Application Server

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

The Application Server role provides administrators with an interface for installing and configuring an integrated environment for running custom business applications that are built with the .NET Framework 3.0 or for running applications that are designed to use Component Object Model (COM), COM+, DCOM, remote procedure call (RPC), Message Queuing, Web services, and distributed transactions.

Hierarchy of Managed Entities

Managed Entities

Name	Description
COM+	Software components can use Microsoft Component Object Model (COM) technology in Microsoft Windows operating systems to communicate. Developers can use COM to create reusable software components, link components together to build applications, and take advantage of Windows services. COM technologies include COM+, DCOM, and ActiveX Controls.
COM+ Service	Software components can use Microsoft Component Object Model (COM) technology in Microsoft Windows operating systems to communicate. Developers can use COM to create reusable software components, link components together to build applications, and take advantage of Windows services. COM technologies include COM+, DCOM, and ActiveX Controls.
COM+ Event System	The COM+ Event System service matches and connects publishers and subscribers through a loosely coupled events system. A publisher makes the method call to initiate an event, and a subscriber receives these calls through the event system rather than directly from the publisher. The COM+ Event System service maintains the list of interested subscribers who receive the calls, and it directs those calls without requiring the knowledge of the publisher.
COM	The Component Object Model (COM) is a platform-independent, distributed, object-oriented system for creating binary software components that can interact. COM is the foundation technology for Microsoft Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) (compound documents) and ActiveX® (Internet-enabled components) technologies.
RPC	Remote procedure call (RPC) is a standard that enables one process to make calls to functions that are executed in another process. The processes can be on the same computer or on different computers in a network.
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Service	The Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service (RpcSs) listens on a set of the computer's network interfaces. Using RPC Firewall Filters, an administrator can control the network interfaces that RpcSs is allowed to listen on. The administrator can use RPC Firewall Filters to block some interfaces from being accessed over a given network interface while allowing other interfaces to be accessed over the same network interface. RPC Firewall Filters make it possible for the administrator to configure network interface access on a per-interface level of detail.
RPC over HTTP Proxy	Remote procedure call (RPC) clients can use RPC over Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to connect securely and efficiently across the Internet to RPC server programs and to execute remote procedure calls. RPC over HTTP Proxy is a proxy that is used by objects that receive remote procedure calls over HTTP. Clients can use this proxy to discover these objects even if the objects are moved between servers or if they exist in discrete areas of the network, usually for security reasons. The RPC over HTTP Proxy runs on an Internet Information Services (IIS) computer. It accepts RPC requests coming from the Internet, and it performs authentication, validation, and access checks on those requests. If a request passes all the tests, the RPC over HTTP Proxy forwards the request to the RPC server that performs the actual processing. With RPC over HTTP, the RPC client and server do not communicate directly. Instead, they use the RPC over HTTP Proxy as an intermediary.
DTC	The Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MS DTC) tracks all parts of the transaction process, even over multiple resource managers on multiple computers. This helps ensure that the transaction is committed, if every part of the transaction process succeeds, or is rolled back, if any part of the transaction process fails.
MSDTC	The Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator service (MSDTC) tracks all parts of the transactions process, even over multiple resource managers on multiple computers. This helps ensure that the transaction is committed, if every part of the transaction succeeds, or is rolled back, if any part of the transaction process fails.
Kernel Transaction Manager Resource Manager	The Kernel Transaction Manager Resource Manager service (KtmRm) is a service that the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator service (MSDTC) uses to coordinate transactions with the Windows Kernel Transaction Manager.