Enterprise computing is about integrating systems and reaching out to users. The Internet is an amalgamation of many enterprises into a huge conglomerate. Internet technology provides the infrastructure and protocols for communication. Web technology provides navigation and access to users.
Enterprise, Internet, and Web technologies are interwoven. Scalability, durability, and availability are key issues. Thus, proper choosing of technologies and implementations is essential.
Microsoft .Net Framework - .Net is an enterprise level initiative from Microsoft that provides new interoperability through open standards. In particular, .Net heavily uses XML, the de facto standard for data interchange on the Internet. .Net also brings a new application program environment using a virtual machine similar to Java.
Distribution and installation of software is tremendously simplified. .Net programs and components are fully compatible and can be intermingled. A large library of specialized objects is included with .Net.
Windows DNA - Microsoft Windows Distributed internet Architecture (DNA) is a suite of technologies that allow the creation of high-performance enterprise processing systems. The DNA framework is an n-tier distributed architecture. DNA covers everything from Internet browsers to backend data systems.
ActiveX - ActiveX is a general term for the technologies included in Microsoft DNA. Among these are MTS, COM, DCOM, COM+, MSMQ, ADO, OLEDB, and many other technologies.
Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) - MTS is a server-based component technology that allows clients to execute programs on a server. MTS provides enhanced scaling, security, and manageability.
Plus, MTS effectively enhances database performance through connection pooling. Microsoft Visual Basic is the most popular language for creating MTS components.
Microsoft Message Queue Server (MSMQ) - MSMQ uses a versatile store-and-forward technology for situations where systems can't be directly connected or where a direct connection is undesirable.
MSMQ, MTS, and custom adapters can be combined to create an excellent high-performance Enterprise Integration Application (EIA).
Active Server Pages (ASP) - ASP is a sever-based technology that can provide a fully interactive browser-hosted user interface coupled to backend functionality. When combined with enterprise technologies like MTS and MSMQ, ASP can be part of a high-performance enterprise solution.
ASP scripts can be created in a variety of scripting languages, although VB Script is the most popular.
Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML, DHTML) - HTML is the content language of the Internet. HTML carries the text and images along with formatting information to web browsers. Also, HTML can be used to create interactive forms. Client-side scripts, such as JavaScript, can be contained in HTML.
Dynamic HTML (DHTML) provides even more interactive capability using an interrupt-driven virtual connection between the client and the server.
Extensible Markup Language (XML) - XML is a data packaging and access technology that carries both data and metadata in a hierarchical data structure. Metadata is the 'data about the data' that relates an unambiguous identifier with each item of data according to its place in the structure and a name.
Since an XML document is composed of plain text characters, it is well suited for intersystem communication. Under some circumstances, XML is useful for persistent data storage.
Document Object Model (DOM) - The physical model is where software is deployed to provide an operational solution. This is the realm of operating systems, hardware, and infrastructure.
