A software framework which dedicated to the proficient execution of procedures like routines, scripts e.t.c. in order to support construction of applications is called Application Server. This term was first coined in relation to web applications. In web applications application server acts as a set of components accessible to the software developer through an API defined by the platform itself. Usually these components are performed  by on the same machines where the web browser is running their main job is to support the construction dynamic pages. .NET Framework is contributed by Microsoft to the world of application servers. .NET Remoting, ADO .NET, ASP .NET and Windows Communication Foundation are included in the .NET.

Other than these products it also works with other Microsoft Products like Internet Information Services and Microsoft Message Queuing. Benefits of Application Servers include:

Configurations are Centralized – Any changes to the application configuration take place centrally like system settings or database error.

More Secure – Central point through which service-provider manage access to the portions and data is counted as a security benefit. Responsibility for the authentication is transferred away probable insecure client layer without being exposing the database layer.

Code and Data Integrity – upgrades and updates for all the users can be guaranteed by centralizing business logic on an  small number server machines or on a single server. Risk of old version of the application controlling or accessing data in incompatible manner is very less.

Transaction  Support –  transaction means a unit of activity in which updates to the resources can be made atomic. From reduced costs ands reduced time to develop end users are benefited. While the server do all the boring code generation developers get a lot of time to focus on my today’s free horoscope business logic.

Performance – clients server model improves the performance of large applications in heavy usage environments by restricting the network traffic to performance tier traffic.

Application server this term is sometime referred as  Java EE 5 or J2EE application server because of the success of Java Platform. Some well known Java Enterprise application server include:

• tc Server
• Apache Tomcat
• WebLogic Server
• JBoss
• Tcat Server
• JRun
• Apache Geronimo
• Oracle OC4J
• Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server
• SAP Netweaver AS
• Sybase Enterprise Application Server
• Glassfish Application Server
• WebObjects
• WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Application Server Community Edition