Role of Middleware in the App Integration in a Distributed Application Environment - Term Paper Example

Running Head: MIDDLEWARE IMPORTANCE Without middleware, the integration of application in distributed application environment is difficult Institute: ABSTRACT Middleware is a software application that acts as a mid level interface between third party applications, the operating systems and core applications. With increase in the use of distributed computing and a wide range of assets such as software applications, platforms and languages, developers and solution architects face the problem of integrating these assets has increased. Different assets need to ‘talk’ to each other, integrate seamlessly so that information flow is smooth. When systems are not fully compatible, there is a delay in understanding and processing requests from one application to another. This delay can cause increase in queuing time and can lead to slower system response and the system can even crash. Middleware acts as a broker between different software applications in the form of coded request processing. This paper examines the importance and role of Middleware in distributed computing. A literature review and case studies with examples from Middleware implementations are analyzed. The findings indicate that Middleware is very important in modern distributed computing environment considering the huge variety of third party applications. The paper concludes that it would be very difficult to integrate the vast variety of applications without Middleware applications. Table of Contents Without middleware, the integration of application in distributed application environment is difficult 1 Name: 1 Institute: 1 1. Introduction 4 2. Role of Middleware and how it operates 5 3. Case studies and Examples 8 4. Discussions 11 5. Conclusions 12 References 14 1. Introduction Middleware has been described as the software glue that integrates objects distributed across a large number of heterogeneous IT systems. It is also regarded as software that helps to make integration of application easy by providing standard program interfaces that act as hooks and software developers need to make their applications latch to these hooks. Middleware is called as software that allows different applications to talk with each other, exchange data and complete the transactions. Thus, Middleware acts as a broker between software applications. The software industry complexity has increased with new languages, platforms, operating systems, applications and their new versions being launched almost continuously and Middleware helps in the integration of these applications (Maximilien, et al, 2009). With thousands of developers and different flavors of software application, operating systems and platforms would not be able to process connectivity and compatibility requests from these entities. In other words, a web program written in Java would want to connect to another server program written in say VC++. There would be differences in syntax, procedures, calls, and sub routines and so on. It would not be possible for the two programs to understand what one software want the other to do, information sought and data that must be processed. Middleware acts as the ‘midwife’ and it has its own set of protocols, routines and methods of processing requests. It acts as a universal adapter and allows the two different applications to speak to each other (Gua. Et al, 2005). This paper discusses the thesis statement “Without middleware, the integration of application in distributed application environment is difficult.” Using case studies and examples, the thesis topic is analyzed in detail and the statement is examined from various views and perspectives. The paper is organized as follows. First a brief discussion is provided on Middleware types and its role followed by case studies of Middleware implementation. Next a discussion of the findings is done that proves the thesis statement followed by a conclusion. 1.1. Market Size and scope With more and more software applications following the distributed path, many organizations do not want to buy software. They prefer to use third party services for hosting and using service oriented architecture - SOA. This is where Software as a Service, Application as a Service and other SOA applications gain popularity. A recent report by Gartner indicates that the Middleware market in 2011 was worth 19.3 billion USD and this represents a 10% growth over 2010. This market is further expected to grow in the coming years as organizations seek to reduce their software costs (Gartner, May 2012). 2. Role of Middleware and how it operates Considering the large varieties of software applications and roles, a single ‘universal’ Middleware is not possible. However, software complexities are managed by introducing different types of Middleware. These are discussed in this section along with the roles that they play. This section is important as it helps in understanding the wide spectrum of roles that Middleware plays. 