Microsoft announced Integration platform road map focusing next version of BizTalk Server and Azure in a TechEd on June 14, 2012 held in Orlando. A well-known BizTalk veteran Kent Weare has put together a round up in his blog.
Here is the link for the blog:
http://kentweare.blogspot.com/2012/06/application-integration-futures-road.html
TechEd Webcast:
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR207
A much anticipated feature of Windows Azure, Integration services is finally available as a CTP. I am thrilled with the release of Windows Azure Service Bus EAI and EDI labs and would be starting to dig into it.
Microsoft used to provide Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) capabilities through BizTalk. With the release of Windows Azure Service Bus EAI and EDI labs CTP, it envisions to provide same capabilities as Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). It now unlocks the power of middleware in the cloud!
What is included in this CTP?
To get started, download the SDK samples from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=184288 and the tutorial & documentation from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=235197
AppFabric Service Bus Send and Receive Test Clients help development and testing of Queues, Topics and Subscriptions features of Windows Azure AppFabric Service Bus.
Two clients are developed to send and receive messages to\from AppFabric Service Bus.
Currently, these clients are developed on Windows Azure AppFabric SDK v1.5 September Release and available for download at http://appfabricservicebus.codeplex.com/
Walkthrough to use Test Clients
Send Client
Connect to AppFabric by clicking on menu File>>Connect. This action opens a Connection Explorer.
Choose Service Namespace from dropdown if the settings exist in NamespaceConfiguration.xml located in application folder. If not, enter credentials to connect to Windows Azure AppFabric.
Choose Communication Object and list to connect
Enter a message in Message tab and set message properties in Properties tab. Click on Send button to send a message.
Receive Client
Choose a Communication Object and Queue\Topic and Subscription list from dropdown.
Click on Poll Button to receive messages.
Click on Message Id in Received Messages to view message and its properties.
Update[01/17/2012]: MSDN now has a comprehensive list. Click Here
Note: Comparison list is slightly outdated with the new release of Windows Azure SDK 1.5 and as the products evolve.
| Feature |
Windows Azure Storage Queues |
Service Bus Queues |
Comments |
| Programming Models | |||
| Raw REST/HTTP | Yes | Yes | |
| .NET API | Yes(Windows Azure Managed Library) | Yes(AppFabric SDK) | |
| Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) binding | No | Yes | |
| Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) integration | No | Yes | |
| Protocols | |||
| Runtime | REST over HTTP | REST over HTTPBi-directional TCP | The Service Bus managed API leverages the bi-directional TCP protocol for improved performance over REST/HTTP. |
| Management | REST over HTTP | REST over HTTP | |
| Messaging Fundamentals | |||
| Ordering Guarantees | No | First-In-First-Out (FIFO) | Note: guaranteed FIFO requires the use of sessions. |
| Message processing guarantees | At-Least-Once (ALO) | At Least-Once (ALO)Exactly-Once (EO) | The Service Bus generally supports the ALO guarantee; however EO can be supported by using SessionState to store application state and using transactions to atomically receive messages and update the SessionState. The AppFabric workflow uses this technique to provide EO processing guarantees. |
| Peek Lock | YesVisibility timeout: default=30s; max=2h | YesLock timeout: default=30s; max=5m | Windows Azure queues offer a visibility timeout to be set on each receive operation, while Service Bus lock timeouts are set per entity. |
| Duplicate Detection | No | Yes, send-side duplicate detection | The Service Bus will remove duplicate messages sent to a queue/topic (based on MessageId). |
| Transactions | No | Partial | The Service Bus supports local transactions involving a single entity (and its children). Transactions can also include updates to SessionState. |
| Receive Behavior | Non-blocking, i.e., return immediately if no messages | REST/HTTP: long poll based on user-provided timeout.NET API: 3 options: blocking, blocking with timeout, non-blocking. | |
| Batch Receive | Yes(explicit) | Yes. Either (a) Implicitly using prefetch, or (b) explicitly using transactions. | |
| Batch Send | No | Yes (using transactions) | |
| Receive and Delete | No | Yes | Ability to reduce operation count (and associated cost) in exchange for lowered delivery assurance. |
| Advanced Features | |||
| Dead lettering | No | Yes | Windows Azure queues offer a ‘dequeue count’ on each message, so applications can choose to delete troublesome messages themselves. |
| Session Support | No | Yes | Ability to have logical subgroups within a queue or topic. |
| Session State | No | Yes | Ability to store arbitrary metadata with sessions. Required for integration with Workflow. |
| Message Deferral | No | Yes | Ability for a receiver to defer a message until they are prepared to process it. Required for integration with Workflow. |
| Scheduled Delivery | No | Yes | Allows a message to be scheduled for delivery at some future time. |
| Security | |||
| Authentication | Windows Azure credentials | ACS roles | ACS allows for three distinct roles: admin, sender and receiver. Windows Azure has a single role with total access, and no ability for delegation. |
| Management Features | |||
| Get Message Count | Approximate | No | Service Bus queues offer no operational insight at this point, but plan to in the future. |
| Clear Queue | Yes | No | Convenience functions to clear queue efficiently. |
| Peek / Browse | Yes | No | Windows Azure queues offer the ability to peek a message without locking it, which can be used to implement browse functionality. |
| Arbitrary Metadata | Yes | No | Windows Azure queues allow an arbitrary set of <key, value> pairs on queue metadata. |
| Quotas/Limits | |||
| Maximum message size | 8KB | 256KB | |
| Maximum queue size | Unlimited | 5GB | Specified at queue creation, with specific values of 1,2,3,4 or 5 GB. |
| Maximum number of entities per service namespace | n/a |
10,000 |
BizTalk Azure Adapters
BizTalk Azure Adapters SDK 1.0 provides the capabilities to BizTalk Server 2009 to Integrate on-premise application with cloud based applications and services running on Windows Azure Platform.
SDK 1.0 is capable to connect on-premise application with Azure Live Framework and .Net Services.
BizTalk Adapter for .Net Services can Send\Receive messages.
BizTalk Adapter for Live Mesh can Receive Notifications and Mesh Objects.
Adapters can be downloaded here.
