Recommended application server for Identity Manager (JBoss/Wildfly, WebSphere, WebLogic)

Products

• CA Identity Manager
• CA Identity Governance
• CA Identity Portal

Issue/Introduction

Question:

Which J2EE application server is recommended by CA for running Identity Manager?

 

 

Environment

14.4

Resolution

Answer:

Broadcom does not have a preferred or recommended application server platform. Identity Manager (IDM) runs successfully on Weblogic, WebSphere, or JBoss with good performance and scaling ability on all platforms. 

The best choice depends on the customer's preferred application server, not Broadcoms. Typically a customer will choose the app server they are most familiar with and with which they have existing knowledge and experience. 

Since the installation, configuration, tuning and support of the app server is the responsibility of the customer not of Broadcom, they should go with the application server they have the most confidence in supporting. 

Again, IDM works fine on all the supported application servers with performance and scalability being roughly equivalent among all platforms.

These observations from the CA IDM  support team may help:

1. WebLogic is the easiest to support in terms of administration, configuration, troubleshooting and tuning. It offers good error messaging and a solid user interface for administrative management and tuning.

2. Jboss/Wildfly is the easiest to initially install and deploy but its user interfaces and error messaging not as well developed as those of WebLogic and Websphere.

Although Jboss/Wildfly may be freely available as an open source product it still requires knowledge of J2EE, app servers, java, etc, in order to effectively manage the server. Though certain JBoss distributions may be free, you should still plan on purchasing support from RedHat.

3. WebSphere is the most complex and difficult platform to install, deploy, troubleshoot, and administer. If your company is already "a WebSphere shop" this is the platform you will most likely use for IDM, and there is no reason to switch to another.