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The Middleware Layer Model


By Andrew Binstock
August 15, 2000 —  (Page 1 of 2)
The definition of middleware as used here would encompass any kind of software that sits between two systems and makes communication easier. Most any software will fit into this category: everything from embedded software to Java Virtual Machines. It would also include things like EAI, customer relationship management and XML, none of which is really middleware, and none of which has reduced our reliance on APIs. Java, for example, has taken the proliferation of APIs to a level Microsoft could only have dreamed of while it was cobbling together the Win32 hairball. What has happened is that all these technologies, middleware or not, have decreased our dependence on operating-system APIs.

And this, of course, is a good thing. But this leaves the question of what is middleware and why is this question important?

I believe that as we advance in distributed computing, everything but the anchor applications will be called middleware-even network protocols. And, of course, the more imprecise language is, the more difficult it is to have proper communication among technical professionals. To get networking conceptually right, in the late 1980s the OSI layered model was proposed, which enabled geeks to talk about specific layers of the network rather than just calling everything from the cabling to the applications "the network."

A similar layering needs to be provided for middleware, so we can all talk about the same thing without having to define terms each time. I propose a model, for which I actively solicit comments.

The physical layer remains the same except that the advent of wireless may require us to rename it someday. I collapse the data link into the physical layer. While not strictly physical, the choices at the data link and physical layers are often interrelated.

Layer 2 is the network layer. IP, for example, would be a layer 2 protocol.

Layer 3 is a transport layer. In common parlance, the transport layer includes TCP and UDP. In the middleware layered model, it would include any other transports, including proprietary transports, used by vendors to move messages and data over the network.

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