Resource adapter

A resource adapter is a system-level software driver that a Java application uses to connect to an enterprise information system (EIS).

A resource adapter plugs into an application server and provides connectivity between the EIS, the application server, and the enterprise application.

An application server vendor extends its system once to support the J2EE Connector Architecture (JCA) and is then assured of seamless connectivity to multiple EISs. Likewise, an EIS vendor provides one standard
resource adapter with the capability to plug into any application server that supports the connector architecture.

WebSphere Application Server provides the WebSphere Relational Resource Adapter (WRRA) implementation. This resource adapter provides data access through JDBC calls to access the database dynamically. The connection management is based on the JCA connection management architecture. It provides connection pooling, transaction, and
security support. WebSphere Application Server version 6.0 supports JCA versions 1.0 and 1.5.

Data access for container-managed persistence (CMP) beans is managed by the WebSphere Persistence Manager indirectly. The JCA specification supports persistence manager delegation of the data access to the JCA resource adapter without knowing the specific backend store. For the relational database access, the persistence manager uses the relational resource adapter to access the data from the database. You can find the supported database platforms for the JDBC API at the WebSphere Application Server prerequisite Web site.

Sub-topics
J2EE Connector Architecture resource adapters
WebSphere relational
resource adapter settings
WebSphere Relational Resource Adapter
Data access portability features

Related reference
Configuring administered objects