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Apache Tomcat vs Oracle GlassFish Server

Apache Tomcat

75 Ratings

Oracle GlassFish Server

12 Ratings

Apache Tomcat

75 Ratings
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Score 8.2 out of 101

Based on 75 reviews and ratings

Oracle GlassFish Server

12 Ratings
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Score 7.9 out of 101

Based on 12 reviews and ratings

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Likelihood to Recommend

Apache Tomcat

Tomcat is more than enough to deploy most of the mid-end web applications without any problem but for the high-end applications which require high scalability and high availability, which might need some tune-ups with the support of expertise in this regard. Otherwise, you may realize numerous performance issues, memory leaks, server crashes etc.

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Oracle GlassFish Server

Glassfish is well suited for large-scale cluster deployments and integrates well with F5 load balancers.

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Feature Rating Comparison

Application Servers

Apache Tomcat
8.2
Oracle GlassFish Server
7.9
IDE support
Apache Tomcat
8.1
Oracle GlassFish Server
7.3
Security management
Apache Tomcat
7.6
Oracle GlassFish Server
7.2
Administration and management
Apache Tomcat
6.9
Oracle GlassFish Server
8.2
Application server performance
Apache Tomcat
8.6
Oracle GlassFish Server
8.2
Installation
Apache Tomcat
8.9
Oracle GlassFish Server
7.7
Open-source standards compliance
Apache Tomcat
8.9
Oracle GlassFish Server
8.6

Pros

  • Lightweight. Does not require many resources to run.
  • Stable. Once tuned almost no maintenance is required for the instance.
  • Ease of deployment. Easy to install and set up. Documentations are widely available
  • Cost. Open sourced!

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  • Oracle Glassfish servers provide us the ability to deploy in clusters and provide replication facilities.
  • The server provides very easy administration console that can be used to tweak basic features for timeouts and database thread pooling.
  • It can easily be configured for single sign on for enterprise clients.

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Cons

  • Configuration could be made easier, but then again it's open source.

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Bryan Salerno
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  • One of the areas where we found Glassfish adaptation difficult for our company was the lack of documentation and community forums covering important issues.
  • We ran into a roadblock with OAuth 2.0 implementation and did not get great support on that issue.

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Likelihood to Renew

Apache Tomcat10.0
Based on 1 answer
We have a huge knowledge of the product within our company and we're satisfied with the performance.

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Usability

Apache Tomcat6.0
Based on 1 answer
The manager interface has for sure room for improvement

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Reliability and Availability

Apache Tomcat6.0
Based on 1 answer
Tomcat doesn't have a built-in watchdog that ensures restart upon failure, so you have to provide it externally. A very good solution is java service wrapper. The community edition is able to restart Tomcat upon out of memories exceptions.

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Performance

Apache Tomcat9.0
Based on 1 answer
It's very quick and stable at the same time

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Alternatives Considered

More appealing cost structure

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Clifford Chen
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Tomcat is a more lightweight container in comparison to Oracle's Glassfish server and has wider adaptability in development for local testing. Glassfish however, as an enterprise product can offer better after sales service to clients.

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Scalability

Apache Tomcat9.0
Based on 1 answer
It's very easy to add instances to an existing deployment and, using apache with mod proxy balancer, to scale up the serving farm

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Return on Investment

  • Apache Tomcat is a very stable, lightweight App server that is open source and free to use in an enterprise. Many banks and other product companies use it for their open source web/API development.
  • I cannot see any negative ROI for Apache Tomcat. Developers and users are easy to get and most of the candidates i see during interviews have experience in Tomcat.

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  • Glassfish which initially spun off from an Open Source project has a community edition which is free to use and offers great ROI.
  • In comparison to cloud offerings like AWS and Google App Engine, Glassfish requires more cost upfront for installation and management.

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Pricing Details

Apache Tomcat

General
Free Trial
—
Free/Freemium Version
—
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—
Entry-level set up fee?
No
Additional Pricing Details
—

Oracle GlassFish Server

General
Free Trial
—
Free/Freemium Version
—
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—
Entry-level set up fee?
No
Additional Pricing Details
—