Note: This page was written when the 3.x family had initially no support for clustering, centralized admin, etc... Since the release of GlassFish 3.1 in February 2011, there is really little to no reason for staying with GlassFish 2.1.1 for new development. GlassFish 3.1.x offers enhanced clustering capabilities and full Java EE 6 support on top of its modular kernel.
Comparing GlassFish Open Source Edition versions 2.x and 3.0.x
Which one should I use?
Both GlassFish version 2.1.1 and 3.0.1 are production-ready distributions.
Choosing one is mainly based on the features that you need for your
particular deployment scenario. If you need clustering, high availability
and complete Java EE 5 specification support, choose GlassFish version 2.1.1.
If you need Java EE 6 support, leading edge web application technologies,
web services and scripting, modular architecture, choose GlassFish version
3.0.1. A rare case for GlassFish 2.1.1 would be the use of Java CAPS
or OpenESB as well as SailFin, neither of which exist in a stable form on
GlassFish 3.x. Check with the appropriate community to get the latest status.
For users of earlier v3 Prelude, v3 Preview and v3 final releases, we highly
recommend you upgrade to version 3.1.1
and get the latest features and bug fixes.
See the following Feature Comparison Table below for more information.
GlassFish version 2.1.1 and 3.0.1 Feature Comparison Table
|
Feature |
GlassFish |
GlassFish |
|
Date Released |
version 2.1.1 released in |
version 3.0.1 released in |
|
X |
X |
|
|
Comprehensive platform support : Solaris, Oracle Enterprise Linux, RHEL, SLES, Windows, Ubuntu [1], MacOS X [1], HP-UX, AIX, JRockit JVM, Oracle VM, Solaris containers, etc... |
X |
X |
|
SailFin (Telco Application Server) |
X |
|
|
Java Platform, Enterprise Edition |
||
|
Java Compatible, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) Certified |
Java EE 5 certified |
Java EE 6 certified
[2] |
|
Web Application and Service Technologies |
||
|
Java Web Technologies |
Servlet 2.5 |
Servlet 3.0 |
|
.NET 3.0 |
.NET 3.5 |
|
|
Next Generation Web |
||
|
jMaki (Ajax Framework) |
X[4] |
X[4] |
|
Jersey / JAX-RS (RESTful Web Services) |
JAX-RS 1.0 |
JAX-RS 1.1 |
|
Administration |
||
|
Admin Console and CLI (Centralized Administration) |
X |
X |
|
JMX |
X |
X |
|
Node Agent & Cluster Mgmt |
X |
|
|
Upgrade Tool |
X |
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
Web Profile install bundle [5] |
|
X [5] |
|
Enhanced monitoring (btrace, dtrace) |
|
X |
|
Client |
||
|
Application Client Container |
X |
X |
|
Java WebStart support |
X |
X |
|
Enterprise Application Technologies |
||
|
Java DB, JDBC Connection Pooling |
Java DB 10.4.2.1 |
Java DB 10.5.3.0 |
|
JTA 1.1/JTS 1.0 |
X |
X |
|
J2EE Connector Architecture |
Connectors 1.5 |
Connectors 1.6 |
|
Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) |
EJB 3.0 |
EJB 3.1 |
|
JMS 1.1 |
X |
X |
|
Java Pertistence API (JPA) |
JPA 1.0 |
JPA 2.0 |
|
Scripting |
||
|
jRuby/Rails Web Archive (.war) deployment |
X |
X |
|
“Native” jRuby/Rails deployment – without need for Servlet container |
|
X |
|
Dynamic resizing of jRuby Runtime Pool |
|
X |
|
Groovy/Grails |
|
X [4] |
|
|
X [4] |
|
|
Developer Tools |
||
|
X[6] |
X[6] |
|
|
X |
X |
|
|
Rapid Redeployment - Maintain session state on application redeploy |
|
X |
|
Update Center |
X |
X |
|
Update Center integration with Administration Console |
|
X |
|
Verification Tools |
X |
|
|
Image Packaging System (IPS) Tools |
|
X |
|
Framework Technologies |
||
|
Grizzly (Java NIO) |
1.0.34 |
1.9.18 |
|
Comet (HTTP Push) |
X |
X |
|
CORBA |
X |
X |
|
Modular Architecture Based on OSGi |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
Extend GlassFish Functionality (Extensibility APIs) |
|
X |
|
System/Performance Technologies |
||
|
Clustering |
X |
X[3] |
|
Load Balancer Plugin |
X |
|
|
Centralized Administration of Load Balancer Plugin Configuration |
X |
|
|
High Availability |
X |
|
|
Integration |
||
|
Integration with Identity Manager, Access Manager (OpenSSO), Registry Server, and Java Business Integration (OpenESB) |
X |
|
[1] Developer support only.
[2] GlassFish 3.0.1 will also run Java Enterprise, Enterprise Edition 5
applications.
[3] Basic clustering support using mod_jk.
[4] Located in GlassFish Update Center. Download features
using graphical "updatetool", or through GlassFish 3 administration console.
[5] GlassFish 3.0.1 comes in the form of either the web profile
or the full Java EE profile. The updatetool lets you upgrade or downgrade to the
desired feature set.
[6] Supported in NetBeans 6.9
