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We are running the EntireX WS-Stack under Apache Tomcat which is running on an old version of RedHat Linux and hence are in need to retire the server. While a no-brainer option is to install Apache Tomcat on a supported version of RedHat Linux and deploy the wsstack.war package into that, this creates an opportunity to consider other options for hosting the WS-Stack.

What would be the current installation options I should consider? Would it be preferable to host WS-Stack in a Docker container on a cloud? Are there other/better app servers than Apache Tomcat that play nice with WS-Stack (though WS-Stack is itself Apache Tomcat)? Should I consider Windows over Linux for an on-prem virtual server? Should I consider using the OMVS platform under z/OS if that is possible?

I am having a difficult time finding documentation specific to these considerations for WS-Stack installation planning to help with this kind of decision, and am seeking advice if there are better options than just doing what we did before but on RedHat 8 & Apache Tomcat.

Thanks in advance!

Regards,

Brian

In general, the XML/SOAP Listener is a Java application and requires the Web Services Stack Runtime in a Java enabled Web Application Server. In our documentation we are describing how to deploy the WS-Stack-Runtime into Tomcat (as delivered Software AG variant) and into WebSphere Liberty Server (see Using the EntireX Web Services Wrapper).
On which platform, operating system, docker, or cloud, that’s up to the customer.

In the EntireX team in Darmstadt we test XML/SOAP scenarios on Windows, Unix and OMVS (USS),

Hi Bernhard,

Thanks for the information you provided. It is always a great thing to have many options available and that they are all tested to give customers the most flexibility. And with your response, you directed me to documentation I didn’t know existed as it’s outside of actual EntireX documentation, and this will come in handy to know where it is.

With having many options that are viable, what I am hoping for is that someone can advise what is the BEST option, or advise away from the worst ones. If people have opinions like:

1. It is best to run your WS-Stack on the same server as the Broker,
2. It is the worst thing you can do to run the WS-Stack on the same server as the Broker.
3. I run the WS-Stack in the cloud and it is better than the older implementation on premises.
4. Latency to the cloud will kill integration performance if your Broker is on the mainframe on premises.
5. Tomcat is best to run WS-Stack under.
6. WebSphere is best to run WS-Stack under.

Obviously these opinions are mutually exclusive from other opinions, and polling the real world customer base will result in responses that may be mutually exclusive, but they still help steer a decision based on “such-and-so site is kind of like ours, and they do things this way and it was better and I think we should do the same thing”, and “that place tried X and it was a miserable failure, so I won’t go there”.

In our site, we have EntireX Broker running on the mainframe with our Natural applications, and Natural RPC is part of the picture. Currently the WS-Stack is on an on prem virtual Linux server, and we have XML RPC Servers running as Windows services (Win2019). Designer runs on the same non-production Windows server. Which of the options available are best and worst for the future WS-Stack implementation?

Regards,

Brian

Hi Brian,

we can’t give a general recommendation. Customers can run multiple Clients (for example the XML/SOAP Listener with the WS-Stack) and Servers on different platforms. So, we can’t say that the Broker should run where the client or the Server is running. It depends on the usage and the environment of the customer.

In general, the Broker, clients and servers should run on machines which are capable to handle the load. The (TCP/IP) connections between these machines have to be stable and fast enough to handle the load.

About Tomcat and WebSphere: We have for both scenarios customers and no complains. Please see the documentation about the supported Application Servers (depending on the used EntireX Version). For 10.9 see Prerequisites

Regards

Peter