GigaSpaces XAP is a high-end application server for demanding Java and .NET applications, which fully supports virtualized environments based on VMware vSphere. By running XAP on top of VMware, enterprises can ramp up virtualization projects much more quickly, dramatically improve the ROI of their virtualization solution, and extend the value of virtualization to a broader range of applications.

• View recorded webinar: Getting More out of Virtualization Faster with XAP

More in this page: Solution Overview | Usage Scenarios | Documentation | Development Roadmap

Solution Overview

GigaSpaces XAP provides a complete environment for deploying and running enterprise applications, including multi-tenancy, enterprise-grade middleware and auto scaling, in the VMware virtualized environment. GigaSpaces offers:

• Preconfigured VMWare images, optimized for XAP. Images are bundled with all the software required to run standard Java EE web applications, as well as any other application running on GigaSpaces XAP.

• Out-of-the-box dynamic scalability based on real-time application load. When loads increase, new images are instantiated via VMware cloud APIs and the application is automatically launched on the new images to utilize these new resources.

• Comprehensive management GUI providing full control over the deployment topology of application services and middleware, including programmatic control using an Admin API, which allows applications to manage themselves.

• In-memory data grid, messaging and grid processing services built for a virtualized environment, able to serve multiple applications across the enterprise. These services support elastic scalability, multi-tenancy, and fine-grained security enabling different permissions for large numbers of applications and access scenarios.

• Pre-integrated with load balancer, allowing dynamic scaling of both the load balancer and web container. Fully supports the Jetty web conatiner.

• Pre-packaged demo applications, including Spring's original Pet Clinic, enabling much quicker ramp-up of applications onto the virtualized environment.

Usage Scenarios

• Moving Complex Applications to VMware in Minutes

• With GigaSpaces XAP, complex, multi-tier enterprise applications can be migrated to VMware instantly, with no code changes. GigaSpaces XAP can run the same applications in any environment – traditional, virtualized on-premises, or even remotely on a public cloud. XAP eliminates the complex integration, configuration and tuning required to run enterprise-grade applications in virtualized environments.

• Running Extremely Demanding Applications on VMware

• GigaSpaces XAP powers the world’s fastest and most demanding applications, including transaction processing at leading stock exchanges, real-time currency trading, and online gaming. With XAP, these same applications can run on a virtualized environment with no code changes and provide the same extreme performance. XAP makes this possible by performing fast, in-memory processing, and balancing application and infrastructure loads dynamically across the available machines.

• Moving Enterprise Applications to a SaaS Delivery Model

• VMware creates a virtualized pool of resources, a type of internal "cloud", which can in principle be used to deliver Software as a Service to users across the enterprise, or even to external customers. However, a SaaS model requires automatic scalability, guaranteed performance, and continuous high availability. XAP provides these additional capabilities, turning VMware into a fully-fledged SaaS-delivery platform. XAP is proven in SaaS-delivery scenarios, and provides all necessary functionality out-of-the-box, with no need for integration with additional solutions.

• Consolidating Even More Servers

• IT cost savings is one of the primary drivers for virtualization. Operating-system virtualization can result in server consolidation ratios of 1:10 or more. With XAP, you can consolidate even more servers by improving the efficiency of applications running on the virtualized environment. XAP has been proven to boost application efficiency by a factor of five* (for standard Java EE web applications), meaning that the same applications can run on 80% less hardware. This allows you to run many more applications on each physical machine, dramatically improving your cost savings.

  * Tested on a standard Java EE web application. Click here for more details.

• Enabling a Hybrid Infrastructure Model

• With XAP, organizations can move to a hybrid infrastructure model with a mix of cloud, virtualized and traditional hardware. Instead of moving the entire enterprise to virtualization or the cloud, XAP enables a gradual, risk-free transition to new computing environments. What's more, enterprises can deploy any application on any type of infrastructure at any time, enabling unprecedented flexibility.

Documentation

For technical details on how to use GigaSpaces XAP with VMware, see our wiki documentation.

Development Roadmap

• By April 2010: Comprehensive framework for automating and streamlining the setup of applications on VMWare environments. The framework will include:
  • Tools for monitoring, dynamic scaling, and cloud services such as Map/Reduce.
  • A web-based management interface for easy instantiation and monitoring of full-blown enterprise applications.
  • Built-in dynamic SLA policies and single-click instantiation of middleware services (data grid, messaging and grid aware processing).