Date: 27-Nov-2009
URL: www.sun.com/software/products/integration_srvr_eai/faqs_int_eai.xml
Sun ONE Integration Server EAI Edition 3.1
General FAQ
General Questions
Q:
What is the Sun ONE Integration Server, EAI Edition?
A:
Sun ONE Integration Server, EAI Edition is a standards-based enterprise application integration solution that can handle multiple styles of integration by integrating the data, transforming and transporting it and leveraging it within the context of business process management. Sun ONE Integration Server handle multiple styles of integration:
- business process management
- data transformation and
- data messaging
Q:
What are the major enhancements that have been made to this version of Sun ONE Integration Server?
A:
Sun ONE Integration Server allows authentication, user and roles-based management through LDAP support. This means users and roles can be written to LDAP while the business processes continue without needing to be redeployed. Sun ONE Integration Server now has SOAP (a remote procedure call form of XML) support, which enables organizations to expose their applications and data as SOAP components which can be shared as web services across multiple organizations. The XSLT improvements can help enable faster data transformation and less manual coding for faster time to market. Sun ONE Integration Server comes bundled with the Sun ONE Message Queue 2.0, a 100% Java implementation of the Java Message System, for leveraging Java applications.
Q:
What kinds of companies would benefit from Sun ONE Integration Server?
A:
Any medium to large sized company that relies on information technology and wants to leverage it within an e-business scenario and automate business processes would benefit from using Sun ONE Integration Server.
Companies often seek to do integration projects to leverage their systems to do things more efficiently or expand their systems to create new business opportunities. Different integration projects may require different styles of integration. Sun ONE Integration Server supports multiple styles of integration, ensuring that information assets are integrated at both the data level and at the business process level. Separating development between the two ensures the business processes can continue while application integration development occurs as new systems are added and modified.
Sun ONE Integration Server provides an architecture where companies can design their integration solutions flexibly. This is done by separating the process management (when & where the message is delivered), the data translation (how the message is presented/formatted) and the application data layer (data integration with application). This multi-layer (3 layer) approach allows system designers to change and manage individual components transparently without affecting other parts of the system.
Unlike pure MOM systems, where the design involves implementing message flow inside the application layer, and message translation is achieved by individual code implementation, Sun ONE Integration Server provides features that allows loose coupling process oriented application integration.
Companies often seek to do integration projects to leverage their systems to do things more efficiently or expand their systems to create new business opportunities. Different integration projects may require different styles of integration. Sun ONE Integration Server supports multiple styles of integration, ensuring that information assets are integrated at both the data level and at the business process level. Separating development between the two ensures the business processes can continue while application integration development occurs as new systems are added and modified.
Sun ONE Integration Server provides an architecture where companies can design their integration solutions flexibly. This is done by separating the process management (when & where the message is delivered), the data translation (how the message is presented/formatted) and the application data layer (data integration with application). This multi-layer (3 layer) approach allows system designers to change and manage individual components transparently without affecting other parts of the system.
Unlike pure MOM systems, where the design involves implementing message flow inside the application layer, and message translation is achieved by individual code implementation, Sun ONE Integration Server provides features that allows loose coupling process oriented application integration.
Q:
What benefits will customers find in Sun ONE Integration Server and how can these features be beneficial to a customer's integration solution?
A:
Often customers think of integration as merely connecting different systems to have consistent data. This is only part of an integration solution. Real business value is achieved by connecting the business processes that those integrated systems reflect.
Business process management (BPM) means supporting both automated business process workflow while also allowing for manual processes or human intervention as part of the business process. For example, an automated process may be ordering a product and the process is automated, but the process halts when human intervention is required, for example when the product is manually packaged and shipped. After that, the order is recorded in the system as fulfilled and the process continues. Sun ONE Integration Server supports both automated processes and human processes.
Sun ONE Integration Server allows business processes to continue uninterrupted while application and data integration development occurs because Sun ONE Integration Server keeps the process and business logic separate from the application and data logic. Thus, business processes continue while other systems are modified.
Lastly, customers who want to convert their data assets as services and share them with outside groups to conduct business can now do so with Sun ONE Integration Server. New SOAP support enables an organization to convert their data assets into SOAP components and thus participate in Web services as part of the Sun ONE architecture.
Business process management (BPM) means supporting both automated business process workflow while also allowing for manual processes or human intervention as part of the business process. For example, an automated process may be ordering a product and the process is automated, but the process halts when human intervention is required, for example when the product is manually packaged and shipped. After that, the order is recorded in the system as fulfilled and the process continues. Sun ONE Integration Server supports both automated processes and human processes.
