Data Sheet

Key Highlights

• Leading Web server in the Fortune 100 and Global 250
• Reduces Web security risk through extensive engineering design and code reviews, and secure-by-default installation
• Delivers fast Java Web applications performance and time to market through an integrated, in-process Java virtual machine implementation
• Delivers 8x better performance than Apache 2.0 with Tomcat for superior application response time
• Supports JavaServer Pages and Java Servlet technologies, Active Server Pages, PHP, CGI, and the latest Web services technologies and standards
• Supports 50 percent more users per server than Apache 2.0 with Tomcat for superior hardware return on investment (ROI)
• Supports a variety of operating systems, from the Trusted Solaris Operating System to Microsoft Windows
• Integrates with the Sun Java System Identity Server, Sun Java System Directory Server, and Sun Java System Application Server
• Supports hundreds of third-party applications, including Netegrity SiteMinder and BEA WebLogic
• Eases management of Web server farms through delegated administration, integrated Web server cluster management, virtual server management, dynamic reconfiguration, SNMP monitoring, and replication of configurations across servers
• Supports a scalable, mass virtual server hosting environment

Web servers are your window to the world - and the world's window to you. With the goal of boosting net margins, Web servers enable you to effectively and efficiently communicate with prospective customers, new customers, and business partners. To achieve these objectives, Web servers must be secure, reliable, supportable, and cost-effective.

As the leading enterprise Web server, the Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 is engineered to meet the stringent requirements of organizations that use the Internet and its related Web technologies as a competitive advantage. While powering some of the world's largest and most visible Web sites, the Java System Web Server has logged the best security track record, boosted performance and uptime, and delivered a better return on investment (ROI) than even open source alternatives.

The Java System Web Server delivers a single, secure Web infrastructure for all Web technologies and applications, and is certified by the leading vendors of antivirus, intrusion detection, application server, and identity management solutions. Key features include a true multiprocess, multithreaded architecture; header cloaking; auto failover protection; worldwide 24x7 technical support; on-the-fly compression; virtual domain capabilities; cross-platform support; an integrated Java technology-based Web container for support of JavaServer Pages (JSP) and Java Servlet technologies; and support for Active Server Pages, PHP, CGI, and the latest Web services standards.

Improves Web Security

Stolen customer data. A false press release posted on the main corporate Web site. Marathon weekend patch sessions. These scenarios can be catastrophic to any organization.

The Java System Web Server can help reduce the risk of potential exploits and vulnerabilities. Built on a mature, proprietary code base (originally Netscape Enterprise Server), Sun's extensive and continuous design and engineering process removes potential vulnerabilities before the product is released. Services are always installed secure by default. As a result, the Java System Web Server received the fewest CERT alerts in 2002-2003 (www.cert.org).

By delivering very secure code, isolating the Web server from the operating system, and adding features such as header cloaking and reverse-proxy functionality, the Java System Web Server reduces the risk of Web server security incidents, reduces the cost of operations (from patching and disinfecting servers), and enables a very secure Web presence.

To further reduce the cost and time it takes to deploy a secure Web infrastructure, Sun has released the Secure Web Server Reference Architecture, a market-proven, hardened platform for delivering Web applications. Using the Java System Web Server, this reference architecture identifies the topology, equipment, and software required for given traffic loads, as well as configurations and optimizations specifically for Web serving. For more information please see the Secure Web Server Reference Architecture.

For secure transactions, the Java System Web Server supports Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 3.0, Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.0 connections, PKCS #11, and is validated to Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-1, a U.S. Government standard for implementations of cryptographic modules. The Java System Web Server is also certified by the leading vendors of SSL accelerator cards and appliances.

For financial services, government, healthcare, and organizations that require the highest degree of end-to-end infrastructure security possible, the Java System Web Server can be deployed on the Trusted Solaris Operating System, a highly secure operating system that segregates and controls communications between the application, Web server, and operating system software.

High Availability and Fast Time to Market

To maximize revenue and customer satisfaction, Web sites must also maximize uptime - reliability and high availability are of critical importance, especially when e-commerce is involved.

