provider.

Overview

WebSphere Application Server supports JMS messaging through the following providers:

Your applications can use messaging resources from any of these JMS providers. The choice of provider is most often dictated by requirements to use or integrate with an existing messaging system. For example, you might already have a messaging infrastructure based on WebSphere MQ. In this case you can either connect directly using the WebSphere MQ messaging provider, or configure a service integration bus with links to a WebSphere MQ network and then access the bus through the default messaging provider.

Default messaging provider

If you mainly want to use messaging between applications in WebSphere Application Server, perhaps with some interaction with a WebSphere MQ system, the default messaging provider is the natural choice. This provider is based on service integration technologies and is fully integrated with the WebSphere Application Server runtime. To use this provider, you configure the following resources:
  • Configure a connection factory or activation specification to connect your application to a service integration bus.
  • Assign a queue or topic to a bus destination on the bus. This topic or queue is then available to any application that can access the bus destination.

A service integration bus comprises messaging engines that run in WebSphere Application Server processes and dynamically connect to one another using dynamic discovery. A messaging application connects to the bus through a messaging engine. Messaging engines use WebSphere Application Server clustering to provide high availability and scalability, and they use the same management framework as the rest of WebSphere Application Server. Bus client applications can run from within WebSphere Application Server (JMS), or run as stand alone Java clients (using the J2SE Client for JMS) or run as non-Java clients (XMS).

In a pure WebSphere Application Server environment, service integration provides the following benefits:
  • An all Java implementation for JMS within a single server process, yielding good performance for local JMS traffic.
  • Direct delivery to a ready-consumer (no disk write).
  • Administration model is fully integrated with WebSphere Application Server, providing management of single and federated nodes within a cell.
  • Uses all the provided WebSphere Application Server infrastructure for tracing and threading, and for a range of communications protocols with a single point of administration.
  • Extensive interoperation with WebSphere MQ networks.
There are two ways that you can connect to a WebSphere MQ system through the default messaging provider:
  • Connect a bus to a WebSphere MQ network, using a WebSphere MQ link. The WebSphere MQ network appears to the service integration bus as a foreign bus, and the service integration bus appears to WebSphere MQ as another queue manager.
  • Connect directly to WebSphere MQ queues located on WebSphere MQ for z/OS queue managers or queue sharing groups, using a WebSphere MQ server bus member. Each WebSphere MQ queue is made available at a queue-type destination on the bus.
For more information about these two approaches, see Overview of interoperation with WebSphere MQ.

To configure and manage messaging with the default messaging provider, see Managing messaging with the default messaging provider.

WebSphere MQ messaging provider

If your business also uses WebSphere MQ, and you want to integrate WebSphere Application Server messaging applications into a predominately WebSphere MQ network, choose the WebSphere MQ messaging provider, which allows you to define resources for connecting to any queue manager on the WebSphere MQ network.

WebSphere MQ is characterized as follows:

In a Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) environment, WebSphere MQ benefits from a Java EE Connector Architecture Version 1.5 resource adapter interface. In a non-Java EE environment, WebSphere MQ provides direct delivery to a ready-consumer (no disk write).

To configure and manage messaging with the WebSphere MQ messaging provider, see Managing messaging with the WebSphere MQ messaging provider. For more information about scenarios and considerations for using WebSphere MQ with WebSphere Application Server, see the White Papers and Red books provided by WebSphere MQ; for example, through the WebSphere MQ library Web page at http://www.ibm.com/software/ts/mqseries/library/.

3rd party messaging provider

The generic messaging provider supports the JMS Version 1.1 unified connection factory and allows you to use 3rd party JMS providers, for example because of existing investments.

Note:
  • To administer 3rd party JMS providers, use the resource adaptor or client supplied by the 3rd party. You can still use the WebSphere Application Server administrative console to administer the JMS connection factories and destinations that are within WebSphere Application Server, but you cannot use the administrative console to administer the JMS provider itself, or any of its resources that are outside of WebSphere Application Server.
  • To use message-driven beans (MDBs), 3rd party JMS providers must include Application Server Facility (ASF), an optional feature which is part of the JMS Version 1.1 specification, or use an inbound resource adapter that conforms to the J2EE Connector Architecture (JCA) Version 1.5 specification.

To work with a 3rd party provider, see Managing messaging with a 3rd party messaging provider.

V5 default messaging provider

This provider is identical to the WebSphere Application Server Version 5 default provider. Only the name has changed. It provides backwards compatibility that enables WebSphere Application Server Version 6 applications to connect to WebSphere Application Server Version 5 resources in a mixed cell. It also allows WebSphere Application Server Version 5 applications to connect to WebSphere Application Server Version 6 resources in a mixed cell. To configure and manage messaging to interoperate with WebSphere Application Server Version 5, see Maintaining Version 5 default messaging resources.




Related tasks
Choosing a messaging provider
Learning about messaging with WebSphere Application Server
Concept topic    

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Last updated: Nov 25, 2008 2:35:59 AM CST
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