L'IBM DataPower XI50 Integration Appliance

The IBM DataPower XI50 network device offers a light message broker, enterprise service buses (ESBs) and mainframe XML enablement.

The IBM WebSphere DataPower XML Integration Appliance XI50 offers all the features of the XA35 and the XS40 combined with the ability to convert application integration into a network function, handling transformation, routing and an independent audit of the transport layer. This integrated network solution makes mainframes XML-compatible, in addition to functions for light message brokering and wirespeed conversion between any text, in binary or XML format.

The XI50 network device also offers transformation, integration and message routing functions, reducing operating costs and improving performance. By making on-demand data integration part of the application-oriented network structure, the XI50 is one of the few truly innovative technologies for application integration, offering a light message broker, enterprise service buses (ESBs) and XML enablement of mainframes.

Companies are currently moving toward service-oriented architectures (SOAs) using XML-based web services, giving rise to new concerns as application integration and security are ramped up:

• Rapid, effective XML-enablement of existing systems
• Setting-up interactions between many disparate systems
• Securing access to newly XML-enabled applications
• Creating an architecture to support future growth while allowing easy administration

The XI50 meets these requirements by providing security and wirespeed XML-integration for a fraction of the time, cost, risk and complexity of a software solution. Its functions include:

• Any-to-any message transformation, such as binary, text and XML messages
• Lightweight, protocol-independent message brokering
• Message-level XML security and fine-grained access control
• A gateway between networks for mission-critical transactions in SOA architectures or ESB urbanizations
• Reduced operational complexity through absorption in a network device

Integration of metadata

The XI50 supports a range of transport protocols, including IBM MQ Series; it can parse and transform binary, text or XML flows such as COBOL Copybook, CORBA, CICS, ISO8583, ASN.1 and EDI. Unlike enterprise bus adapters coded into an integrated circuit, IBM's patented WebSphere DataPower DataGlue technology uses a fully declarative metadata-based approach. This cutting-edge technology supports data-oriented parsing (DOP) without creating any bottlenecks. Its user-friendly interface helps analysts to configure format descriptors, links and message sequencing.

Security and performance

Based on patented XPG3 technology and designed with security in mind, the XI50 offers XML-integration supported by secure foundations together with the required performance for real-world applications. The XI50 can parse, filter, transform, route and control access to messages of disparate protocols at wirespeed. It also provides encryption and decryption, as well as digital-signature signing and verification capabilities.