J2EE application server

The runtime portion of a J2EE product combining a web server and an EJB server into one server. The J2EE Reference Implementation (RI) and the iPlanet Application Server are two application servers that work with the IDE.

An EJB server provides services to an EJB container, which implements the EJB component contract of the J2EE architecture. This contract specifies a runtime environment for enterprise beans that includes security, concurrency, life cycle management, transaction, deployment, naming, and other services.

A web server provides services to access the Internet, an intranet, or an extranet. It hosts web sites, provides support for HTTP and other protocols, and executes server-side programs (such as CGI scripts or servlets) that perform certain functions. In the J2EE architecture, a web server provides services like HTTP message handling to a web container. A web server can host one or more web containers.