I N D U S T R Y T R E N D S
`
`Web Services:
`Beyond the Hype
`F or the past six months, the
`
`Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
`
`technology media has been full
`of articles about Web services
`(WS), focusing largely on
`Microsoft’s .NET initiative.
`Proponents call it “the next big thing”
`in computing, and although WS ven-
`dors have not delivered their systems
`yet, there is already a Web Services
`Journal.
`WS comprises a set of platform-neu-
`tral technologies designed to ease the
`delivery of network services over intra-
`nets and the Internet.
`Cross-platform capabilities are one
`of WS’s key attractions because inter-
`operability has been a dream of the dis-
`tributed-computing community for
`years.
`Barry Morris, CEO of Iona Tech-
`nologies, an object-oriented distrib-
`uted-computing company, added,
`“The most important aspect of Web
`services is that it’s a standards-based,
`
`service-oriented architecture that is
`supported by every major software and
`hardware company in the world.”
`Indeed, Microsoft isn’t the only
`company promising WS. Major ven-
`dors BEA Systems, Hewlett-Packard,
`IBM, Oracle, and Sun Microsystems
`are working on competing Java-based
`Web services. There are even two
`open source WS projects: Mono and
`DotGnu. The “Web Services Web
`Sites” sidebar lists URLs.
`
`Web Services Web Sites
`
`• BEA WebLogic Server 6.1: http://www.bea.com/products/weblogic/
`server/index.shtml
`• DotGnu project: http://www.dotgnu.org/
`• HP Web Services Platform: http://www.bluestone.com/products/
`hp_web_services/default.htm
`• IBM Web Services Toolkit: http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/
`webservicestoolkit
`• Microsoft .NET: http://www.microsoft.com/net/
`• Mono project: http://www.go-mono.net
`• Oracle9iAS Web services application server: http://otn.oracle.com/tech/
`webservices/content.html
`• Sun ONE: http://www.sun.com/sunone/
`• Web Services Journal: http://www.sys-con.com/webservices/
`
`18
`
`Computer
`
`Philip DesAutels, Microsoft’s prod-
`uct manager of XML Web services
`strategy, said WS will prove useful in
`many ways.
`On the other hand, analyst David
`Smith with market-research firm
`Gartner Inc. said Web services are
`“exciting, but they’re no big deal,”
`because they represent just another
`way to deliver network services.
`Added CEO Avery Lyford of Linux-
`Care, which develops Linux-based
`applications, “Show me a customer
`need for these new services, and I’d be
`more excited.”
`Currently, therefore, it isn’t at all cer-
`tain whether WS will become an
`important new computing approach or
`just a niche technology.
`
`WHAT ARE WEB SERVICES?
`WS would, in essence, integrate PCs,
`other devices, databases, and networks
`into one virtual computing fabric that
`users could work with via browsers.
`The services themselves would run
`on Web-based servers, not PCs, thereby
`moving functions from the desktop to
`the Internet. Users could work with the
`services over any WS-enabled machine
`with Internet access, including hand-
`held devices. Web services would thus
`change the Internet into a computing
`platform, rather than a medium in
`which users primarily just view and
`download content.
`This would also move data and
`applications from the desktop to a WS
`provider’s servers, a potential source
`of user concern about security, privacy,
`and accessibility.
`Application servers will be a critical
`part of Web services because they typ-
`ically handle the complex, transaction-
`based-application operations between
`users and an organization’s back-end
`business programs or databases.
`Some industry observers say WS is
`not really a new concept and reflects
`much of the network-computing con-
`cept that was popular several years ago.
`Gartner’s Smith said that WS is basi-
`cally a loosely coupled remote proce-
`dure call that would replace today’s
`
`Exhibit 1027
`Page 01 of 04
`
`

`

`tightly coupled RPCs, which require
`application- and protocol-specific appli-
`cation programming interface (API)
`connections. WS uses XML, rather than
`C or C++, to call procedures.
`Still other experts say WS is just a
`type of middleware-based API, with
`XML providing the front end to Java 2
`Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) or
`.NET application servers. Like mid-
`dleware, WS would link the applica-
`tion server and client programs.
`
`STANDARDS: THE HEART OF WS
`WS enables interoperability via a set
`of open standards, which distinguishes
`it from previous network services such
`as Corba’s Internet Inter-ORB Proto-
`col (IIOP).
`XML is the most important Web-ser-
`vices standard and is the basis for the
`other WS standards. As a metalan-
`guage, XML lets a set of users define its
`own markup tags. The tags provide
`information about the data in a docu-
`ment to users on most platforms. This
`permits cross-platform communications
`and also lets organizations integrate dif-
`ferent data types within their systems.
