Oracle WebLogic Server 12c looks to the cloud

Stephen Withers
Friday, 02 December 2011 04:05

Oracle WebLogic Server 12c includes over 200 new features, including full support for Java Enterprise Edition 6 and support for cloud environments.

Oracle WebLogic Server 12c, the latest version of the company's application server was announced today. It builds on Oracle's 'engineered systems' strategy that has delivered performance improvements in other parts of Oracle's stack, and is part of the Oracle cloud application foundation, integrating with components such as Traffic Director and Coherence, Cameron Purdy, vice president, development at Oracle told iTWire.

Version 12c includes over 200 new features. They include full support for Java Enterprise Edition 6 (JEE6), simplified disaster recovery between data centres, and intelligent load balancing across multiple servers. It is also optimised for use with Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud

It also features Virtual Assembly Builder (VAB), technology that can take an existing multi-tier application and package it for deployment in a virtualised environment. WebLogic Server 12c also works with the recently introduced Oracle Public Cloud, making it easy to deploy assemblies produced by VAB to in-house systems or to the Oracle Public Cloud.

WebLogic is still the leading application server, with around 43% of the market and double-digit growth even in the face of open source alternatives, Mr Purdy said. While WebLogic has been popular among developers for years, it had "begun to lose that edge among the developer community," he admitted. One of the goals for version 12c was to reverse that, so in addition to support for JEE6 and Java Standard Edition 7, it works with Apache Maven and other popular tools, providing "a very nice set of capabilities for developers."

Markus Eisele, a German software architect and consultant, said "Oracle WebLogic Server 12c is exactly what I have been waiting for. Developing Java EE 6applications for Oracle WebLogic Server has never been easier. Development, deployment, management and productivity have now been taken to the next level, which makes Oracle WebLogic Server 12c, in my opinion, the most reliable Java EE application server ever."

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