JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 5 (JBoss EAP) and Oracle WebLogic Server 11g (WLS) are both enterprise-class application servers. This post will evaluate the total cost of acquisition (TCA) of each one based on a comparable feature set and a specific set of hardware requirements.
WebLogic Server is available in three primary configurations:
- WebLogic Server Standard Edition
- WebLogic Server Enterprise Edition
- WebLogic Suite
WLS Standard does NOT include clustering support, diagnostics, or provisioning.
WLS Enterprise does NOT include a data grid.
| WLS Standard | WLS Enterprise | WebLogic Suite | |
| Clustering Support | No | Yes | Yes |
| Diagnostics | No | Yes | Yes |
| Provisioning | No | Yes | Yes |
| Data Grid | No | No | Yes |
JBoss EAP includes clustering support. JBoss Operations Network (JON), included in the JBoss EAP managed subscription, includes diagnostics and provisioning. JBoss EAP 6 includes a data grid for application server clustering. Therefore, WLS Enterprise and WebLogic Suite are the ONLY configurations that are comparable to JBoss EAP.
| WLS Enterprise | JBoss EAP | |
| Clustering Support | Yes | Yes |
| Diagnostics | Yes | Yes |
| Provisioning | Yes | Yes |
| Data Grid | No | JBoss EAP 6 |
JBoss EAP and WLS Enterprise both include standard Java features.
| WLS Enterprise | JBoss EAP | JBoss EAP Details | |
| Java SE | JRockit | OpenJDK | |
| Java EE 5 | Yes | Yes | |
| EJB 3.0 | Yes | Yes | Documentation |
| Persistence (JPA) | TopLink | Hibernate | Documentation |
JRockit is restricted for WebLogic Server. OpenJDK is supported as an OS component.
WebLogic Server includes a separate installer for TopLink.
JBoss EAP does NOT include a separate installer for Hibernate.
In addition, JBoss EAP and WLS Enterprise both include advanced Java features.
| WLS Enterprise | JBoss EAP | JBoss EAP Details | |
| Security | OSDT | PicketLink | Documentation | SPNEGO / Kerberos |
| High Perf JMS Messaging |
Yes | HornetQ | Documentation |
JBoss EAP and WLS Enterprise both include standard enterprise features.
| WLS Enterprise | JBoss EAP | JBoss EAP Details | |
| Administration Console | Yes | Yes | Documentation |
| Configuration Wizard | Yes | JBoss EAP 6 | Documentation |
| Development Platform | ADF | Seam | Documentation |
| IDE | JDeveloper & OEPE | JBoss Developer Studio | Product |
In addition, JBoss EAP and WLS Enterprise both include advanced enterprise features.
| WLS Enterprise | JBoss EAP | JBoss EAP Details | |
| Clustering Support | Yes | Yes | HTTP Session | Server Side (1 2) | Client Side (1 2) | Dist Cache (1 2) | JNDI | EJB (Session / Entity) | JMS | Deployment |
| Server Migration & Service Migration | Yes | HAPartition Service | Documentation | HASingleton |
| Scripting | WLST | JBoss EAP 6 | Documentation |
JBoss EAP and WLS Enterprise both include enterprise add-ons.
| WLS Enterprise | JBoss EAP | JBoss EAP Details | |
| Client | Yes | Yes | |
| Oracle RAC Data Sources |
Yes | Yes | Documentation |
| Apache Web Server Plug-Ins | Yes | mod_cluster | Documentation |
| Web Tier | Oracle HTTP Server | JBoss Enterprise Web Server (JBoss EWS) | Product |
There 10 separate WebLogic Server clients.
There is a single JBoss EAP client.
JBoss EWS and Oracle HTTP server are both based on Apache HTTP Server.
