Tomcat Hosting Overview

Many have heard of web hosting. Most have heard of WordPress hosting. And, some have heard of Java hosting. However, few have heard of Tomcat hosting. But, Tomcat is all around us and powers some of the most popular websites on the Internet like Meetup.com, Alibaba.com, Zillow.com, LinkedIn.com, GotoMeeting.com, and many others. So what is Tomcat hosting? How does Tomcat fit into the scheme of things in the web hosting space? Let’s take a look and get you a little bit more acquainted in case you’re not.

What is Apache Tomcat Web Hosting

Tomcat is a Java Servlet and Java Server Pages (JSP) container. Wow, what does that actually mean? Well, let’s start by defining a Java Servlet. In simple terms, a Servlet is a component that is part of a Java software with the main purpose of extending a Server. In order words, it’s a Java class that basically responds to HTTP network requests. Servlets are usually employed when implementing Java web applications as well as Java web frameworks (such as Struts) with a higher level of abstraction. Furthermore, Servlets need a servlet container to run in, and the servlet container handles the networking aspect of everything. Tomcat is one of the most popular servlet containers out there. It’s opensource, and it’s free! Next, JSP stands for JavaServer Pages and can be thought of as a complementary technology to Java Servlet. JSP enables the combination of dynamic and static contents in a web application. Now, once you’ve developed a Java Servlet or JSP based web application, you need a Tomcat container to make that web application available to users on the Internet. And this is where Tomcat hosting is needed to serve the website application to its intended users.

Background Information on Tomcat Server Hosting

Let’s take a quick look at some background information and history of Tomcat. Although often referred to as a Server, Tomcat is indeed a Java Servlet container as already mentioned. It was developed by the Apache Software Foundation and implements several Java EE specifications including Java Servlet, JavaServer Pages (JSP), WebSocket and Java EL. In fact, it can also be thought of as a Java HTTP web server for the execution of Java codes. Tomcat consists of several components namely:

1. Catalina

Catalina is Tomcat’s servlet container that implements the Servlets and JSP specifications.

2. Coyote

While Coyote is Tomcat’s connector component that supports HTTP 1.1 protocol thus enabling Tomcat to act as a web server by allowing Catalina to serve other files such as HTML, XML documents over HTTP.

3. Jasper

Then you have Jasper which is Tomcat’s main JSP engine that parses and compiles JSP files into Java code (i.e. servlets) which then can be handled by Catalina.

4. Cluster

When dealing with a large enterprise application, the Cluster component is employed for load balancing.

5. High Availability

The high availability feature ensures that web applications hosted Tomcat are made available through temporary routing to other servers in the event of systems maintenance and updates.

6. Web Application

The Web App component provides support for cross-environment deployment as well as session management across a given network.

Benefits of Tomcat Hosting for Java Web Apps

Web hosting on Tomcat server has its benefits when compared to other servlet containers such as Jetty, GlassFish, Payara, Apache Geronimo, etc. Let’s look at some of those benefits for your information.

1. Security

Tomcat affords several implementation options that can enhance the overall security of the web application. For example, Tomcat can be placed behind an extra layer of firewall or demilitarized zone (DMZ); and can only accept incoming (HTTP, SSH or FTP) requests from specific Apache installation with certain IPs.

2. Flexiblility

It might as well be called Tomcat – The Flexible. Tomcat’s lightweight gives it many configuration options as well as a range of extension available to it. This simply means you can run Tomcat anyhow you see fit to meet your objectives. You can bundle it up within an application, you can run it standalone, your choice. Also, being an open-source server, you can get right under the hood and change things around as you see fit.

3. Open Source

Tomcat is not proprietary; it’s open-source and freely available to anyone to download and use. This opens up huge possibilities that are only limited by our imagination. You can literally do anything to improve and advance the server.

4. Stability

Tomcat server hosting is a highly stable and proven Java application hosting platform with over 20 years track record. Also, the Tomcat application container runs independent of the Apache web server thus ensuring the web server is always up and available even if Tomcat experiences any downtime.