`Systems would use SOAP (simple
`object access protocol) to run WS
`applications. SOAP lets a program
`working in one operating system com-
`municate with a program working in
`another by using HTTP and XML as
`information-exchange mechanisms.
`SOAP specifies how to encode an
`HTTP header and an XML file to
`achieve this interoperability. Thus, an
`operating system or browser will need
`only SOAP compatibility to work with
`any Web service.
`The XML-based Web Services
`Description Language describes the
`online services a business offers. WSDL
`also helps users access a Web service
`by providing information such as the
`nature of its interface.
`Finally, businesses use WSDL to list
`their Web services on the Internet in an
`XML-based registry based on the
`UDDI (universal description, discov-
`ery, and integration) protocol. UDDI
`lets companies find publicly available
`
`Web services on the Internet or corpo-
`rate networks, as Figure 1 shows.
`In essence, WS provides developers
`with a widely applicable API. Client-
`server systems use hard-coded interfaces
`and protocols between applications,
`noted Rick Caccia, director of product
`management for KnowNow, a WS and
`system-integration software company.
`This requires users to work with pro-
`prietary standards for each client-server
`software package.
`Caccia said technologies based on
`Corba’s object request brokers (ORBs)
`are a bit more flexible because they
`move the application coupling to a
`higher level. ORBs let programs treat
`blocks of code as objects without wor-
`rying about interior details.
`However, explained Dan Gisolfi,
`solutions architect for IBM’s jStart
`emerging-technologies team, “Vendors
`compete on ORB implementations and
`thus no [business] motivation exists …
`to achieve [full] interoperability.”
`WS makes the process more abstract
`than ORBs by delivering an entire
`external service without users having
`to worry about moving between inter-
`nal code blocks. The overall WS
`process would depend on several key
`elements, as Figure 2 shows.
`
`WS FUNCTIONALITY
`According to Annraí O’Toole, chair
`of WS-vendor Cape Clear Software,
`WS would permit the increased inte-
`gration of online businesses. Businesses
`could thus use WS in many ways.
`For example, software vendors
`could use WS to sell their applications
`over the Internet on a per-use or sub-
`
`WS
`directory
`
`UDDI
`
`UDDI/WSDL
`
`XML/SOAP/HTTP
`
`WS client
`
`WS provider
`
`Figure 1. A Web services provider uses the
`universal description, discovery, and inte-
`gration protocol to update the UDDI-based
`WS directory about the availability of its
`services. The provider sends the informa-
`tion encoded in WSDL. A client then sends
`a request for a service to the directory.
`The directory tells the client about the
`service’s availability, and the client and
`provider interact via HTTP, SOAP, and XML.
`
`Secure TCP/IP
`connections
`
`J2EE
`application server
`
`JDBC
`
`SOAP/HTTP
`
`DBMS
`
`ODBC
`
`SOAP/HTTP
`
`.NET
`application server
`
`Web services
`registry
`(UDDI, WSDL)
`
`Enterprise integration server
`Resource
`SOAP
`adapter
`processor
`
`Web services
`SOAP/HTTP
`Service requests
`
`Enterprise
`application
`
`Figure 2. In a model Web-services (WS) process, an enterprise application requests a spe-
`cific service, after determining its availability via the Web services registry, from a WS
`application server based on either Microsoft’s .NET or J2EE. The resource adapter makes
`the connection between WS requests and the application server and also translates
`requests into specific network system calls. The processor translates SOAP into the
`appropriate requests for legacy servers and DBMSs that don’t understand the protocol.
`
`February 2002
`
`19
`
`Exhibit 1027
`Page 02 of 04
`
`

`

`I n d u s t r y T r e n d s
`
`scription basis, rather than as a one-
`time purchase. This could change the
`face of the software industry.
`According to KnowNow’s Caccia,
`WS could also provide data updates for
`programs and permit data exchange
`among applications. He said many
`desktop applications have Web inter-
`faces and use HTTP. “Someone is going
`to want to wire some of those together
`to exchange data. Web services can play
`a role by making that happen easily.”
`He explained that WS’s interface would
`permit this while hiding the complexi-
`ties of each service’s APIs and RPCs.
`Meanwhile, companies could use
`WS to access software for use as com-
`ponents to build their own applications
`and services, such as a customer-ser-
`vice program. Component software
`could provide functionality that is gen-
`eral, such as storage, or industry spe-
`cific, such as production scheduling.
`Individuals could also access Web-
`based personal services—such as ad-
`dress books, appointment schedules, or
`travel applications. “If access to these
`services moves to desktop applications,
`as Microsoft proposes with some of its
`… offerings,” said KnowNow Chief
`Architect Steve Dossick, “it is more
`likely that consumers will use Web ser-
`vices directly.”