The Java System Web Server offers many unique features designed to maximize uptime. Multiprocess mode and automatic failover ensure that requests to the server are handled even when a process goes down, and that the failed process is restarted automatically - without need for administrator intervention. Additionally, dynamic log rotation enables an administrator to rotate server logs without shutting down the server. Logs can be created for each virtual server, as needed.

In the event of a failure, the Java System Web Server works with leading external loadbalancing solutions to minimize lost Web application sessions and transactions. Each active session bus shares active session information across multiple Web container processes. By sharing this information, any Web container can accept a redirected connection from the load balancer front end if a fault occurs. This design delivers both higher quality of service (QoS) and availability.

As added insurance and to protect your investment, Sun offers worldwide Software Support services. These services provide access to experienced support engineers to help identify and resolve technical issues, as well as access to the latest software functionality with upgrades and patches included for covered software.

Enhances End-User Experience

With the competition just a click away, ecommerce sites must deliver content quickly - or risk losing customers. Plus, they must scale to meet unpredictable demand. The Java System Web Server delivers high performance and scalability through its unique multithreaded, multiprocessing architecture.

Features such as optimized results caching, integration with the Solaris Network Cache Accelerator (in the Solaris 8 update 5 and Solaris 9 Operating Systems), and highly scalable HTTP 1.1 persistent (keep-alive) connection handling are the core elements for high performance. With the addition of on-the- fly compression and additional keep-alive subsystem tuning, a recent report by KeyLabs 1 found the Java System Web Server 6.1 delivers three times (3x) faster performance than version 6.0. When compared to Apache 2.0 with Tomcat, the Java System Web Server 6.1 delivered eight times (8x) faster performance, and twenty-four times (24x) faster performance when using SSL.

Reduces Cost and Complexity

Today, Web sites are complex multiserver environments with a large number of virtual servers and millions of registered users to manage. The Java System Web Server helps lower the cost of managing and maintaining such sites with easy-to-use productivity tools. Administrators can use these tools to manage users, virtual server classes, and multiple virtual servers, as well as dynamically reconfigure servers, delegate administrative responsibilities, replicate configurations across servers, and install multiple Web server instances simultaneously. The Java System Web Server is also fully accessible to people with disabilities, and is compliant with Section 508 of the U.S. Government's Rehabilitation Act.

To further reduce the cost of managing a Web infrastructure, a single instance of the Java System Web Server can support a wide variety of Web applications. While JSP and Java Servlet technologies are supported via an in-process Java Web container, Active Server Pages support is provided through Java System Active Server Pages, a free plug-in for the Java System Web Server. PHP and CGI are also supported. The Java System Web Server also includes integrated search capabilities and the Java System Directory Server, a centralized point from which to easily add, change, and delete information for millions of Web-based users.

The Java System Web Server can increase the capacity of new or existing Web environments, which improves the ROI of the entire infrastructure. With improved and highly efficient connection handling, the Java System Web Server 6.1 can support 25 percent more concurrent users per server than version 6.0. When compared to Apache 2.0 with Tomcat, the Java System Web Server 6.1 supports 50 percent more concurrent users per server, and 200 percent more concurrent users when using SSL (KeyLabs 1).

Use Cases

To deliver the best experience, Web sites have moved beyond static brochures to real-time, personalized, dynamic applications. The Java System Web Server has kept pace with these requirements. More than a basic Web server, the Java System Web Server is designed to be used in both existing and new Web infrastructure deployments under a variety of scenarios:

• The Java System Web Server 6.1 is free for the internal development, staging, and testing of Web-based applications. Add the free Java Web Services Developer Pack for the latest Web services technologies and standards support.
• The Java System Web Server powers JSP and Java Servlet technology-based Web applications, as well as Active Server Pages, PHP, and CGI-based applications running on the Solaris Operating System, Microsoft Windows, Red Hat Linux, HP-UX, and IBM AIX platforms.
• The Java System Web Server is an ideal "front-end" Web server to the Java System, BEA WebLogic, or IBM WebSphere application servers - providing better security, throughput, and ROI. In many cases, the Java System Web Server can replace application server deployments.
• The Java System Web Server provides a secure and reliable infrastructure for hundreds of third-party applications.

