Other Microsoft.NET Technologies
Other Microsoft.NET Technologies So far in this chapter, I have concentrated on the developer- related technologies in the .NET Framework SDK. Let's look at some other key Microsoft .NET technologies. Windows and the .NET Enterprise ServersWindows XP will be the first Microsoft operating system with some support for .NET built into it. With Windows XP, you will be able to turn any COM+ application into a Web service by clicking a checkbox (I talk about this capability more in Chapter 12). Even though Windows XP has some .NET features built into it, Windows .NET Server will be the first operating system that was built from the beginning with .NET in mind. The .NET runtime (primarily the CLR and the .NET Framework class library) will be included with Windows .NET Server. In order to run .NET applications on earlier versions of Windows, like Windows XP and 2000, you will need to install the .NET runtime. Note Keep in mind that most of your .NET applications will only require you to have the .NET runtime on the server. On the client, most .NET applications will only require a standard browser and/or software that can receive HTTP messages and parse XML. Windows Forms applications (the new name for applications that use the Windows user interface) are a notable exception. Microsoft has a complete suite of server applications that can be used to build enterprise-class distributed applications. These servers were previously part of Microsoft's DNA. They are now called the .NET Enterprise servers. The following sections give an overview of each of the .NET Enterprise servers. HOST INTEGRATION SERVER 2000Host Integration Server 2000 provides a variety of tools that can be used to integrate your Windows DNA applications with software that runs on other platforms, such as IBM mainframes, AS400, and UNIX. These tools can be divided into three categories: Network and Security Integration Services, Data Integration Services, and Application Integration Services. Network and Security Integration ServicesThe Network and Security Integration Services include support for Systems Network Architecture (SNA) and LAN protocols, support for password synchronization and single sign-on, and support for Active Directory on other platforms. Data Integration ServicesHost Integration Server 2000 will also include a variety of tools that make it easier to share data across platforms, including bidirectional data replication tools that work between Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, and Oracle. It will also include a wider range of Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) drivers and OLEDB providers than are currently available. Drivers and providers will be delivered for DB2, VSAM, AS400 file system, and Sybase, in addition to the popular ones on the PC platform that Microsoft always shipped. Host Integration Server 2000 will also include a facility that allows users of IBM DB2 to access Microsoft SQL Server as though it were a peer DB2 data source. Application Integration ServicesThe COM Transaction Integrator (COMTI) and the XML Transaction Integrator (XMLTI) highlight the Application Integration Services in Host Integration Server 2000. COMTI allows COM+ and Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) applications to access mainframe applications built with the CICS or IMS transaction-processing environments. With COMTI, mainframe applications appear as COM+ or MTS components to a Windows application. XMLTI provides an XML interface to COMTI components ; this allows XML-formatted documents and messages to initialize transactions. XMLTI will be particularly useful for business-to-business e-commerce, especially when used with BizTalk Server 2000 and BizTalk-compatible XML schemas. Host Integration Server also includes a tool called the COMTI Component Builder that provides a graphical, drag-and-drop environment that developers can use to generate a COM+ component or an XML interface from existing business logic. A bridge between the Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) and Message Queuing (MQ) Series message-queuing products (MQ Series is available on a number of platforms) is also provided by Host Integration Server, as is an SDK that allows developers to extend Host Integration Server to work with any platform. APPLICATION CENTER SERVER 2000Application Center Server 2000 is a set of tools that simplifies the deployment and management of Web applications within farms of servers. Application Center Server 2000 makes it easy to configure and manage high-volume, high-availability server arrays. BIZTALK SERVER 2002BizTalk Server 2002 is a set of tools that enables companies to integrate, manage, and automate their business processes. The foundations of BizTalk Server 2002 are BizTalk Orchestration and BizTalk Messaging. Both technologies ship with BizTalk Server 2002, but they are independent enough that you can use one without the other. BizTalk OrchestrationBizTalk Orchestration is a set of tools that facilitates the modeling, implementing, and executing of complex business processes. The key to this technology is XLANG, which is an XML language for describing business processes. Using BizTalk Orchestration is simple; a business analyst creates a flow chart using the Biztalk Orchestration Designer (which is just Visio with a special template). A