Finally, JBoss EAP and WLS Enterprise both include management, diagnostics, and provisioning capabilities.
| WLS Enterprise | JBoss EAP | JBoss EAP Details | |
| Management | Fusion Middleware Control | JON | Configuration (1 2) |
| Diagnostics | Diagnostics Pack for Oracle Middleware | JON | Documentation |
| Provisioning | OVAB | JON | Documentation |
Limited management features are available via Fusion Middleware Control. Full featured management is available via Management Pack for WebLogic Server, a product that is licensed separately.
WLS Enterprise includes separate installers for Diagnostics Pack for Oracle Middleware and OVAB.
JON, via single installer, includes management, diagnostics and provisioning.
Diagnostics are ONLY included with WLS Enterprise. It is not available as a separate license.
JON IS available as a separate license.
Costs
Licenses v Subscriptions
Development
The development environment consists of a single physical server with three virtual machines: one for a database, one for an application server, and one for a web server.
| Server | Database Cores | Application Server Cores | Web Server Cores |
| 1 | 8 | 16 | 8 |
Testing
The testing environment consists of a three physical servers. Each server has two virtual machines: one for an application server and one for a database server or a web server.
| Server | Database Cores | Application Server Cores | Web Server Cores |
| 1 | 16 | 16 | - |
| 2 | - | 16+16 | - |
| 3 | - | 16 | 16 |
Staging
The staging environment consists of five physical servers. One server is a dedicated database server. The remaining servers have two virtual machines: one for an application server and one for another application server or a web server.
| Server | Database Cores | Application Server Cores | Web Server Cores |
| 1 | 32 | - | - |
| 2 | - | 16+16 | - |
| 3 | - | 16+16 | - |
| 4 | - | 16 | 16 |
| 5 | - | 16 | 16 |
Production
The production environment consists of five physical servers. One server is a dedicated database server. The remaining servers have two virtual machines: one for an application server and one for another application server or a web server.
| Server | Database Cores | Application Server Cores | Web Server Cores |
| 1 | 32 | - | - |
| 2 | - | 16+16 | - |
| 3 | - | 16+16 | - |
| 4 | - | 16 | 16 |
| 5 | - | 16 | 16 |
Intel Xeon Processor
Development
| Cores | Core Factor | Price | Minimum / Processor | Total | |
| WLS Enterprise | 32 | 0.5 | $500 / Named User Plus | 10 | $80,000 |
| JBoss EAP | 16 | - | $11,250 / 16 Cores |
- | $11,250 |
QA, Staging, & Production
| Cores | Core Factor | Price | Total | |
| WLS Enterprise | 352 | 0.5 | $25,000 / Core | $4,400,000 |
| JBoss EAP | 256 | - | $40,000 / 64 Cores | $160,000 |
Red Hat subscriptions are based on the total number of cores running JBoss EAP.
Oracle licenses are based on the total number of cores of the physical server.
Per Oracle:
Soft partitioning is not permitted as a means to determine or limit the number of software licenses required for any given server.
Read more on Oracle’s licensing policies for x86 virtualization on this Gartner Blog Network post.
Infrastructure
| WLS Enterprise | JBoss EAP | |
| Management Software | $0 | $0 |
| JDK | $0 | $90,972 (RHEL) |
| Messaging | $0 | $0 |
| HTTP Server | $0 | $12,000 (JBoss EWS) |
Integrated Development Environment
JBoss EAP includes 25 subscriptions with support for JBoss Developer Studio for every 16 supported cores. WLS Enterprise includes support for JDeveloper.
| WLS Enterprise | JBoss EAP | |
| 25 Users | $0 | $0 |
Total Cost of Acquisition
| WLS Enterprise | JBoss EAP | |
| Application Server License / Subscription | $4,480,000 | $171,500 |
| Application Server Support | $985,600 | $0 |
| JDK | $0 | $90,972 (RHEL) |
| HTTP Server | $0 | $12,000 (JBoss EWS) |
| IDE | $0 | $0 |
| Total | $5,465,600 | $274,472 |
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