Introduction to JBoss Application Server

JBoss is a free, open source application server under the LGPL license that is widely used for developing and deploying enterprise Java applications (J2EE), Web applications, and Portals. It provides the full features of J2EE 1.4 such as EJB container as well as extended
enterprise services (EJB) including such as database access (JDBC), transactions (JTA), messaging (JTS), naming (JNDI) and management support (JMX). It also provides enterprise-class security, and resource
management.

JBoss is a cross-platform Java-based AS, due to this reason it is usable on any operating system that Java supports.

Features of JBoss AS:

JBoss is advanced middleware with a full J2EE based personality.

I. Open Standards and Open Source:
JBoss is an open source J2EE 1.4 certified AS having business friendly license that allows the developers to free download, use, embed, and distribute the JBoss AS.

II. Simplicity:
JBoss AS supports full features of J2EE 1.4 including EJB, JCA, JSP, JMX, HTTP etc. It provides a bridge for the enterprise Java programming model, and enables developers to get started quickly and easily with these
applications.

III. Clustering and High Availability:
JBoss AS provides the clustering of any java objects (EJB, HTTP, POJO), load balancing, and distributed deployment features that are required for deploying large scalable enterprise applications.

IV. 100% Pure Java:
JBoss is pure Java-based AS. Due to this reason, it is interoperable with most operating systems that are capable of running a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). These OS includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux, Microsoft Windows, Sun Solaris, HP-UX, and others.

V. Supporting for Breed Technologies:
JBoss AS integrates JAAS, Hibernate, Apache Tomcat, EJB 3.0, Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP) and JBoss Cache into its microkernel foundation approach that is based on Java Management eXtensions (JMX).

JBoss AS Versions:

JBoss Application Server has been released in several versions with their sub-versions listed below.

• JBoss Application Server was started as an open source EJB container in 1999.
• JBoss 2.x was a full J2EE 1.2 based server.· JBoss 3.x was a J2EE 1.3 based server.
• JBoss 4.x is our current J2EE 1.4 production version.
• JBoss 5.x as beta version is a Java EE 5 certified based server.
• JBoss AS 4.2.x versions support for EJB3.

JBoss 3.x was released to provide full framework for building such applications that are based on a Java microkernel (JMX) and service oriented architecture (SOA). While JBoss 4.x explores aspect oriented middleware (AOM) and Java based middleware independent of J2EE.

JBoss AS 5.x Beta versions include the following core technologies such as POJO based microcontainer, EJB 3.0, Hibernate 3.2 - JPA certified, JBoss Messaging, JBoss WebServices 2.0 (JAX-WS), JBoss Seam 1.1, etc.
JBoss AS Architecuture: