WebSphere WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus, Version 6.0.1 Operating Systems: AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, Windows

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

Application integration can be made simpler, quicker and cheaper using a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).

Applications are exposed to one another as services using standard reusable interfaces.

Figure 1. Application integration using a service-oriented architecture (SOA). This figure shows two applications as service requester and service provider. Both services define the interfaces they offer and require.
Application integration using a service-oriented architecture (SOA), showing two applications as service requester and service provider. Both services define the interfaces they offer and require.

An Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) is a general architectural pattern that provides the infrastructure needed to integrate these services flexibly and quickly. This pattern can be implemented using a variety of middleware technologies and programming models. The value of an ESB is that you can use it in a variety of scenarios - from departmental to enterprise-wide integration.

Figure 2. An Enterprise Service Bus (ESB). With the ESB pattern, participants in service interaction communicate through a bus.
With the ESB pattern, participants in service interaction communicate through a bus.
Integration logic on the enterprise service bus performs a number of functions:

System downtime can be reduced, and changing business needs met, by dynamically adding or replacing services. Services can be plugged into the bus, and integrated with existing services, without the need to change existing services.

Figure 3. New services can be plugged into the bus. New services can be plugged into the bus and integrated with existing services without needing to change them, simply by adding or modifying the integration logic
New services can be plugged into the bus and integrated with existing services without needing to change them, simply by adding or modifying the integration logic

Concept topic

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Timestamp iconLast updated: 13 Dec 2005
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