The availability support that exists for Java EE today covers only Java parts and does not include availability support for HW and native applications. It is desirable to have a framework that can provide availability for both Java and native applications in the same clustered system. One important thing to point out is that the framework should not impose any native programming style on the Java parts and it should be possible to run Java applications that are unaware of the framework. Another important part is that in a highly available clustered system only one instance can take the decisions and control the availability.
The same problem exists for configuration and fault management when Java and native application should be hosted in the same cluster. It is important that configuration and fault management is aligned between native and Java applications. One way to solve this problem is to use a standardized framework for availability and configuration and fault management as the base for both Java and native applications.
Service Availability Forum (SAF) has since 2001 specified interfaces for highly available software and published among other things the Application Interface Specification (AIS). AIS contain functionality for availability, configuration management and fault management etc. A SAF middleware could be used as an availability framework for both Java and native applications.
This presentation will show how Java EE can be integrated with a standards based HA SAF MW and provide high availability and OAM alignment to Java EE applications without putting unnecessary burden on the application developer.