5. Lightweight

Tomcat was designed from the ground up to be lightweight, and at the same time support many JavaEE specifications. It loads quickly when compared to other application servers and offers lightning-fast redeploy time. Thus this ensures you experience much faster development and deploy cycle.

Choosing the Best Tomcat Hosting Provider

When it comes to selecting the best Tomcat hosting provider, there are several things to bear in mind and consider carefully. Let’s take a look at some of them:

1. Availability Multiple & Latest Tomcat Versions Support

It’s very important that choose a Tomcat web hosting provider that offer multiple Tomcat versions, as well as the latest available stable version. This is important because sometimes your Java code may not deploy properly on a given Tomcat version. Thus the need to quickly change version and redeploy.

2. Multiple & Latest Java (JDK) Versions

Some Java versions function with specific Tomcat version, and some don’t. So it’s also important to ensure the Tomcat hosting company provides multiple Java version. You can visit here for the list of current Java versions.

3. Availability of Private Tomcat Hosting Option

It’s best to host your Java web application on a private Tomcat hosting installation instead of a shared one. Having a private Tomcat gives your Java web application better stability and availability. Sometimes when a WAR file is deployed, Tomcat may need to be restarted. And during such restart (no matter how long or short it takes), the Tomcat instance is down as well as the Java web application running on it. Now, can you imagine being on shared Tomcat with constant user requests for Tomcat restart? Private Tomcat hosting is definitely the way to go!

4. Availability of Shared Tomcat Hosting Option

Although private Tomcat is the recommended approach for hosting production Java web applications, there may instances you may need a shared Tomcat environment. For example, if the web application is still in development, and you have budgetary constraints during development. In such a situation, a shared Tomcat environment can do the trick; so it’s advisable you partner with a Tomcat hoster that can deliver a shared Tomcat environment.

5. Private & Extendable JVM Heap Size

When running on a private Tomcat, you need to have a private JVM as well. JVM stands for Java Virtual Machine and you can read all about it here. Also, make sure that you can increase your JVM heap if need be. However, if you’re using a shared Tomcat, there’s no need for a private JVM because the shared Tomcat will come with shared JVM by default.

6. Private & Extendable PermGen Space

The PermGen space available to your Java web application should be private with the option to increase it on demand. Here’s a good resource that gives you more information on PermGen.

7. Tomcat Manager

The best Tomcat hosting should come bundled with Tomcat Manager. Tomcat Manager is a lightweight application monitoring tool that enables you to quickly deploy, undeploy and reload your Java web applications without the need to shut down the Tomcat servlet container.

8. Integrated Control Panel

Equally important is having a web hosting control panel that allows you to manage and administer your entire website. Through the web hosting control panel, you’ll be able to perform administrative tasks such as but not limited to creating databases, FTP accounts, email accounts, viewing web statistics, etc.

9. SSH Access

SSH stands for Secure Shell is vital for the discerning Java web developer. It provides you with command line Interface to perform critical application management functions such as Tomcat start, stop, WAR file deployment, etc. It’s important your work with a Tomcat web hosting provider that allows SSH access without unreasonable restrictions.

10. Option to Scale to VPS

Finally, you need to have the option to scale to a VPS (Virtual Private Server) as your Java web application’s needs grow. A Tomcat web host that ensures such scale is seamless with little or no downtime is a partner of choice worth choosing.

11. Tomcat and MySQL Hosting

MySQL is one of the most popular (if not the most) database management systems out there for web application development. It’s very popular among PHP, Python and Java web developers alike. So it’s important to make sure that the Apache Tomcat hosting providers support MySQL hosting as well.

Conclusion

We hope you found the above points useful in your search for an appropriate Tomcat server hosting environment. If you have any questions or need any further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us by emailing support@dailyrazor.com OR you can chat live with one of our Tomcat specialists by clicking on the Live Chat button on the bottom right of your screen.