developer then creates COM objects, script components, and message queues that implement the business process. The developer connects these objects, script components, and message queues to the boxes on the flow chart. The developer then defines the data that flows between the objects, script components, and queues and compiles the Visio drawing into an XLANG file. The developer can now execute the XLANG file using the XLANG Scheduler Engine, which is included with BizTalk Server. BizTalk MessagingBizTalk Messaging is a set of technologies that allow companies to exchange documents in a reliable and secure way. It supports a number of file formats, including Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), XML, and flat files. It includes a transformation engine and graphical tools that analysts and developers can use to transform documents from one format to another. BizTalk Messaging also supports a variety of transports, including SMTP, HTTP, and file transfer protocol (ftp). It also provides fault tolerance to ensure that documents are delivered, and it has mechanisms to ensure once-only delivery so that duplicate messages are not delivered. BizTalk Messaging also supports encryption and digital signatures so that documents can delivered with security and privacy. COMMERCE SERVER 2002Commerce Server 2002 is a software solution for creating e-commerce Web sites. It provides a tailorable application framework that you can use to create business-to-business or business-to-consumer Web sites, including fully functional out-of-the-box starter sites. Commerce Server 2002 has prepackaged solutions for customer profiling and targeting, product catalogs, and business process pipelines. Many third-party vendors provide add-on products that handle credit card validation, taxation , shipping and handling, content management, and business Internet analytics (which use data warehousing and Online Analytical Processing [OLAP] to collect, store, and analyze Web-click stream data). MICROSOFT SQL SERVER 2000Microsoft SQL Server 2000 is the latest version of Microsoft's Relational Database Management Server (RDBMS). Improvements over the previous versions include enhancements to performance, scalability, and support for XML. With SQL Server 2000, you can either return queries as XML or process updates using XML Update Grams. SQL Server 2000 will feature improved scalability and manageability. It will also have improved data warehousing and Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), as well as XML integration and improved data access through the Web. EXCHANGE SERVER 2000Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 is Microsoft's messaging and collaboration solution. Exchange Server 2000 is much more than just an email server. You can use it to manage and share all the resources and knowledge that your organization possesses, including everything from scheduling resources like conference rooms to public folders that function as either bulletin boards or repositories for company documents such as policies, procedures, and instruction manuals. Exchange Server 2000 features full integration with Active Directory and complete integration with the Internet, allowing company workers to access all the capabilities of exchange through any HTML Web browser. INTERNET SECURITY AND ACCELERATION SERVER 2000Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2000 is an integrated firewall and Web cache server. MOBILE INFORMATION 2002 SERVERMobile Information 2002 Server is a reliable and scalable platform for wireless solutions that brings mobile users and information together anytime , anywhere , and on any device. Smart Client SoftwareAlthough I am a great admirer of Microsoft as an organization their constant need to rename and reclassify their technologies has always been something that I have found laughable at best, annoying at worst. And so with that as context, I can tell you that "Smart Client Software" is Microsoft's new name for their client operating systems. Since Microsoft .NET was designed to work with a wider array of client platforms, the implication is obviously that a client running a Microsoft operating system is "smart" and a client running some other operating system is not. Perhaps the reason for the creation of this name is that Microsoft is trying to market their client operating systems on the other platforms besides Personal Computers. Microsoft divides "smart clients " into 3 groups based on the class of targeted hardware: personal computers, small footprint devices, embedded devices. FOR PERSONAL COMPUTERSFor personal computers (which includes laptops) Windows XP is Microsoft's Smart Client Software. Although you can obviously run code that is not built on .NET with Windows XP, Microsoft will over time add more .NET related functionality to this platform to differentiate it from competing operating systems which can also function as clients for many .NET applications. SMALL FOOTPRINT DEVICESWindows CE .NET is Microsoft's "smart client" for small footprint devices, which includes Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and Smart Phones. Microsoft is making strong headway in this market as Palm has largely squandered their initial lead in this market by resting on their laurels and failing to innovate. EMBEDDED DEVICESMicrosoft also makes a version of Windows XP for use as in