WSO2 extends SOA support with version 1.5 of open source Enterprise Service Bus

Emsworth, UK and Mountain View, CA – November 12, 2007 – WSO2, the open source SOA company, announced today that it has significantly extended the WSO2 Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) to support the heterogeneous, enterprise-scale demands of a service-oriented architecture (SOA). The WSO2 ESB 1.5 adds the ability to run scheduled tasks, caching and other performance enhancements, message augmentation using standard databases, and a wide variety of file systems and FTP. Also new to Version 1.5 are support for XQuery and a simplified Plain Old Java Object (POJO) model based on the Command pattern.

Version 1.5 of the WSO2 ESB is the first product based on the 1.1 release of the Apache Synapse ESB, also being launched today. The open source WSO2 ESB enhances the Apache Synapse ESB with a simple-to-use graphical user interface and built-in registry and repository.

The WSO2 ESB provides an ultra lightweight platform that can route messages with millisecond overhead and can scale to manage thousands of simultaneous connections. The clear user interface allows administrators to connect, manage and transform service-oriented interactions across their networks. The WSO2 ESB can instantly virtualize services, enabling users to route, version, load-balance, log, monitor and manage services without changing their application code.

“With the debut of our WSO2 ESB this past summer, we set new standards for ease-of-use, performance and interoperability in mediating services within an SOA,” said Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana, CEO of WSO2. “Our new WSO2 ESB 1.5 raises the bar again, providing greater automation through scheduled tasks and extending our commitment to supporting the heterogeneous environments that form today’s SOAs.”

Version 1.5 of the WSO2 Enterprise Service Bus, available now, is 100-percent open source and based on key open source standards. It works equally well with J2EE, .NET, JMS, and HTTP/S-based systems, as well as Web services frameworks, such as Apache Axis and Axis2. Key new features in Version 1.5 include:

• Scheduled tasks: The new scheduler, based on the popular open source Quartz project, lets administrators schedule tasks to run at specified intervals, for example every hour, or to initiate long-running tasks—automating recurring processes and facilitating reporting.
• Service caching: The ability to cache responses from real services and reply to further requests of the same type reduces load on back end services, can protect against denial of service (DOS) attacks, and improves scalability.
• Database support: The WSO2 ESB 1.5 includes DBReport and DBLookup mediators, which allow the ESB to augment messages with information stored in a database, in addition to updating databases based on service interactions.
• File system support: Based on the Apache VFS project, the new file system adaptor can automatically pick up data from a variety of file systems including local, HTTP, WebDav, and FTP sites.
• POJO Command support: Enhancing the existing support for Java POJOs, the new Command pattern allows Java developers to write message mediations that cleanly separate logic from the underlying message format.
• XQuery support: Developers can now use the standard XQuery language to manipulate data from XML messages going through the ESB.
• Message splitting: Clone, Iterate and Aggregate mediators enable the large or composite messages to be processed in parallel. This pattern has a wide variety of applications in supporting batch processing, transformation and aggregation.
• Improved logging and tracing: Version 1.5 makes it simpler and easier to support service-level logs, while improved message tracing lets administrators track a particular mediation path to facilitate troubleshooting.

“Buyers of ESBs are seeking to balance interoperability and relevance to legacy enterprise architectures with the need for automation, simplicity and security,” said Dana Gardner, founder of IT research firm Interarbor Solutions, and author of Dana Gardner’s BriefingsDirect blog on ZDNet.com. “The advances in the Apache Synapse 1.1 ESB—along with the scheduling, caching and logging additions to WSO2's ESB 1.5—bring breadth and practicality together for architects and operators as they seek SOA agility benefits.”

In conjunction with the launch of the WSO2 ESB 1.5, WSO2 is rolling out an educational webinar series to provide developers with best practices for leveraging the WSO2 ESB:

• Introducing the WSO2 ESB 1.5 – November 20, 2007
• Understanding how to Extend the WSO2 ESB – December 11, 2007
• Adding Data Services into your SOA with the WSO2 WSAS and ESB – January 22, 2008
• Event Stream Processing with the WSO2 ESB and Esper – February 19, 2008

WSO2 offers a range of service and support options for the WSO2 ESB. These include full commercial support, training, consulting, custom development, and sponsorship of open source feature development. For information on the webinars, as well as service and support fees, visit https://wso2.com. Additionally, the WSO2 Oxygen Tank (https://wso2.org) is an open portal that provides in-depth product information, tutorials, tools, forums, wikis and more.