What is new in this release

This version offers many new and exciting improvements, whether you are new to the product, or making the transition from a prior release. WebSphere Application Server is a proven, high performance transaction engine that can help you build, run, integrate and manage dynamic business applications. It excels as the foundation for a Service Oriented Architecture, with these main benefits:

Simple, rapid development and deployment

Improve time to value and make the most of existing technology skills, with easy to use features designed to get you to production fast.

Secure and scalable SOA runtime

Rest assured applications and data are safe, and that you can eliminate lost business opportunities with near continuous uptime for mission-critical applications.

Extensible communication services

Increase your return on investment and improve the flexibility of your business by making application services more reusable and accessible to new users, in new ways.

Effective application management

Focus resources on innovation instead of maintenance and reduce the costs of managing your environment, with effective, easy to use management tools.

• What is new for installers (includes migration)

• What is new for administrators (includes performance)

• What is new for developers

• What is new for security specialists

• What is new for troubleshooters

Skip ahead to the details that interest you, or continue reading this topic to obtain a higher level view first.

Simple, rapid development and deployment

• WebSphere Application Server Toolkit, to help you create, test and deploy applications, including a rapid deployment feature for testing applications in the V6.1 runtime environment

• Tight integration with Rational tools for additional application building functionality

• Java Server Faces, a framework that eases the development of Java based Web applications

• Service Data Objects, a data-centric, disconnected, XML-integrated, data access mechanism that provides a source-independent result set

WebSphere Application Server, V6.1 highlights include:

• J2SE 5.0 for improved developer productivity

• Java Server Faces Widget Library (JWL), a JSF-based Web widget library that integrates widgets from a number of sources

• Installation Factory, enabling you to create a customized installation package (CIP) from the installation image for a version or release of a WebSphere software product with applicable maintenance packages, a configuration archive, one or more enterprise archive files, customization scripts, and other files

• Profiles that define the runtime environment, making it substantially easier to set up cells

• Installation by non-root users.

• Deployment enhancements, as described in What is new for administrators

Secure and scalable SOA runtime

• J2EE 1.4, which makes it easier to develop and deploy applications using industry standard tools

• J2SE 5.0 for improved developer productivity

• Web Services Security, with broad support for Web services security specifications and architectural support for plugging in and extending the capabilities of security tokens

• High Availability Manager, which provides better scaling so more concurrent users can access an application. This can help reduce administrative and licensing costs for companies and provides better flexibility to quickly bring additional user resources on board.

• A unified clustering framework that brings workload balancing, dependability, and other benefits to the application servers in your heterogeneous environment

WebSphere Application Server, V6.1 highlights include:

• Portlet programming model, for developing reusable Web modules that run on a portal server and provide access to Web-based content, applications, and other resources

• Common Criteria Assurance Level 4 security certification

• Default security configurations set out-of-the-box

• Identity management capabilities through integration of virtual member manager

• High availability and scalability improvements

Extensible communication services

• Powerful messaging engine. JMS support enables applications to exchange messages asynchronously with other JMS clients by using JMS destinations (queues or topics)

• Extensive Web services support, which makes it easier to integrate applications inside the enterprise as well as externally with customers, partners and suppliers

• Tight integration with WebSphere MQ for diverse environments

• Ability to plug in the WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus for service mediation

WebSphere Application Server, V6.1 highlights include:

• Web Services Notification, which enables Web service applications to utilize the ‘publish and subscribe’ messaging pattern

• WS Interoperability Basic Security Profile, to provide transport-neutral mechanisms to address Web services and to facilitate end-to-end addressing

• Web Services security updates

• WS Business Agreement

• Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Servlet support, for applications that support real time collaboration

Effective application management

• Web based administrative console

• Integrated Solutions Console

• Java Management eXtensions (JMX)

• Tivoli Performance Viewer

• Tight integration with Tivoli software

WebSphere Application Server, V6.1 highlights include:

• Console command assistant

• Integrated development environment for scripted administration in Application Server Toolkit

• ISC profiling

• Debugging enhancements in IBM Java 5 SDK

• IBM Support Assistant bundled for self-help

• Simplified administration with simpler panels and more wizards

• Stand-alone thin administrative client

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Related concepts

Related Reference

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