This Oracle white paper by Erik Bergenholtz and contributing authors Mark Prichard explains how virtualization is being affected by the shift to the commodity level and to the virtualization of applications in an effort to keep pace with the new level of benefits becoming available with this change. This technical white paper explores the availability of Platform as a Service (PaaS) initiatives and, specifically, the Oracle WebLogic Suite, which delivers an infrastructure enabling effective virtualization of Java EE deployments.

Oracle WebLogic Suite, the white paper notes, includes the capabilities that enable the effective management of virtualized deployments -- addressing the issues that sometimes arise in the virtualization of middleware -- while the solution is also optimized to provide an environment that specifically targets Java EE deployments.

Difficulties that formerly arose with Java middleware virtualized through the JVM and then executed on a hypervisor are addressed by the optimized runtime environment found in Oracle WebLogic Server. The Oracle Virtual Machine provides the hypervisor layer accompanying Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle WebLogic Server on Oracle JRockit Virtual.

The varieties of virtualization practices, according to the white paper, are several, including:

• Consolidate hardware to increase application density; save on cooling, rack space.

• Increase utilization of provisioned hardware.

• Accelerate provisioning of new applications and infrastructures.

• Better manage dynamic fault tolerance and re-configuration of deployed systems.

• Provide isolation of operating systems and applications on the same hardware.

• The ability to run both legacy and new software on the same hardware.

The authors review the principles that govern the effective application of software assemblies so as to ensure optimal levels of hardware utilization and efficiency, noting the behavior of the Oracle Virtual Assembly Builder designed by Oracle for the role of providing a comprehensive Java EE virtualization infrastructure. The operation of the Virtual Assembly Builder is reviewed in considerable detail, including its capability of introspecting external systems such as databases apart from the virtual appliance.

The white paper explains how Oracle WebLogic Server on Oracle JRockit Virtual Edition enables the deployment of Java EE applications in a virtualized environment without exacting either the performance and scalability penalties typically found in running on a hypervisor. The other benefits to be found in employing the JRockit VM are also enumerated.

In summary, the benefits delivered by Oracle WebLogic Server on Oracle JRockit Virtual Edition running directly on Oracle VM are an optimized server side Java Virtualization stack that provides a number of advantages as a result of eliminating the guest operating system.

The paper concludes with the comment that Oracle WebLogic Server on Oracle JRockit Virtual Edition creates not only a novel runtime paradigm for Java EE deployments, but also combines this environment with Oracle Virtual Assembly Builder and runtime management and operational tooling into a complete virtualization solution.

The result is a virtualization infrastructure optimally suited to reduce deployment and management complexity resulting in increased hardware efficiency and utilization while at the same time drastically reducing operational costs, the authors write.

More Information

Running Java Applications in a Virtualized Environment Now Easier and More Practical

Oracle VM Templates for Oracle Applications

Sun Systems for Oracle Coherence [...read more...]

		fullsource
Print Email Current Profile Archive Blog Generate newsletter