Dutch DataFlex software house Annovyn/Computer Mobile BV (www.cm.nl) was recently invited to the IBM Galileo Testcentre (Hursley) in the United Kingdom to submit their Internet-based Questionnaire application for IBM Server certification. Both the Questionnaire software and the application server technology it’s built upon – Data Access Worldwide’s WebApp Server - successfully passed IBM’s rigorous tests to earn the prestigious IBM Netfinity® ServerProvenT credential.

The Internet-based Questionnaire application enables the interviewing of people via the Internet to gather information for customer resource management systems. Currently the Dutch Union (FNV) and Arkitekta Germany are implementing this system, which leverages WebApp Server for backend database and business logic processing, a multi-user database, and Microsoft’s Active Server Page technology. John Klungers and Olly Oldhoff submitted the application and server software on behalf of Annovyn/Computer Mobile, and IBM’s Matt Wood coordinated the tests.

IBM ServerProven^TM

IT customers make decisions on a complete business solution - application, hardware and software. The IBM ServerProvenTM program helps make sure that everything customers use - along with their IBM server - is validated.

Solutions that apply to become IBM ServerProvenTM are required to undergo an established set of tests and procedures targeted for IBM hardware. After all test runs have successfully finished, and IBM has thoroughly screened the results, the applicable product is officially certified as IBM ServerProvenTM.

The Test

The testing process begins with the requested server, software, and LAN configuration being set up according to the planned infrastructure to be used during actual deployment. Testing involved disrupting the connection to the servers, and full crashing of the servers with 16 active users logged on to the system. Testing also involved simulating a power-outage situation (without a UPS back-up) and rebooting both servers and workstations. Both during and after testing, the Internet-based Questionnaire application continued to run perfectly without any loss of data.

The specific server hardware utilized in the first test case was an IBM Netfinity 4000R mid-range server running Windows 2000 Server Edition. The workstation setup was as follows: six IBM 300PLs running Windows 95; six IBM 300PLs running Windows 98; six IBM Intellistations running Windows NT; and one IBM laptop running Windows 2000 Professional Edition.

After the LAN was properly configured, the next step in the testing involved installing WebApp Server and the Questionnaire application software. The IBM Test Center encountered no problems at this stage, and the rest of this testing phase progressed flawlessly.

After passing the first set of tests without difficulty, IBM suggested that testing continue on their more robust servers. This second phase of testing used the IBM Netfinity 5500 M20 and the Netfinity 8500R servers, both running Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server. Again, WebApp Server was installed and configured without any problems, and the Internet-based Questionnaire application performed smoothly and as expected.

IBM has extended an open invitation Annovyn/Computer Mobile to return to the Galileo Testcentre with Data Access Worldwide’s upcoming release of WebApp Server 3.0 for testing – which will include process pooling, load-balancing, clustering, and fault-tolerance features that will again be tested to the limit for certification as IBM ServerProvenT.

To view the IBM Global Solutions listing of the Internet-based Questionnaire, go to:http://www8.software.ibm.com/solutions/isv/igssg.nsf/LanguageSelector/?OpenForm; then select English as the language you prefer from the left menu list. The Global Solutions Directory Search Interface page will load. From here, search for the key words WebApp Server.

Full descriptions of the IBM Netfinity systems validated are detailed at: http://www-910.ibm.com/solutions/netfinit.nsf/webview/?SearchView&Query=si09292000194639

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