WebSphere Portal v6 Products and components overview

WebSphere Portal is a J2EE application that runs on WebSphere Application Server. Its main function is to serve the WebSphere Portal framework to the desktops and mobile devices of portal users. WebSphere Portal creates an environment that provides the connectivity, administration, and presentation services that are required. WebSphere Portal includes several new functions and enhancements that make it easier to design, administer, and use.

Portal Personalization

Personalization includes two personalization technologies to dynamically tailor Web content to meet the needs of different users and groups.

To augment the personalization features, Personalization provides Attribute Based Administration and Visibility Rules. Attribute Based Administration provides a facility to customize the layout of a page for individual users. It tells the portal to show or hide pages and portlets based on dynamic characteristics determined at runtime. Visibility rules determine what a user will see, or what has been targeted towards a user. These can be used to further tailor content to targeted users by determining what pages and portlets are available.

Document Manager

Document management components allow users to have a central document repository for team collaboration. WebSphere Portal uses a lightweight, portable repository that is database independent. Documents created by Document Manager can be used by Web Content Management and can be the subject of business rules developed with Personalization.

Lotus Collaborative Services

Lotus Collaborative Services are UI-neutral API methods and tag libraries that allow developers who are writing portlets for WebSphere Portal to add Lotus Software collaborative functionality to their portlets. Application developers who are using Collaborative Services can design and implement UI extensions that leverage the features of Lotus Domino, Lotus QuickPlace, and Lotus Sametime.

Domino and Extended Products Portlets

In addition, the People Finder portlet is provided in a slide-out palette available on all portal pages.

IBM WAS products

WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere Process Server and IBM WAS Network Deployment

IBM WAS is a Web application server that provides J2EE services for the WebSphere Portal environment. It executes the Java portlets, JavaBeans, JSP files, and Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs) that are used by WebSphere Portal. In conjunction with two other products in the WebSphere Application Server family of interoperable products (WebSphere Process Server and WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment), this component is the platform on which WebSphere Portal runs.

Usage restrictions apply. For example, IBM WAS can only be used in a single-server configuration and only certain subcomponents, such as the application server, HTTP, and others, are licensed for use. Consult the product license for additional details.

Member Manager

Member Manager is the subcomponent responsible for accessing the user registries for user and group management and authentication. The user registries may be LDAP servers, a Custom User Registry, or the Member Manager database user registry.

IBM Tivoli Directory Server

IBM Tivoli Directory Server is a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory that runs as a stand-alone daemon. In the WebSphere Portal environment, it stores, updates, and retrieves user-specific data that is related to authentication, such as user IDs and passwords.

IBM Cloudscape

Cloudscape is the default database provided with WebSphere Portal to store configuration, access control, such as user identities, credentials, and permissions for accessing portal resources, and user data.

IBM DB2 Universal Database Enterprise Server Edition

DB2 is a Web-enabled, relational-database management system. The WebSphere Portal environment can be configured to use DB2 in place of the default database.

IBM Rational Application Developer

Rational Application Developer is an integrated development environment (IDE) for building, testing, and deploying J2EE applications.

RAD provides integrated development support for building J2EE applications with HTML pages, servlets, JavaServer Pages, and EJBs. RAD also creates Web service applications with open standards, generates XML documents from DTDs, and enables a collaborative team development environment. RAD enables end-to-end local and remote testing and creates high-quality applications using wizards, code generators, and best practices.

Rational Application Developer includes wizards and tools to create, test, debug, and deploy individual portlets and Web content. By using templates, developers can and create their own portlets. Debugging and deployment tools shorten the development cycle. Sample portlets that demonstrate best programming practices are also provided.

IWWCM

Use Web Content Management to create and manage Web content for internet, intranet, extranet and portal sites. You also use Web Content Management to present Web content to users in a portlet or Web site, including content managed by Document Manager or generated by Personalization.

Create the design of Web pages separately from the content of Web pages allowing different users with different skills to work independently. The structure of the Web site, and the links between the pages in a site, are automatically generated by Web Content Management based on the profile of each content item. Use the access control and workflow features of Web Content Management to control the creation and approval process of Web content.

IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory

IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory provides a way to build portlets. This Eclipse-based development tool speeds and simplifies portlet construction by making it easy to create complex portlets without coding.

Additional products components included with WebSphere Portal Extend

The following components are included with WebSphere Portal Extend.

IBM Lotus Domino

Lotus Domino and Notes is groupware software that provides messaging and collaboration features. Notes is the e-mail, calendaring, group scheduling, Web access, and information management client. Lotus Domino is the integrated messaging and Web application server.