2.1. Types of Middleware Middleware is made up of different categories of products, each with its unique role and function. These are briefly discussed as below (Roman, 2002; Cukier, et al, 1998). Message Oriented Middleware - This type acts as a mailbox and helps to asynchronously store and relay application messages and also help in event notification. It also acts as an integration broker that conducts message transformation and business process coordination. Examples are Java Message Queue, IBM MQSeries. Object Middleware: It serves as an object request broker where ‘client object call methods’ are used to export server objects. Coordination is synchronous and examples are XML-RPC, SOAP, Corba, COM / DCOM and others. RPC Middleware: It provides ‘calling procedures’ for remote systems. It also uses synchronous interactions and it often works inside an application and handles all internal event requests. Database Middleware: One of the most important and crucial types of Middleware, it provides direct access for applications to data structures and databases. It allows direct interaction with databases. Examples are ETL packages. Transaction Middleware: This type has a number of web application servers, transaction process monitors and clients and servers. These assets would be installed on different hosts. It helps to initiate and complete transactions. Examples are IBM CICS and BEA Tuxedo. The above categories indicate the wide number of tasks and applications that Middleware brokers. Next section discusses the role and operation of a Middleware. 2.2. Integration of applications with Middleware The focus of this paper is to understand the importance Middleware for integration of distributed systems. Distributed systems are different from traditional client server application and coding is done through application programming interfaces. These are again run by web APIs, Web 2.0 and intelligent agents, hosted on remote machines and run through different languages. Physical integration is not possible since the client, the event driver, application and the database are on remote machines. Middleware then acts as an interface that integrates all these entities virtually and takes instructions, converts them into a format that other entities understands, relays them, and then delivers the results after processing is done (Cardei, et al, 2000). Middleware thus uses two types of approaches for integration and these are point to point and many to many. In the point to point integration, Middleware application creates a pipeline between the two applications and helps to communicate data. The pipeline is very secure, not loosely coupled and some examples are online banking and shopping where the customer may use Internet Explorer, Firefox or other browsers and connects to various online shops that have their own databases and web applications. After the transaction is done, payment requests are made and completed. Many-to-many integration helps many systems to speak with each other. A central server broadcasts the messages and these are intercepted by devices such as laptops, smart phones of many makes and other devices (Gokhale, et al, 2008). 3. Case studies and Examples In this section some examples that demonstrate the manner in which integration of applications with Middleware are given. Examples are taken from implementations in different areas. 3.1. Multi tenancy with SaaS for IBM IBM has developed and deployed many Middleware products for its ‘Software as a Service’ web solution. In this concept, customers can subscribe to the required software applications and run them as hired services. They do not have to purchase expensive software applications and develop them and this is very cost effective. Some problems that arise are due to multi tenancy. In this practice, a single instance of the application would be hosted on a service provider’s server while multiple organizations subscribes to this service. The technical challenges are that access to databases and instances of one firm should never be available for other firms since privacy and data security would be compromised. IBM uses a range of Middleware products that provide functions such as isolation, security, customizability, and application upgrades with data recovery. Middleware helps to isolate data of each tenant and organize it into different databases, isolating the data of each tenant into different tables and schema. The same set of tables and a schema can be shared between tenants while allowing for customization at field levels for each tenant. This helps to reduce the cost of ownership for the customers. Please refer to the following figure that illustrates the different Middleware products (IBM, 2008). Figure 3.1. IBM Middleware Products used for SaaS integration (IBM, 2008) 3.2. Oracle Fusion Middleware Oracle is one of the largest manufacturers of software solutions, databases, cloud servers and many other products including Middleware products. It has recently launched the Oracle Fusion Middleware, a part of the Oracle products used for application development and integration of software solutions. It is fully integrated with the Oracle family of products and has application interfaces for integration with other software applications. It helps in the integrating heterogeneous business applications and to automate business processes. It can also scale applications to meet customer demand and simplify compliance to security requirements. The Middleware products also help to manage product lifecycle and provide focused business intelligence. It does not need any extra infrastructure and it can be deployed on various operating systems and platforms such as Windows, Linux, Sun Systems and Linux. Main components are the Oracle WebLogic Server with J2EE Application Server, Oracle WebCenter with WC framework and spaces; Oracle SOA suite with service bus, adapters B2B, BPEL and Business rules and the Oracle identity Management suite with role manager, directory services manager, OVD and other components. It also has the Oracle Business Intelligence with components such as the discoverer, portal reports and the Oracle application Component with developer tools HTTP server, Web cache, web services and also the Oracle Metadata Repository. Given below is an illustration of the various components that make up the Oracle Fusion Server (Oracle, 2012). Figure 3.2. Oracle Fusion Middleware (Oracle, 2012) 3.3. Cisco Cloud Middleware Cisco has launched its Cloud Computing services and cloud servers that offer cost advantages to its