4 Using IBM WebSphere Message Broker as an ESB with WebSphere Process Server
1.1 IBM SOA Foundation
The IBM SOA Foundation is an integrated, open set of software, best practices,
and patterns that provides what you need to get you started with the
service-oriented architecture (SOA). The SOA Foundation provides full support
for the SOA life cycle through an integrated set of tools and runtime components
that allow you to leverage skills and investments across the common runtime,
tooling, and management infrastructure.
Because the components are modular, you can pick and choose the pieces that
you need to deliver an immediate impact, while knowing that what you pick will
work with pieces that you add later. In addition, since the SOA Foundation is
scalable, you can start your business small and grow it as fast as it requires. The
SOA Foundation provides extensive support for business and IT standards,
facilitating greater interoperability and portability between applications. The
foundation can also help you to leverage SOA to extend the value of the
applications and business processes that are running your business today.
The IBM SOA reference architecture (Figure 1-1 on page 5) is a way of looking at
the set of services that go into building an SOA. These capabilities can be
implemented on a build-as-you-go basis, allowing capabilities and project-level
solutions to be easily added as new requirements are addressed over time. The
reference architecture shows the tight integration with other critical IT aspects
such as security, IT monitoring, virtualization, and workload management.
In Figure 1-1, two areas are highlighted to draw attention to the areas of interest
in this book. The first area is
process services, which provide the control
capabilities that are required to manage the flow and interactions of multiple
services in ways that implement business processes. WebSphere Process
Server provides the capabilities that are required for process services in an SOA
solution.
The backbone of the reference architecture is the
enterprise service bus (ESB)
that facilitates communication between services. The ESB provides the
inter-connectivity capabilities that are required to use services that are
implemented across the entire architecture. Transport services, event services,
and mediation services are all provided through the ESB. An ESB can be
implemented with one product or multiple products that are combined to provide
the function required. The ESB solution that is selected should be optimized to
meet the unique business requirements of the enterprise. The solutions should
also be capable of changing as your business requirements evolve.
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