Features of Java System Web Server

Security

• Installs with secure default configurations and services turned off (secure by default)
• Includes support for SSLv2, SSLv3, TLS 1.0, and X.509 digital certificates
• Includes support for security-based standards such as PKCS #11, FIPS-140, and 168- bit step-up certificates
• Allows server headers to be modified or hidden
• Allows centralized, certificate-based security with certificate-to-LDAP mapping
• Enables administrators to set SSL parameters for each virtual server
• Allows the use of DIGEST authentication, which can be configured separately for each virtual server using the integrated Java System Directory Server
• Allows CGIs to be run as different user IDs
• Allows single sign-on (SSO) across multiple Web applications (or Java Servlet contexts)
• Includes a plug-in for reverse-proxy functionality

Web Application Development

• Offers full compliance for JavaServer Pages (JSP) 1.2 and Java Servlet 2.3 specifications
• Supports Active Server Pages 3.0 (VBScript/ JScript 5.5) using the bundled Java System Active Server Pages
• Supports NSAPI, CGI, CFML, and PHP
• Includes a built-in Java runtime environment with support for the Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.4.1_04 release, object serialization, and the JDBC 3.0 specification, including connection pooling, the Java Naming and Directory Interface 1.1 API, and JavaBeans technology
• Supports session management service to track information for specific users
• Integrates with Java Studio development tools for Java technology-based application development across JSP and Java Servlet technologies
• Supports WAR file deployment both from command-line and GUI-based interfaces
• Supports JSP component precompilation for faster loading
• Allows reuse of applications and components developed separately
• Provides standard tag library support, enhancing the user customization of JSP tags
• Supplies administrative support - both command-line and GUI interfaces
• Provides a fast, in-process, pluggable Java virtual machine (JVM) implementation
• Offers server-side preprocessing of content using SHTML
• Integrates with Java optimization tools
• Supports Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV)
• Provides Netscape[tm] Application Program Interface (NSAPI) filter support
• Integrated search functionality
• Supports the latest Web services technologies and standards implementations via the Java Web Services Developer Pack

Virtual Domain Hosting Features

• Supports thousands of virtual servers as well as one or more certificates for use with virtual servers
• Enables bandwidth limits to be specified for each virtual server or class of servers
• Allows virtual servers to be concurrently accessed in SSL and non-SSL environments
• Provides a separate authentication database for each virtual server

Reliability and Availability

• Ensures high server uptime through multiprocessing mode and process monitors
• Uses unique, shared-session objects to provide failover protection and enable multiprocessing support for Java Servlet extensions on UNIX® systems
• Reduces server downtime by rotating logs dynamically
• Supports intelligent load balancing of servlets with leading load-balancing software vendors such as Resonate

Management and Administration

• Provides dynamic reconfiguration of Web server - without restart
• Allows access control lists (ACLs) to be used for each virtual server, or one file for all virtual servers
• Integrates with Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)-based directory servers
• Includes the Java System Directory Server to manage password policies and user groups down to the site level
• Includes a policy agent for integration with the Java System Identity Server
• Supports flat file authentication
• Eases administration of multiple servers with support for cluster management
• Supports the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) for use with common management systems, including CA/Unicenter, HP OpenView, IBM/Tivoli TME, and Sun's Solstice software
• Includes support for .htaccess
• Allows complete installations with clonable instances and replication of configurations across servers with templatized and silent install
• Supports the command-line interface for HTTP server administration, certificate and key management, and Web application deployment
• Compliant with the accessibility requirements of Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act

Performance and Scalability

• Offers high performance through an advanced multiprocessing, multithreaded architecture; efficient use of kernel threads; and sophisticated memory management
• Supports server-side HTML (SHTML) and chunked encoding to enhance the performance of dynamic content
• Integrates with the high-performance, Solaris Network Cache Accelerator (available in the Solaris 8 update 5 and Solaris 9 Operating Systems)
• Uses multiprocessing mode to increase scalability on multiple CPU machines
• Supports HTTP 1.1 and HTTP compression
• Supports SSL hardware accelerators
• Provides scalable, keep-alive handling