`Proponents say companies could
`also use WS as a platform on which to
`integrate their existing applications.
`According to Caccia, “It is more nec-
`essary than ever to integrate internal
`and external systems in a simple fash-
`ion, and Web services may be very
`helpful in doing so.”
`Developers would be able to connect
`network applications, like databases
`and end-user programs, by using WS’s
`near-universal interface rather than
`writing DBMS- and application-spe-
`cific connections.
`According to senior analyst David
`Schatsky with Jupiter Media Metrix,
`an Internet research firm, a recent WS
`survey found that 60 percent of
`responding CEOs plan to use Web ser-
`vices internally, for application inte-
`gration and data exchange, this year.
`
`MICROSOFT’S .NET
`Microsoft’s .NET is the most high
`profile and well developed of the WS
`initiatives. Anders Hejilberg, Microsoft
`distinguished engineer, said the com-
`pany started work on .NET when it
`began the Windows Distributed Inter-
`net Architecture project in 1997.
`
`Companies could use
`WS to access software
`for use as components
`to build their own
`applications and services,
`such as a customer-
`service program.
`
`.NET’s use of XML-based standards
`makes it platform independent. In
`addition, .NET consists of numerous
`key elements that make it language
`independent.
`For example, the Common Language
`Specification is a set of rules intended to
`promote language interoperability. And
`the Common Language Runtime mul-
`tilanguage environment uses a just-in-
`time compiler to let code written in any
`of a number of languages, such as
`Cobol and C#, deliver WS via XML.
`“.NET is an attempt to integrate all
`popular programming languages in
`one runtime and development sys-
`tem,” said UserLand Software CEO
`Dave Winer, one of SOAP’s creators.
`The initiative’s key Web-development
`tool will be Visual Studio .NET, cur-
`rently in beta and planned for release
`in the near future.
`.NET My Services (formerly called
`HailStorm) represents a set of XML-
`based services that users can call on to
`standardize and simplify e-commerce
`and other Web activities. For example,
`the .NET Profile service includes infor-
`mation such as user name and address,
`and .NET Wallet includes preferred
`payment instruments. Microsoft has
`also added to .NET additional services
`such as the Passport user-authentica-
`tion system.
`
`JAVA-BASED WS INITIATIVES
`Like .NET, the Java-oriented WS ini-
`tiatives are based on XML, SOAP,
`WSDL, and UDDI. However, they use
`J2EE, rather than .NET services, for
`their core application servers. J2EE is
`a platform-independent, Java-centric
`environment for developing and
`deploying Web-based enterprise appli-
`cations online. Programs are developed
`in Java and delivered by J2EE applica-
`tion servers. This could encourage Java
`programmers to deliver network ser-
`vices as Web services.
`To help with this effort, Sun and its
`partners are building full support for
`the WS standards into J2EE’s next ver-
`sion, due by early next year. Sun has
`also started the Liberty Alliance to cre-
`ate an alternative to Microsoft’s
`Passport user-authentication system.
`A key difference between the J2EE
`initiatives is that Sun ONE (Open Net
`Environment) attempts to provide
`developers with an almost-universal
`WS development environment. BEA
`Systems, HP, IBM, and Oracle, on the
`other hand, are developing WS infra-
`structures that work best with their
`own products or those of partners.
`
`Sun ONE
`Given Sun’s role as developer and
`caretaker of Java, it is not surprising that
`Sun ONE hopes to be the leader among
`the Java-based WS initiatives. In essence,
`Sun ONE adds XML to Java-based
`network services. Sun has attempted to
`make the approach universal by design-
`ing it to work with virtually any J2EE
`implementation or database.
`Sun, which only began its WS efforts
`in February 2001, is lagging behind
`Microsoft’s .NET, said Alan Zeichick,
`principal analyst for Camden Associ-
`ates, a media-technology-research firm.
`Sun expects to release its full Sun ONE
`package by the middle of this year.
`Sun is trying to catch up with its JAX
`(Java API for XML) technologies.
`Peter Kacande, a Sun senior product
`manager, said JAX “is an all-in-one
`download of Java technologies for
`XML.”
`
`20
`
`Computer
`
`Exhibit 1027
`Page 03 of 04
`
`

`

`JAX has several elements, including
`
`• JAX-RPC, which lets developers
`build Web applications and ser-
`vices that incorporate XML-based
`RPCs via SOAP; and
`• JAXP (Java API for XML pro-
`cessing), which would provide a
`standard way to integrate any
`XML-compliant parser with a
`Java-based application, thereby
`letting systems read, manipulate,
`and generate XML documents via
`Java APIs.
`
`Sun ONE will work with the com-
`pany’s iPlanet application server and
`Forte development environment. Sun
`ONE will also provide Java-based soft-
`ware-development tools.
