Overall, I think that JBoss EAP 6 is a huge success. The improvements from previous versions of the platform go beyond simply administration and configuration updates. By adding a lower memory footprint, faster start-up and the ability to create a server profiles appropriate to the nature of the applications being run, JBoss EAP6 provides a significantly more manageable and flexible application platform for all types of requirement - from simple web applications, to more complex, transactional enterprise systems.
The new JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6 (JBoss EAP6) was launched in June 2012, with the aim of providing an easy-to-manage solution, designed to help enterprises build applications and ease gently into the cloud. At Tier 2 Consulting we have been working with JBoss EAP6 since pre-release and our consultants have been running training courses on the platform on behalf of Red Hat.
So has JBoss EAP6 delivered the cloud-ready architecture, improved management capabilities and enhanced usability we were promised? Well I certainly think so.
We found that one of the most common problems that administrators had with previous versions of the platform was that in order to configure the JBoss server, they needed to edit many different XML configuration files. This was both costly and time-consuming and gave some competitors an edge. Red Hat has invested a lot of time and research into addressing this issue and as a result, JBoss EAP6 provides a new, easier to manage web console which allows administrators to configure the server quickly and more efficiently.
In addition, the platform’s management capabilities have seen a huge overhaul - users are now able to manage their applications step-by-step, as well as running the deployment process automatically. The architecture has also been updated to ensure it’s easily adaptable for in-house, private or public clouds. This provides much more flexibility and allows companies to evolve the application along with the business.
The platform’s new ‘Domain Mode’ cleverly provides administrators with the ability to configure multiple servers identically from one central area, making managing multiple servers (such as clusters) a much simpler task. We’ve also found that the remote deployment capabilities available through this latest version of JBoss make it ideal for use in the cloud. In fact, JBoss EAP6 is at the heart of Red Hat's Open-Shift Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering and this cloud-readiness provides developers the flexibility to create applications which can be deployed either on an in-house server environment, or in the cloud, without having to make that decision early on in the design process.