customers besides high quality of services. Cisco offers application programming and hosting services along with virtualization, multi-tenancy and offers services such as IT as a service, Software as a Service and other services in the SOA portfolio. The Cloud Middleware also called as the Cloud OS is one of the major components of the Cloud Services and it helps to manage and control the services. Cisco also offers Cloud services and products to a number of cloud vendors. The Amazon EC2/ S3 and the Google Application Engine are some examples of its vast product range. The middleware helps customers to create the required cloud instances and carry out various tasks related to lifecycle management. Figure 3.3. Cisco Cloud Middleware (Cisco, 2010) 4. Discussions The previous sections have examined different types of Middleware, their roles and functions and some case studies of implementations. From the discussions, a number of points emerge. The field of computing has become very complex with hundreds of application developed by third parties and these seek connectivity with other large operating systems and application interfaces. With distributed computing, these applications and other assets are distributed over a large network. With such a large variety of languages, systems, and platforms, integrating and linking them so that the required tasks can be completed becomes very complicated. Different types of Middleware software are available that sit at the interfaces and these act as brokers or interpreters. In effect, these Middleware programs convey requests from one party to the other, help to process the message and carry out the transactions. If Middleware was not available, then each application must be manually coded and interface written to make it compatible to other programs. Such manual writing for each software application and process is not practically feasible. Middleware thus presents a ready made gateway that reduces the amount of computing work tremendously. In the case of local area networks or even a single system that runs on say MS Windows, MS Access and other Windows products, Middleware may not be needed. This is because the local network is a closed network and external connection requests are not allowed. In this case, Middleware is not needed. However, Middleware is inevitable and mandatory for large scale networks and real life applications such as Internet, online shopping, ERP systems that allow connectivity from external multi devices, multi-tenancy applications with software as a service and service oriented architecture applications. Therefore, the thesis statement "Without middleware, the integration of application in distributed application environment is difficult" is found to hold true and is proved. 5. Conclusions The paper has examined the role and importance of Middleware in integrating application in distributed application environment. It is seen that Middleware has a number of application interfaces that allows third party software applications to be integrated. This becomes vey important since the world has moved to a distributed system with software and hardware assets spread across the different regions. A number of new practices such as service oriented architecture has made the practice of ‘renting’ software applications very profitable. For such practices and for other distributed systems, application integration would not be possible without using Middleware. A few cases where Middleware is used for integration and for providing the required services were examined. Form the discussions and analysis, it is clear that Middleware is very important in the area of large scale computer operations and the market for Middleware products is also growing. References Bernstein, P. (1996). Middleware: A model for distributed system services. Communications of the ACM, 32(2), 86-98 Cardei, M., Cardei. I., Jha. R., Pavan. A. (2000). Hierarchical feedback adaptation for real time sensor-based distributed applications. In Proceedings of Middleware 2000 (LNCS 1795), pp. 415-435 Cisco, (2012). High-Level Cloud Middleware Architecture. Cisco Computing Services. Retrieved 12 October 2012 from Cukier, M., Ren. J., Sabnis. C., Henke. D., (1998). AQuA: An adaptive architecture that provides dependable distributed objects. In Proceedings of the 17th IEEE Symposium on Reliable Distributed Systems, pp. 245-253 Gartner, (May 2012). Gartner Says Worldwide Application Infrastructure and Middleware Market Revenue Grew 10 Percent in 2011. Gartner Newsroom and Market Research Reports. Retrieved 12 October 2012 from Gokhale. A., Balasubramanian. K., Krishna. A. S., Jaiganesh. B., 2008. Model driven middleware: A new paradigm for developing distributed real-time and embedded systems. Science of Computer Programming, 73 (1), pp. 39-58 Gua, T., Pung. H. K., and Zhang. D. Q. (2005). A service oriented middleware for building context aware services. Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 28 (1), pp. 1-18 IBM, (2008). Patterns for addressing multi-tenancy technical challenges. IBM Developer Archives. Retrieved 12 October 2012 from http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/webservices/library/ws-middleware/ Maximilien, E. M., Ranabahu. A., Engehausen. R., and Anderson. L., (2009). IBM altocumulus: a cross-cloud middleware and platform. Proceeding OOPSLA 09 Proceedings of the 24th ACM SIGPLAN conference companion on Object oriented programming systems languages and applications. NY, pp. 805-806 Oracle, (2012). Oracle Fusion Middleware. Oracle Developer Archives. Retrieved 12 October 2012 from Roman, M. (2002). A middleware infrastructure for active spaces. In Proceedings of the IEEE Pervasive Computing, Illinois Univ., Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA. pp. 74-83 Read More