Software exam for advanced system architect Enterprise Application Integration EAI

Overview

In the process of enterprise informatization construction, due to the lack of unified planning and overall layout, multiple information islands are often formed. Information silos prevent data consistency from being guaranteed, information cannot be shared and fed back, and repeated collection and input are required. Information islands are an important negative factor in enterprise informatization. The main reasons include both technical and management factors, as well as business process and standard factors. How to connect numerous information islands so that different systems can exchange information is a problem that many enterprises are currently facing.

At this time, integration technology emerged as the times require. Integration includes the integration of software, hardware and network, and software-level integration technology - Enterprise Application Integration (EAI).

EAI technology can eliminate information islands, connect multiple enterprise information systems, and achieve seamless integration, making them act like a whole. EAI arises and evolves with the development of enterprise information systems. The value orientation of enterprises is the driving force behind the development of EAI technology, and the realization of EAI in turn drives the improvement of enterprises' competitive advantages.

Including presentation integration, data integration, control integration, application integration, etc., it is suitable for most enterprises that implement e-commerce and application integration between enterprises. Before data integration, the data must first be identified and cataloged. Data integration is white box integration, while representation integration and control integration are black box integration.

The applications connected by EAI include various e-commerce systems, ERP, CRM, SCM, OA, database systems and data warehouses, etc. From the perspective of a single enterprise, EAI can include multiple levels and aspects such as presentation integration, data integration, control integration and business process integration. Of course, application integration can also be done between multiple enterprises.

platform

The enterprise integration platform is a software support environment that supports the development, integration, and collaborative operation of information systems in complex information environments, including hardware, software, software tools, and systems. Basic functions include:

• Communication service: Provides transparent synchronous/asynchronous communication service functions in a distributed environment, so that users and applications do not need to care about the specific operating system and the physical location of the network where the application is located, and complete their tasks through transparent function calls or object services. Required communication service requirements
• Information integration service: Provide transparent information access services for applications. By realizing data exchange, interoperability, distributed data management and shared information model definition (or establishment of shared information database) between heterogeneous database systems, the integration platform can be run on Applications, services or clients can access and control data (databases, data files, application interaction information) with consistent semantics and interfaces
• Application Integration Service: Access to corresponding applications is achieved through high-level application programming interfaces. These high-level application programming interfaces are contained in different adapters or proxies, which are used to connect different applications. These interfaces provide information to the component model of the platform in the form of functions or object services, allowing users to add new features to the original system without modifying the original system (without affecting the functions of the original system) Corresponding access interfaces can interconnect existing systems implemented with different technologies, and enable various systems to collaborate with each other by providing data exchange and access operations for applications.
• Secondary development tools: A set of support tools provided by the integration platform to help users develop specific applications (such as adapters for data conversion or application packaging services, etc.). The purpose is to simplify the user's implementation process of the enterprise integration platform (specific applications). interface) development work
• Platform operation management tool: the operation management and control module of the enterprise integration platform, responsible for the static and dynamic configuration of the enterprise integration platform system, integration platform application operation management and maintenance, event management and error management, etc. Maintain the system configuration and stable operation of the entire service platform through naming services, directory services, dynamic and static configuration of the platform, and regular backup of key data.

Classification

Indicates integration

Representation integration, also known as interface integration, is a relatively primitive and shallowest level but commonly used integration. The user interface is used as a public integration point, and the original scattered system interfaces are concentrated into a new interface to unify the entrance. The model

shown in the figure below indicates that the integration is a black box integration, and there is no need to understand the internal structure of the program and database. Commonly used integration technologies mainly include screen capture and input simulation technologies. Representation integration is usually used in the following situations:

• Configure PC-based user interface on existing terminal-based application system
• Provide users with an application system that looks unified but consists of multiple systems
• When integration is only possible on the display interface

It means that the implementation of integration is very simple and incomplete. It is just an external decoration, and the additional integration interface may also become a performance bottleneck of the system.

data integration

The foundation of application integration and business process integration. The data from different sources, formats, and characteristics are organically concentrated logically or physically to provide enterprises with comprehensive data sharing. ETL, data warehouse, and federated database can all be regarded as data integration.

In order to complete control integration and business process integration, the integration problem of data and database must first be solved. Before integration, the data must first be identified and cataloged. In addition, the metadata model must be determined to ensure that the data is distributed and shared in the database system. Therefore, data integration is a white-box integration, and its model is shown in Figure There

are many different middleware tools that can be used for data integration. For example, batch file transfer, that is, file transfer between the original system and the newly developed application system in a specific or predetermined way; the ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity) standard for accessing different types of database systems Interface: Database access middleware technology that provides connections to distributed databases, etc. Typically, data integration will be used when:

• Comprehensive analysis and decision-making of data generated from multiple information sources is required.
• To handle something multiple applications need to access a common repository.
• When you need to get data from one data source to update another data source, especially when the data formats between them are different.

Relatively speaking, data integration is more flexible than presentation integration. However, data integration faces difficulties when business logic changes frequently.