embedded applications such as refrigerators, car stereos, TV set top boxes and retail kiosks . Windows XP Embedded is componentized so that developers and device makers can maintain a small footprint by only using the functionality that they need. SMART DEVICESA "smart" device is a device that has the ability to access XML Web Services. Example Smart devices are Pocket PC devices, Windows Powered Smartphone 2002, which are just starting to appear on the market and Microsoft's Xbox gaming console. There seems to be a lot of overlap between the definition of a Smart Client and a Smart Device. I wouldn't worry too much about understanding the difference, if past experience is any guide, the names or their meanings will likely change by the time you do understand. Where Do Microsoft's Older Technologies Fit In?So what happens to COM, COM+, ActiveX, Windows DNA, and the various other Windows technologies that Microsoft touted so heavily until it released .NET? The next section answers this question. COMCOM is a specification and supporting system software that enables the creation of software components that are programming-language independent and location transparent. In the initial stages of the hype surrounding Microsoft's introduction of .NET and the .NET Framework, many people assumed that the .NET Framework was the end of COM and COM+. It turns out that quite the opposite is true. Very few companies have the luxury of halting new work for several monthsor years while they migrate all of their code to the .NET Framework. At most organizations, .NET code and COM code will need to work together ( interoperate ) for some time to come. Microsoft's acceptance of this reality shows in the substantial amount of effort that it has put into .NET/COM interoperability. Any .NET components can be easily exposed as COM components to Win32/COM clients, and COM components can be exposed as .NET components to clients built with the .NET Framework. I cover .NET/COM interoperability extensively throughout this book. DCOMDCOM is that part of COM that is concerned with enabling COM-based software components to be used across a network. DCOM is for all intents and purposes dead in the .NET world. The problem is that DCOM was designed more for LANs than the Internet. It is not firewall friendly, and it is supported on only a limited number of platforms. It can also be difficult to configure. .NET Remoting can do everything that DCOM can d, and, because it can use XML and HTTP (SOAP) as its encoding format and transport protocol, it is (at least conceptually) cross-platform. Note You can also use binary formatting and the TCP protocol with .NET Remoting for optimum performance. Moreover, .NET Remoting is easier to configure and use than DCOM. DCOM never gained wide acceptance, so I doubt that it will be missed. COM+Contrary to popular opinion, the .NET Framework doesn't replace COM+. You still need COM+ servicessuch as distributed transactions, object pooling, Just In Time Activation, synchronization, and queued componentsto build enterprise-class, distributed applications with .NET. The .NET Framework will not in its initial release offer a replacement for these services. If you want to use these services, you must still understand COM/COM+. Fortunately, the .NET Framework does include a set of types and attributes in the System.EnterpriseServices namespace that actually make it easier to use the COM+ Services with the .NET Framework than it was with Visual Studio 6. A .NET class that uses the COM+ services is called a Serviced Component, and I talk about Serviced Components in Chapter 9. Future releases of the .NET Framework are expected to include a replacement for the COM+ Services that is built entirely on managed code. Windows DNAWindows DNA is a name that is dead and buried. If you go to the URL on Microsoft's Web site that contained all the information about Windows DNA, microsoft.com/dna, it redirects you to microsoft.com/net/. ActiveX ControlsActiveX is the consumer brandname for all Microsoft COM-based technologies. At least that is the last official definition that Microsoft had of this name. The reality is that the name ActiveX has been synonymous only with ActiveX controls, which are COM objects that support a special set of interfaces that make them easy to use in a Visual Development environment. Although Microsoft's attempt to promote ActiveX controls as a way to deliver dynamic content across the Internet was an abysmal failure, ActiveX controls are still a widely used technology, and a multibillion dollar industry of component vendors produce ActiveX controls. Microsoft realizes this, and, through COM interoperability, you can still use ActiveX controls in your .NET applications. Moreover, the .NET Framework does include two successors to ActiveX controls: Windows Forms User Controls and Web Forms User Controls. Windows Forms User Controls are for desktop applications, and they are very similar to ActiveX controls in concept. You can drag and drop them onto a form and set their properties in your designer to configure their appearance, and they store their state persistently. Web Forms user controls are the equivalent of ActiveX controls for Web applications. They allow you to take chunks of HTML and package them as a configurable control that you can reuse.  |
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