`
`Other Java-based WS initiatives
`Other companies’ Java-based WS
`efforts, scheduled for release this year,
`are very similar. The key difference is
`that each uses its sponsoring com-
`pany’s own J2EE implementation and
`works best with its own DBMSs.
`BEA. Already a leading application-
`server vendor, BEA is first out of the
`J2EE-enabled WS gate with its BEA
`WebLogic Server 6.1.
`HP. The HP Web Services Platform
`initiative began with the open source
`e-Speak project, which originally was
`designed to deliver Web services using
`HP-created technologies. However, the
`rise of XML for delivering WS made e-
`Speak less important. Today, HP is
`focusing on delivering WS using XML-
`based specifications and the recently
`acquired Bluestone J2EE engine as the
`core application server.
`IBM. IBM is adding WS to its Web-
`Sphere application-server suite via the
`Web Services Toolkit, a software
`development kit that includes a run-
`time environment, architectural blue-
`print, tools, components, a demo, and
`examples to help in designing and exe-
`cuting WS applications.
`Oracle. Oracle says the company
`has its own WS offerings, though not
`under a bannered initiative. Oracle
`
`says that building WS capabilities is
`more of an evolutionary process in
`software. Oracle can use its market-
`leading database technology in con-
`junction with its WS initiatives.
`To help provide WS, the company is
`developing its Oracle9iAS Web Ser-
`vices application server. The company
`is also working on Jdeveloper, a devel-
`opment kit that can be seen as a Java-
`based counterpart to Microsoft’s
`Visual Studio.NET.
`
`WS could help users save
`money by making it easier
`for them to develop and
`integrate their network
`applications.
`
`CONCERNS
`Industry observers, such as Steve
`Vinoski, Iona’s chief architect and vice
`president of platform technologies, are
`worried about WS performance. One
`main reason is that XML, unlike
`binary-based IIOP, is text-based and
`thus entails more data for systems to
`process. XML therefore runs more
`slowly over HTTP. Adding a security
`protocol like Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
`would slow performance even more.
`This could make WS impractical for
`activities over low-bandwidth connec-
`tions such as dial-up modems.
`Because Web services have no built-
`in security model, they must rely on
`SSL, virtual private networks, or other
`external measures. In general, said
`Scott Dietzen, BEA Systems’ chief tech-
`nology officer, public-key infrastructure
`and SSL will provide sufficient security.
`Nonetheless, vendors such as
`Netegrity, Oblix, and OpenNetwork
`Technologies are working on products
`to manage WS security via, for exam-
`ple, authentication and encryption.
`In addition, the Organization for the
`Advancement of Structured Informa-
`tion Standards is developing the Securi-
`ty Assertion Markup Language, a
`vendor-neutral format for WS-transac-
`tion authentication. However, OASIS
`
`doesn’t plan to approve SAML as a
`draft standard until the second half of
`this year.
`
`WS: BUST OR BOOM?
`With the exception of current J2EE
`application servers, no vendor is ship-
`ping WS tools. At most, the tools are
`in late beta.
`While there are some publicly avail-
`able WS applications (for a current list,
`see http://www.xmethods.net), most
`are relatively trivial, such as zip code
`and MP3 finders.
`That may change quickly, though.
`Gartner predicts that 75 percent of com-
`panies with more than $100 million in
`annual revenue will use WS by the mid-
`dle of this year and that the technology
`will reach mainstream users by 2004.
`Jupiter’s Schatsky said WS could
`succeed because it will help users save
`money by making it easier for them to
`develop and integrate their network
`applications. In the process, .NET and
`J2EE vendors will hope to make
`money from sales of and support for
`their application servers, as well as
`application-integration services.
`As for the marketplace battle,
`KnowNow’s Dossick said, “Just as
`[Java] and [Microsoft] camps coexist
`today, they will continue to do so.
`While Microsoft has articulated an
`excellent packaged vision for Web-
`services creation and hosting that
`includes development tools and server
`support, it is likely that the J2EE camps
`will do so as well.”
`Nonetheless, KnowNow’s Caccia was
`cautious about WS’s future. “Right now
`we are in the easy, simple, pie-in-the-sky
`phase,” he said. “The next year or two
`will bring out many hard obstacles.”I
`
`Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols is a free-
`lance technology writer based in
`Arden, North Carolina. Contact him
`at sjvn@vna1.com.
`
`Editor: Lee Garber, Computer, 10662 Los
`Vaqueros Circle, PO Box 3014, Los Alamitos,
`CA 90720-1314; l.garber@computer.org
`
`February 2002
`
`21
`
`Exhibit 1027
`Page 04 of 04
`
`