An enterprise wants to integrate data from its internal database. If the business logic of the integrated system is relatively simple, and business functions can be implemented using only a single table of data in the database , then it is more appropriate to use active recording for data exchange and processing, and package the table as a record; if the business logic of the integrated system It is relatively complex and requires data to be obtained through connection operations of different tables in the database to achieve business functions. At this time, it is more appropriate to use data mapping for data exchange and processing.

Control integration

Also known as functional integration, application integration, and API integration, it is a black-box integration of application systems at the business logic layer. The integration point that controls the integration is stored in the program code. The integration point may be accessible simply by using a public API, or of course, additional code may need to be added to implement it. Control integration is black box integration, and its model is as shown in Figure 1.

When implementing control integration, it can be achieved with the help of remote procedure calls, remote method calls, message-oriented middleware, distributed object technology and transaction processing monitors. Compared with presentation integration and data integration, control integration is more flexible and complex. Where representation integration and data integration are applicable, control integration is applicable. However, since control integration is performed at the business logic layer, its complexity is higher. Moreover, many systems do not provide APIs for the business logic part, making integration more difficult.

business process integration

Also called process integration, it goes beyond data and systems. It consists of a series of workflows based on standards and unified data formats. When integrating business processes, enterprises must define, authorize, and manage the exchange of various business information in order to improve operations, reduce costs, and increase response speed.

Business process integration must not only provide interconnection between underlying application support systems, but also implement end-to-end business process management between applications within the enterprise and between the enterprise and other partners. It includes application integration, B2B integration, automated business process management, manual process management, enterprise portal, management and monitoring of all application systems and processes, etc.

other

Other integrations:

• Message integration: suitable for situations where the amount of data is small, but frequent, immediate, and asynchronous data exchange is required.
• Shared database: strong real-time performance, frequent interaction, data exchange is synchronous
• File transfer: suitable for situations where data volume is large, exchange frequency is small, and immediacy requirements are low

Integrated mode

There are three mainstream integration models on the market, namely:

• Information Oriented Integration Technology

At the data integration level, information integration technology is still a necessary solution. The main data processing technologies used in information integration include: data replication, data aggregation, and interface integration. Among them, interface integration is still a mainstream technology. Integration is achieved through an integration agent, that is, an adapter is created for the application system as its own agent. The adapter extracts information from the application system through its open or private interface, and interacts with external systems in real time through the development interface. The addition of adapter structures that support certain standards will greatly simplify the complexity of integration and help standardization. This is also the main source of advantages of the interface-oriented integration method. Standardized adapter technology simplifies integration by enabling enterprises to obtain adapters from third-party vendors.

• process-oriented integration technology

In fact, it is a process flow integration idea that does not need to deal with user interface development, database logic, transaction logic, etc. It only handles the process logic between systems and is separated from the core business logic.
Structurally, the process-oriented integration method defines another process logic layer on top of the integration method of the superstition interface; and at the bottom of this layer, the application server and message middleware provide support for data transmission and cross-domain process coordination. Basic services. For manufacturers that provide integration agents, message middleware and application servers, providing business process integration is an important extension of their products and is also an important demand in the current application integration market.

• service-oriented integration technology

Application integration based on SOA and web technology is an important change in business integration technology and is considered a new generation of application integration technology. The integrated object is a web service or business processing encapsulated into a web service. Because web service technology is based on the most widely accepted and open technical standards, it supports the separation of service interface description and service processing, centralized storage and release of service descriptions, automatic search and dynamic binding of services, and combination of services. Infrastructure for building blocks and application system integration for a new generation of service-oriented applications.

Enterprise information integration

It refers to the realization of data sharing between enterprises between different application systems, that is, the realization of data conversion between different data formats and storage methods, and systematic analysis of information resources from different sources, different forms, and different contents, identifying correctness and error, and eliminating redundancy. The process of merging similar information to generate valuable information in a unified data form. Enterprise information integration is a very complex issue. According to the scope of the organization, it is divided into internal and external information integration of the enterprise. According to the integration content, information integration within an enterprise can generally be divided into the following four aspects:

• Technology platform integration
• data integration
• Application system integration: realizing interoperability between different systems, enabling the sharing of data and methods between different application systems
• Business process integration: enables processes in different application systems to be seamlessly connected, achieving coordinated operation of processes and sharing of process information.

Data Integration
In order to complete application integration and process integration, the integration problem of data and database must first be solved. Before integration, the data must first be represented and catalogued. In addition, the metadata type must be determined to ensure the distribution and sharing of data in the database system.

Data integration patterns include:

• data federation
• Data replication mode
• Structure-based data integration pattern

Control Integration
This integration provides near real-time integration of data and functions from two applications. Application integration is based on the underlying network integration and data integration to achieve application-level interoperability between heterogeneous application systems.