Sun ONE Integration Server allows business processes to continue uninterrupted while application and data integration development occurs because Sun ONE Integration Server keeps the process and business logic separate from the application and data logic. Thus, business processes continue while other systems are modified.
Lastly, customers who want to convert their data assets as services and share them with outside groups to conduct business can now do so with Sun ONE Integration Server. New SOAP support enables an organization to convert their data assets into SOAP components and thus participate in Web services as part of the Sun ONE architecture.
Q:
How does Sun ONE Integration Server fit in with the larger Sun solutions?
A:
Sun ONE Integration Server is the Sun enterprise application integration solution. As new e-commerce business solutions are built and deployed, some level of integration will likely be necessary to ensure success. Sun ONE Integration Server is the integration layer of the Sun ONE stack of components that leverage standards to ensure interoperability. Sun ONE Integration Server works with the Sun ONE Platform to provide value through the use of standards such as LDAP for user and authentication management, which is performed using the Sun Java System Directory Server (formerly Sun ONE Directory Server).
Sun ONE Integration Server comes bundled with the Sun ONE Message Queue 2.0, a 100% Java implementation of the Java Message System, for leveraging Java applications built on standard J2EE application servers, such as the Sun Java System Application Server (formerly Sun ONE Application Server).
Customers can deploy portal solutions by leveraging the Sun Java System Portal Server (formerly Sun ONE Portal Server) which aggregates content and channels the results to the end user. Java System Portal Server acts as a content broker while Sun ONE Integration Server acts as the integration broker.
Sun ONE Integration Server comes bundled with the Sun ONE Message Queue 2.0, a 100% Java implementation of the Java Message System, for leveraging Java applications built on standard J2EE application servers, such as the Sun Java System Application Server (formerly Sun ONE Application Server).
Customers can deploy portal solutions by leveraging the Sun Java System Portal Server (formerly Sun ONE Portal Server) which aggregates content and channels the results to the end user. Java System Portal Server acts as a content broker while Sun ONE Integration Server acts as the integration broker.
Q:
What are its major competitive advantages over other integration solutions on the market?
A:
The Sun ONE Integration Server process engine and its integration broker functionality were built within the same, common architecture. Until recently, business process management was seen as a separate integration challenge aside from data integration. Many integration products use 3rd party workflow tools that must be retrofitted to the integration and messaging transport layer. This is complex work, may require the customer to integrate the products themselves, and may not provide the functionality, scale or flexibility the business needs. Sun ONE Integration Server's process engine was built to handle the needs of enterprises that have to integrate with multiple applications and systems, all within a single product.
Some integration products use proprietary messaging transport systems. This may mean that for each application being integrated, a separate and proprietary adapter has to be built and it will only be capable of working on that vendor's product. Sun ONE Integration Server uses a standard messaging transport built on SOAP, XML/HTTP and JMS. Sun ONE Integration Server enables companies to build adapters and integration solutions that can accommodate other applications, adapters and systems that also speak standard interfaces. Sun ONE Integration Server allows any application with an XML interface to plug in transparently and directly. Sun ONE Integration Server comes bundled with the Sun ONE Message Queue 2.0 for standard Java messaging. An adapter is available for companies that desire to plug in alternate messaging products such as IBM MQSeries and other JMS-compliant products.
Some integration products use proprietary messaging transport systems. This may mean that for each application being integrated, a separate and proprietary adapter has to be built and it will only be capable of working on that vendor's product. Sun ONE Integration Server uses a standard messaging transport built on SOAP, XML/HTTP and JMS. Sun ONE Integration Server enables companies to build adapters and integration solutions that can accommodate other applications, adapters and systems that also speak standard interfaces. Sun ONE Integration Server allows any application with an XML interface to plug in transparently and directly. Sun ONE Integration Server comes bundled with the Sun ONE Message Queue 2.0 for standard Java messaging. An adapter is available for companies that desire to plug in alternate messaging products such as IBM MQSeries and other JMS-compliant products.
Q:
Why do I need business process management. Can't I just integrate through a hub and spoke model?
