Enterprise software developers are, perhaps, all too familiar with application servers: server-based software that can be called by client applications. Web servers are a subset which exclusively handle HTTP requests; in contrast, application servers can use any number of protocols to serve business logic to programs.
Evans Data interviewed more than 700 developers, asking them to rate 21 characteristics of application servers that they had personally used. Among the features and capabilities rated were performance, security features, database connectivity, scalability, support, diagnostics, event logs, and value to cost ratio.
In this survey, , Red Hat and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 also earned high marks from their users. SAP NetWeaver and Sun Java System Application Server/GlassFish were also evaluated for their niche uses.
The top-ranked Adobe ColdFusion has a long history. Originally introduced by Allaire, it was acquired by Macromedia, then in yet another acquisition. ColdFusion version 8.0 was released in July 2007, featuring Microsoft .NET integration, integration with Adobe Acrobat forms, and enhanced performance. ColdFusion scored best with developers for its scalability, support and security.
Like ColdFusion, WebLogic is the child of many acquisitions. Originally founded in 1995, WebLogic, Inc. was acquired by BEA; in the spring of 2008. The latest iteration, version 10 R3, was announced in August. Says the report, "Over the ten years that BEA published WebLogic, it evolved from one of the first Java application servers into one of the most capable application servers designed with in mind." Developers value most Oracle WebLogic's scalability, performance and server infrastructure, according to the survey.
Although WebLogic is still among the top-ranked application servers, developers don't value those features with quite the same fervor as in the past. In the 2006 version of this report, BEA WebLogic earned the best application user scores, but today, virtually all of WebLogic's rankings are down compared to '06 results. Evans Data judges this to be a result of (which happened during the time the survey was fielded), resulting in some uncertainty about the product's future. In the short term, that spells opportunity for the company's competitors, Evans Data concludes.
Some of that competition will be coming from . The top candidate is likely Geronimo, from the Apache Software Foundation. "As an open source program, Geronimo might have been burdened by the perception amongst users of a lack of support," says the report, because (or lack thereof). "However, this was not the case with Geronimo, and much of that has to do with IBM. in a variety of ways to Geronimo and the Apache Software Foundation, including technical support." As a result, Geronimo earned second place marks for quality of support, right behind IBM WebSphere. It also gets top marks from developers for performance and database connectivity.
Another open-source success, , was marked as delivering the best value to cost ratio, the best compatibility with other software and the best security-all of which matter particularly for enterprise software development.
Microsoft's Windows Server is used both as an operating system and , with its native support for ASP.NET Web development and Web Services technologies such as , , (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration), and WSDSL (Web Services Description Language). In this survey, Windows Server garnered good marks across the board, but delivered the most satisfaction for its database connectivity, support and performance.