The main patterns of application integration include:

• Integrated adapter mode
• Integrated messenger mode
• Integrated panel mode
• Integrated proxy mode

Integrated technology

There are different technologies under different categories

Indicates integration

EP

Enterprise Portal, Enterprise Portal.
Classification

• Corporate website: focuses on one-way information transmission and lacks interaction
• Enterprise information portal: EIP, which integrates various application systems, data resources and Internet resources into the enterprise portal
• Enterprise knowledge portal: EKP, adding knowledge content based on the enterprise website
• Enterprise Application Portal: EAP is actually the integration of enterprise business processes. It takes business processes and enterprise applications as the core and integrates application modules with different functions in business processes through portal technology.
• Enterprise universal portal: combines the above four in one

Key issues in EP implementation

• Single sign-on SSO
• business process integration
• Personalized configuration
• Integration with enterprise application systems
• knowledge transformation

Application integration

There are 5 categories

Web Service

Web services, referred to as WS, as Internet applications gradually become a B2B application platform, the problems faced by application integration have become increasingly prominent: "wars" between various components, "wars" between various programming languages, and firewalls. Blocking, interoperability protocol inconsistencies, etc. Web services define a loose, coarse-grained distributed computing model that uses the standard HTTP/S protocol to transmit XML representation and encapsulated content.

Typical technologies for web services include:

• SOAP: Simple Object Access Protocol, a simple object access protocol used to transfer information
• WSDL: Web Services Description Language, a Web service description language used to describe services
• UDDI: Universal Description Discovery and Integration, used for unified description, discovery and integration of Web service registrations
• XML: for data exchange

The main goal of web services is cross-platform operability, which is suitable for the use of WS:

• Across firewalls
• Application integration
• B2B integration
• software reuse

In some cases, web services may also degrade application performance. The following situations are not suitable for using Web services:

• stand-alone application
• Homogeneous applications on LAN

J2EE architecture

J2EE (Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition) is an industrial standard led by Sun and jointly developed by various manufacturers and has been widely recognized. Major middleware vendors in the industry, such as IBM and Oracle, are actively promoting the promotion and application of this standard. The complete J2EE technical specification consists of 4 parts: J2EE platform, J2EE application programming model, J2EE compatibility test suite, and J2EE reference implementation. The J2EE application server operating environment consists of three parts: Component, Container and Services. Components are codes that represent application logic; containers are the running environment of components; services are various functional interfaces provided by application servers that can interact with system resources.

.NET architecture

Microsoft's .NET is a series of products, technologies and services based on a set of open Internet protocols. The .NET development framework provides developers with complete basic class libraries, database access technology and network development technology based on a common language running environment. Developers can quickly build network applications using multiple languages. The .NET development common language runtime (Common Language Runtime) is at the lowest level of the .NET development framework and is the foundation of the framework. It provides a unified running environment and programming model for multiple languages, greatly simplifying the release and upgrade of applications. Interaction between multiple languages, automatic management of memory and resources, and more. The basic class library (Hase Class Library) provides developers with a unified, object-oriented, hierarchical, and extensible programming interface, allowing developers to efficiently and quickly build network applications based on the next generation Internet.

Workflow

According to the definition given by the International Workflow Management Coalition, WfMC, workflow is a type of business process that can be fully or partially automated. It enables documents, information or tasks to be executed by different executors based on a series of process rules. between delivery and execution. Workflow is a technology that enables process integration.

Workflow is the computing model of the workflow, that is, the logic and rules of how the work in the workflow is organized together are represented in an appropriate model in the computer and calculated. The main problem that workflow needs to solve is: to achieve a certain business goal, use computers to automatically transfer documents, information or tasks among multiple participants according to certain predetermined rules.

If the user's business processes change frequently, then workflow technology should be the first thing to think of.

effect:

• Integrate all specialized business application systems and use workflow systems to build a flexible and automated EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) platform
• Help improve productivity on tasks involving multiple people
• Improve the reusability of firmware and facilitate business process improvement
• Reduce the workload of converting requirements into design, simplify maintenance, and reduce development risks
• Centralized and unified control is achieved, and business processes are no longer scattered in various systems. Improves process control and management
• Improve the predictability of customer response, and users can conduct convenient secondary development according to changing business

database

Data Warehouse is a subject-oriented, integrated, relatively stable data collection that reflects historical changes and is used to support management decisions. First, the data warehouse is used for decision support and is oriented to analytical data processing; secondly, the data warehouse is an effective integration of multiple heterogeneous data sources (including historical data). After integration, the data is reorganized by theme and the data stored in the data warehouse is Generally no modifications will be made. Compared with operational databases, the main characteristics of data warehouses are as follows: subject-oriented, integrated, relatively stable, and reflective of historical changes

shared database

Shared database is an important way of enterprise application integration. It usually stores application data in a shared database and handles the integration needs of different applications by formulating a unified database schema. Shared databases provide unified data storage and format definitions for different applications, which can alleviate the problem of inconsistent data semantics to a certain extent, but it cannot completely solve the problem. In a shared database integration, multiple applications may frequently read and modify the same data through the shared database, which can make the database a performance bottleneck. An important limitation of the shared database integration method comes from external packaged applications. These packaged applications can only use their own defined database schema, and have less room for adjustment and integration.

reference