WebSphere Commerce Server Application Server environment

The WebSphere Commerce staging server is very similar to the production server. The staging server requires exactly the same hardware and software and operating system configuration as the production server . Both the staging and production environments include the WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere Commerce Server, a database server and a database. The versions of the software and operating systems must also be the same. For example, if you have the AIX V5.1.1 with PTF 10235 on the production server, you must have AIX V5.1.1 with PTF 10235 on the staging server as well.

The staging server contains a complete WebSphere Commerce Server instance, just like the production server. Normally, the staging server instance is created on a dedicated machine in the merchant's intranet.

The staging server environment does not have to have the same number of tiers as the production environment. For example, a production environment may have the database on one physical machine, the WebSphere Commerce Server on another physical machine and the HTTP server on a third machine. The staging environment can have these three elements on one physical machine. The reason for this flexibility is explained in the delta data capturing.

From the application content's point of view, the staging server has the same ear, the same war, the same database schema as the production server.

From the data content's point of view, the staging server has the same JSP pages, HTML pages, Java files, and the same data in the database as the production server.

From the function's point of view, the staging server has the same function as the production server. Users can perform the same actions on the staging server as they would on the production server. For example, a user can launch the Accelerator, perform a shopping flow, perform a massload, or publish a store.

The above similarities allow a user to test changes on the staging server as if it were the production server. These tests reassure users that changes that run correctly on the staging server will run correctly on the production server. This is the basic philosophy of the staging server.

Once the testing completes, a user may want a function to automatically propagate the changes to the production server. The following two sections describe commands that facilitate this automation.

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