A:
Yes. Sun ONE Integration Server supports a hub and spoke model where the user can configure one or more message-processing "hubs" that examine the content of arriving messages and route it to one or more destinations (including another hub, if so desired). Data translation is offered as part of the message parsing, pattern matching, and routing. Message examination and translation is done via XSLT. This XSLT processor is basically a "rules" engine approach and is standards-based. But the risk of just doing a traditional rules engine, hub and spoke solution is that there is no persistence of the underlying business process. Each application has to keep track of what messages it is working on so that the system can be restored following planned or unplanned failure. This is risky (and possibly expensive) because you don't necessarily know that they won't drop in-progress messages and if or when it may fail and restart.
Less expensive and more comprehensive is Sun ONE Integration Server's "business process" approach where the process engine keeps track of everything, including the "in process" messages so that each application is told what it was working on when it was last active in the application. Sun ONE Integration Server includes several useful audit and logging capabilities that can monitor your business operation as well as handle administrative tasks, such as "order 557 has been canceled - please inform all relevant applications." This is implemented and packaged in such as way that the process engine is simply another possible source and/or destination for a message. Thus, a system can be configured that could be partly "rule based hub and spoke" and partly "processed based," depending on the customer's needs. Other models such as "fire and forget" and "publish and subscribe" are also supported.
Less expensive and more comprehensive is Sun ONE Integration Server's "business process" approach where the process engine keeps track of everything, including the "in process" messages so that each application is told what it was working on when it was last active in the application. Sun ONE Integration Server includes several useful audit and logging capabilities that can monitor your business operation as well as handle administrative tasks, such as "order 557 has been canceled - please inform all relevant applications." This is implemented and packaged in such as way that the process engine is simply another possible source and/or destination for a message. Thus, a system can be configured that could be partly "rule based hub and spoke" and partly "processed based," depending on the customer's needs. Other models such as "fire and forget" and "publish and subscribe" are also supported.
Q:
What is included in the price of an Sun ONE Integration Server purchase?
A:
Sun ONE Integration Server contains all the tools necessary for a developer to create XML and XSLT data integration, transformation and transport. The process engine contains a graphical, drag and drop workshop to map business processes. Sun ONE Integration Server has native support for non-XML interfaces such as CORBA, C++, Java, DCOM and Forte TOOL components. Also included are tools for systems administration and monitoring, triggers and timers, history and analysis, user-defined attributes and more. Sun ONE Message Queue is included for connecting Java applications via the Java Message Service messaging system.
Also available as a separate product is the Sun ONE XML Adapter Designer for constructing custom XML adapters for applications that lack a native XML interface. Sun ONE Integration Server is also available in a Professional Edition which lacks support for the process engine for customers embarking on an integration project but haven't yet connected their integrated systems via a workflow-based, business process management tool. Pricing is available from your local Sun sales representative.
Also available as a separate product is the Sun ONE XML Adapter Designer for constructing custom XML adapters for applications that lack a native XML interface. Sun ONE Integration Server is also available in a Professional Edition which lacks support for the process engine for customers embarking on an integration project but haven't yet connected their integrated systems via a workflow-based, business process management tool. Pricing is available from your local Sun sales representative.
Q:
What are the Supported Platforms and minimum system requirements?
A:
Operating Systems
- Microsoft Windows NT SP 6 and Windows 2000 SP1
- Sun Solaris Operating Environment 7, 8
- IBM OS390 2.8, AIX 4.3.3
- Compaq Tru 64 4.0d - v. 5.1, OpenVMS 7.2-1
- Hewlett Packard HP-UX 11
- Informix IDS 2000
- Oracle 7 & 8i
- DB2 6.1 & 7.1
- Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise 11.9.2
- Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, SQL Server 2000
128M RAM, 500M Hard Disk Space
Q:
What adapters are available for Sun ONE Integration Server and how would a customer use those adapters?
A:
With its XML-based messaging backbone, any application with an XML interface can quickly plug right into the Sun ONE Integration Server integration broker/messaging backbone and participate in business processes by translating between an application's API and XML. With Sun ONE XML Adapters, your packaged Adapters will be "speaking" XML in no time. These small footprint Java, C or C++ routines use a simple XML schema and contain no application logic but remain flexible enough to develop it if desired. They use XML document handling and interpretation, replication, exception handling and management agents with logging and performance instrumentation. Adapters that have been built to leverage Sun ONE Integration Server include:
- SAP R/3
- Siebel
- Oracle Applications
- IBM MQSeries
- Sun Java System Directory Server
- Sun Java System Messaging Server (formerly Sun ONE Messaging Server)
- Portal Software Infranet
- PeopleSoft
- Solect
- Vantive
- Clarify
Q:
Is there any training available?
A:
For a complete list of available classes, please visit our Learning site.
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