Managing your IBM Toolbox for Java installation

You need to install IBM® Toolbox for Java™ only on client systems that use it, or in a location on your network where your clients can access it. Your clients can be personal computers, dedicated workstations, or iSeries™ systems. It is important to remember that you can configure an iSeries server or a partition of the server to be a client. In the latter case, you need to install IBM Toolbox for Java on the client partition of the server.

You can use any of the following methods (alone or in combination) to install and manage IBM Toolbox for Java:

The following sections briefly explain how each method affects both performance and manageability. How you choose to develop your Java applications and manage your resources determines which of the methods (or which combination of methods) you use.

Individual management

You can choose to individually manage your IBM Toolbox for Java installations on individual clients. The main advantage of installing IBM Toolbox for Java on individual clients is that it reduces the time that a client takes to start an application that uses IBM Toolbox for Java classes.

The main disadvantage is managing those installations individually. Either a user or an application that you create must track and manage which version of IBM Toolbox for Java is installed on each workstation.

Network management of a single installation

You can also use your network to install and manage a single copy of IBM Toolbox for Java on a server that all your clients can access. This kind of network installation provides the following advantages:

This kind of installation also has the disadvantage of increasing the time that a client takes to start a IBM Toolbox for Java application. You must also enable your client CLASSPATH to point to your server. You can use iSeries NetServer™, which is integrated into i5/OS™, or a different method that enables you to access files on iSeries servers, such as iSeries Access for Windows®.