Routing Messages Reliably, Without MOM - Software Development Times On The Web

Routing Messages Reliably, Without MOM
Blue Titan offering supports WS-ReliableMessaging spec
By Jennifer deJong

December 1, 2004 — What happens when Web services require support for reliable messaging, but the corporate network runs over HTTP?

“You have to buy a message-oriented middleware product and integrate it with the rest of the network,” said Chris Schin, director of product marketing at Blue Titan Software Inc.

The San Francisco-based company was expected to address this problem last month, announcing Network Director RM, which adds support for the WS-ReliableMessaging specification to Network Director, Blue Titan’s HTTP-based “network overlay” for companies that rely heavily on Web services. In the past, such companies could use the HTTP protocol for 80 percent of their messaging needs. But important transactions, such as stock trades, required message-oriented middleware (MOM), said Schin. “What we are doing is taking that step away. You no longer need to buy and integrate a messaging middleware product in order to support reliable messaging.”

Authored by BEA Systems Inc., IBM Corp., Microsoft Corp. and TIBCO Software Inc., the WS-ReliableMessaging spec ensures that Web services reach their intended destination—only once, and in the proper order.

‘Smart’ at Network Layer
Made up of SOAP routers, Network Director RM, and Network Director, are designed to transmit SOAP messages over HTTP. But they do more than direct traffic; they also provide at the network layer Web services management features, including performance monitoring, and support for registries and identity management. Such capabilities are typically provided at the client layer, but Blue Titan’s offerings let developers “make the service as dumb as they want,” said Schin. “We will make it smart at the network layer.”

According to Schin, Blue Titan competes with Actional Corp., AmberPoint Inc. and Infravio Inc. (for performance monitoring), IBM, Sonic Software Corp. and WebMethods Inc. (for MOM), Infravio and Systinet Corp. (for Web services registries) and DataPower Technology Inc., Forum Systems Inc., Oblix Inc. and Systinet (for identity management).

Network Director RM, which starts at US$400,000 for four routers (which the company calls “control points”), is aimed at companies adopting service-oriented architecture on a large scale. It’s used by enterprise architects and IT administrators, as well as by developers authoring Web services, said Schin. They can cut and paste into

Network Director RM (or its predecessor) any Web service written to the Web Services Description Language standard. “Without [support for reliable messaging] you can’t do the last 20 percent of an important application” he said.

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