HP Open Source Web Server Middleware Stack

The following components comprise the HP OSMS Web Server Middleware Stack:

Apache Web Server: The Apache Web Server is a mature open source web server that has become the de facto standard because of its high adoption rate on the Internet.
Apache Tomcat: Apache Tomcat (or Tomcat) is a J2EE servlet and Java™ Server Pages (JSP) engine for developing and deploying web applications. It also includes other features, such as an embedded web server.
Hibernate: Hibernate is an object/relational persistence and query service for Java. Hibernate provides support for collections and object relations, and composite types. In addition to persisting objects, Hibernate provides a rich query language to retrieve objects from the database, and an efficient caching layer and Java Management Extensions (JMX) support. User-defined data types and composite primary keys give additional flexibility to support legacy applications.
mod_jk: The mod_jk module is commonly used to allow Tomcat to handle Java Servlet and JSP requests while Apache httpd handles requests for static and dynamic contents implemented in PHP, Perl, or Python.
mod_ssl: The mod_ssl module provides a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) implementation that allows web applications running within the Apache Web Server to communicate securely with their respective clients. Communication can still occur over standard HTTP while running mod_ssl.
Perl: Perl (Practical Extraction and Report Language) has long been a popular text-processing language. Recently, Perl has become popular for the development and deployment of web applications.
PHP: PHP is a scripting language that can be embedded in HTML pages, allowing developers to add more dynamic contents to their web applications. A large portion of the PHP syntax is similar to C and Java.
Python: Python is an object-oriented language that has a clean, straightforward syntax. Python can be extended to exploit facilities implemented in other programming languages, such as C and C++.
JDK: The Java Platform Standard Edition Development Kit (JDK) is a development platform for building Java-based applications and components.

Web Server Stack Architecture

This section provides architecture, configuration, and the software environment for a web server stack. Figure 1 shows the logical architecture of the stack.

Figure 1 Web Server Stack Architecture

Table 1 lists the software used to test the configurations described in this blueprint.

Table 1 Software Test Configuration

Software	Package Version	Package Name	Distributor	Website Link
Apache httpd	2.2.0-21.2	`apache2.2.0-21.2.x86_64.rpm`	Novell	Apache httpd website
Apache Tomcat	5.5.20	`apache-tomcat-5.5.20.tar.gz`	Apache	Apache Tomcat website
Hibernate	3.2.1	`hibernate-3.2.1.tar.gz`	Hibernate	Hibernate website
mod_ssl	2.2.0-21.2	Include with `apache2-prefork-2.2.0-21.2.x86_64.rpm`	Novell	mod_ssl website
mod_jk	1.2.20	`tomcat-connectors-1.2.20-src.tar.gz`	Apache	mod_jk website
Perl	5.8.8-14.2	`perl-5.8.8-14.2.x86_64.rpm`	Novell	Perl website
PHP	5.1.2-29.5	`php-5.1.2-29.5.x86_64.rpm`	Novell	PHP website
Python	2.4.2-18.2	`python-2.4.2-18.2.x86_64.rpm`	Novell	Python website
Sun JDK	1.5.0_10	`jdk-1_5_0_10-linux-amd64-rpm.bin`	Sun	Sun Java website




	NOTE: The installation and configuration of the MySQL and Oracle databases are not covered in this blueprint. The MySQL and Oracle databases are installed on a separate HP ProLiant servers with database files on Modular Smart Array (MSA) 1000 storage. All other software listed in Table 1 are installed on HP ProLiant servers, as displayed in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Web Server Hardware Environment

Figure 2 shows a basic configuration consisting of multiple nodes of an Apache Web Server as the load balancer. The key processes that occur are as follows:

Connection of the Apache Web Server and the Tomcat Web Container, using the mod_jk module.
Connection of Apache Tomcat Server to a database, such as MySQL or Oracle, using a JDBC Driver.
Support from Apache Web Server for login authentication using Java Authentication and Authorization Service (JAAS) with the Symas Connexitor Directory Services (CDS) Server.
Use of an additional, required OpenView Management Server to host HP OpenView Operations (OVO) for manageability through the Apache Web Server.

For a checklist that provides high-level guidelines for building the web server stack, see “Appendix A: Checklist for Building a Web Server Middleware Stack”.

HP Open Source Web Server Middleware Stack

Technical documentation

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Web Server Stack Architecture