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Watch this short TechTalk from TechEd on "What an ESB is and how to leverage BizTalk Server as an ESB?"
An Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) is an architectural pattern and a key enabler in implementing the infrastructure for a service-oriented architecture (SOA)
ESB is only one of many components required to build a comprehensive service-oriented infrastructure (SOI)
The increasing adoption of SOA and the proliferation of Web services have revealed an ever growing need to provide a managed layer between services and their consumers
An ESB provides support for interaction between heterogeneous services and interfaces that might be mismatched, or that might change over time
An ESB addresses integration problems in a way that maximizes the re-use of services and maintains flexibility
(click image to enlarge)
Providing architectural and capability improvements over the previous “ESB Guidance”, the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 is a collection of tools and libraries that extend BizTalk Server 2009 capabilities of supporting a loosely coupled and dynamic messaging architecture.
The BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 provides key building blocks that are required for implementing a comprehensive SOI including:
Endpoint run-time discovery and virtualization
Loosely coupled service composition
Dynamic message transformation and translation
Dynamic routing
Centralized exception management
Quality of service
Protocol transformation
Extensibility
For more information on the ESB Toolkit 2.0, please refer to the ESB Developer Center. This is an information center for developers and architects who are interested in implementing ESB patterns using BizTalk Server 2009 and the ESB Toolkit 2.0.
Q. Why was the name “ESB Guidance 2.0” changed to BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0?
A.
With the release of the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 and the associated renaming from “ESB Guidance,” the goal is to provide the toolkit as a BizTalk Server 2009 value-add with a better support model that results in a broader customer adoption. This will hopefully help customers develop mature ESB implementations that will be ready for enterprise-wide deployments.
Q. When was the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 officially released?
The BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 along with documentation was released to the Web on Monday, June 8, 2009.
Q. From where are downloads provided?
You can download the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 and documentation from the Microsoft Download Center. The toolkit is packaged as binaries and samples in a Windows Installer.
Q. What happens to those customers who are currently using ESB Guidance 1.0?
Customers who are using ESB Guidance 1.0 are strongly encouraged to upgrade to BizTalk Server 2009 and the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0. ESB Guidance 1.0 will be deprecated in the next few months. Also, proactive monitoring of the ESB 1.0 forums will no longer take place after the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 is released.
Q. Will source code for signed binaries be provided?
Source code for signed binaries will be available as a separate download (date to be determined).
Q. How does the support policy relate to the source code of the BizTalk ESB Toolkit?
Microsoft will not support customizations to the BizTalk ESB Toolkit source code. The source for these components will be for reference only, not for making changes. If there are critical issues that require it, we will use standard release processes to get fixes in place for the signed binaries.
Q. What license is used for the BizTalk ESB Toolkit?
It is a standard Microsoft, free, binary-only license.
Q. How will the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 be packaged?
It will be packaged as a binary-only Windows Installer (32- and 64-bit).
Q. Will BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 bug fixes be provided?
Bugs will be addressed on a best-effort basis, by the BizTalk ESB Toolkit Team.
Q. Where do customers file bugs and requests?
The BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 Connect site has been created to log bugs with the BizTalk ESB Toolkit Team and to provide updates to additional tools over time. Once you log a bug, someone will respond to you within five days with an acknowledgment and status.
Q. What is the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 forum commitment?
Assistance is provided through forums, with a one-year notice of deprecation plans. Any fixes and responses to questions in the forums are best effort, and we will continue to leverage the community to provide peer assistance, though with a capability to issue critical fixes if necessary.
Q. Where is the online community hosted?
A dedicated ESB Toolkit Forum is provided on MSDN, and can be located from within the BizTalk Dev Center.
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