Domino Directory can provide the primary corporate directory or the secondary LDAP service that complements another LDAP service (for example, Tivoli Directory Server, Microsoft Active Directory, or Sun Java System Directory Server) in the portal environment. As a secondary LDAP service, Domino Directory provides user access to Notes-based information sources for Collaborative Services and collaborative portlets.

Usage restrictions apply. You are authorized to install and use Lotus Domino solely and exclusively in connection with the use of Lotus Sametime and Lotus QuickPlace.

Instant messaging and online awareness, based on IBM Lotus Sametime technology

Instant messaging and online awareness (also known as people awareness), are available. Using Lotus Sametime, portal users can discover if others are available to chat, receive e-mail, share applications and other tools in an e-meeting or Web conference.

Usage restrictions apply. For example, the e-meeting capabilities of Lotus Sametime are not licensed for use. Consult the product license for details.

Virtual teamrooms based on IBM Lotus QuickPlace technology

A Web-based solution is available for creating team workspaces for collaboration. Using Lotus QuickPlace, portal users can work securely with colleagues, suppliers, partners, and customers. Lotus QuickPlace provides teams with workspaces where they can reach consensus through discussions, collaborate on documents, and coordinate plans, tasks, and resources.

Usage restrictions apply. For example, you are authorized to install and use Lotus QuickPlace solely and exclusively with WebSphere Portal. A separate license is required to access Lotus QuickPlace from a source other than WebSphere Portal. Consult the product license for details.

Additional products to use with WebSphere Portal

The following products are not included with WebSphere Portal, but they can enhance the features and functions that are provided.

IBM Tivoli Access Manager for e-business

IBM Tivoli Access Manager for e-business is an authorization and management solution that scales across the entire enterprise. A robust and secure policy management tool for e-business and distributed applications, it addresses the challenges of escalating security costs, growing complexity, and the need for uniform security policies across platforms. Tivoli Access Manager unites core security technologies around common security policies to help reduce implementation time and management complexity, thereby lowering the total cost of security-enhanced computing.

IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator

IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator synchronizes identity data residing in directories, databases, collaborative systems, applications used for human resources (HR), customer relationship management (CRM), and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and other corporate applications.

By serving as a flexible, synchronization layer between a company's identity structure and the application sources of identity data, Tivoli Directory Integrator eliminates the need for a centralized datastore. For those enterprises who do choose to deploy an enterprise directory solution, Tivoli Directory Integrator can help ease the process by connecting to the identity data from the various repositories throughout the organization.

With some built-in connectors, an open-architecture Java development environment to extend or modify these connectors and tools to apply logic to data as data is processed, Tivoli Directory Integrator can help you by:

Synchronizing and exchanging information between applications or directory sources
Managing data across a variety of repositories providing the consistent directory infrastructure needed for a wide variety of applications including security and provisioning
Create the authoritative data spaces needed to expose only trustworthy data to advanced software applications such as Web services

Tivoli Directory Integrator is a component of the IBM identity management solution that can help you get users, systems and applications online and productive fast, reduce costs and maximize return on investment.

IBM SecureWaySecurity Server for z/OSand OS/390

Product and component matrix

The following table shows the products and components that are packaged in each WebSphere Portal offering. You might have purchased only one of these offerings; however, all available WebSphere Portal offerings are shown for comparison purposes.

Product or component Enable Extend
WebSphere Portal X X
WebSphere Application Server products X X
IWWCM ™ X X
IBM Rational Application Developer X X
IBM Tivoli Directory Server X X
Cloudscape Database X X
Document Manager X X
IBM DB2 Universal Database Enterprise Server Edition X X
Lotus Collaborative Services X X
Member Manager X X
Portal Personalization X X
IBM Lotus Domino X
Domino and Extended Products Portlets X
IBM Lotus Sametime *
IBM Lotus QuickPlace *

Product or component	Enable	Extend
WebSphere Portal	X	X
WebSphere Application Server products	X	X
IWWCM ™	X	X
IBM Rational Application Developer	X	X
IBM Tivoli Directory Server	X	X
Cloudscape Database	X	X
Document Manager	X	X
IBM DB2 Universal Database Enterprise Server Edition	X	X
Lotus Collaborative Services	X	X
Member Manager	X	X
Portal Personalization	X	X
IBM Lotus Domino		X
Domino and Extended Products Portlets		X
IBM Lotus Sametime		*
IBM Lotus QuickPlace		*

* Lotus Sametime and Lotus QuickPlace are limited portal use only.

Parent topic:

Product overview