Portal server technology

To provide a consistent experience for customers, most Web site developers must integrate existing content with new content, server-side applications, and Web-based services. Increasingly, even basic sites are becoming more like traditional portals-a single, integrated point of access to information, applications, and people. Portals integrate diverse interaction channels at a central point, providing comprehensive context and an aggregated view across all information. Portals are largely based on existing Web application technology, such as Web servers and Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE). I present an overview of portal types and services, followed by a more detailed examination of portal-specific components and architectures