From the Sun Microsystems Announcement

Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced the early access availability of the Sun Service Registry for customers who need to track and manage increasing numbers of web services. Sun's Service Registry also includes an integrated repository for storing service metadata, and providing additional capabilities such as web services lifecycle management. The combined registry-repository serves as a cornerstone for true service oriented architecture (SOA) governance.

With the rapid adoption of SOA and web services projects, enterprises need to manage the resulting vast array of metadata that needs organized storage and discovery for increasing scalability requirements. Sun's Service Registry enables service oriented architectures by providing centralized access to discovery, use and reuse of web services as well as secure, federated information management. By offering a unique single-registry solution that supports both UDDI v3 and ebXML Registry 3.0 standards, Sun's Service Registry enables customers to publish, manage, govern, discover and reuse services within a broad range of applications.

"SOA Governance requires more than today's registries provide," said Mark Bauhaus, vice president for Java Web Services, Sun Microsystems. "With Sun's Service Registry, customers can now truly address both web services access and SOA governance. By providing a shared infrastructure component, integrated with various products of the Sun Java Enterprise System (Java ES), Sun helps enable SOA for a wide range of government and commercial customers around the world."

"A meta-data repository is a key enabling technology for SOA," said Yefim Natis, vice president and distinguished analyst, Gartner, Inc. "It is safe to say that no long-term enterprise SOA initiative can succeed without an integrated and searchable repository/registry."

Key features, including the ability to uniquely define information models and relationships among metadata and help to ensure conformance of published services and content for more flexible customer environments. In addition, customers can manage aspects of the web services to reflect their IT policies and use event-based delivery of information to support specific processes.

Future Java ES components will integrate with the Service Registry including Access Manager for user authentication, Application Server deployer/administrator for managing service lifecycles, Java Studio Enterprise service developer for develop-deploy-test cycles, and a Portal Server for managing WS-Remote Portlet and producer descriptions. Integration with the Application Platform Suite and the Identity Management Suite are also being planned. Customer applications can integrate similarly via Service Registry API's and protocols. Sun's Java ES running on the Solaris operating system (OS) delivers a core set of industry-leading shared enterprise network services as a single, integrated entity on a predictable release cycle.

Sun will demonstrate the Service Registry at JavaOne 2005 conference, and will ship the product as part of the Sun Java ES R4 in the Fall. An Early Access version of Sun's Service Registry is included in Java Web Services Developer Pack (Java WSDP) 1.6 which will be generally available later this month. For more information on Sun's Service Registry, visit www.sun.com/soa.

ebXML Registry Version 3.0

The Service Registry is based on a Sun-led open source implementation of the latest OASIS ebXML Registry Standard (3.0). On May 01, 2005 OASIS announced that the OASIS ebXML Registry Information Model (RIM) v3.0 and ebXML Registry Services and Protocols (RS) v3.0 specifications had been approved as OASIS Standards, following public review and submission of the specifications for ballot by the OASIS membership. Excerpted from the ballot submission:

"The ebXML Registry provides a stable store where submitted content and the metadata used to describe that content is managed and is made persistent. Such information is used to facilitate business to business relationships and transactions. In the business to business context, submitted content includes but is not limited to XML schema and documents, process descriptions, ebXML Core Components, context descriptions, UML models, information about organizations, and software components. An ebXML Registry is capable of storing any type of electronic content including XML documents, text, images, or sound.

Metadata is used to describe the stored content and is defined in the Registry Information Model (RIM). Submitted content may be stored in the content repository provided by the ebXML Registry. The interface to the Registry is defined in the Registry Services and Protocols (RS) document. It provides a set of services that enable sharing of content and metadata between organizations. The RS defines the services provided by an ebXML Registry and the protocols used by clients to interact with these services.

The version 2.0 RIM and RS specifications were approved as OASIS Standards in May 2002, and ISO approved them as ISO 15000 part 3 and part 4 standards in March 2004. Version 3.0 of RIM and RS add considerable functionality over version 2.0. New functionality available in version 3.0 include registry federation and federated queries, which enable clients to discover information stored in any of multiple federated registries through one search. To meet the needs for security in a federated environment, version 3.0 utilizes the OASIS SAML 2.0 specifications for identity management, authentication and single sign on across the members. The OASIS XACML 1.0 standard is leveraged to provide access control policies and OASIS WSS SOAP Message Security 1.0 is used to secure the registry's SOAP protocol using digital certificates.

Extensible service interfaces and protocols are defined in version 3.0 as plugins to an ebXML Registry that provide content cataloging services and content validation services. The version 3.0 also provides managed version control through the registry. A new HTTP binding to the ebXML Registry Services interfaces is defined using a REST style architecture. This enables any content or meta data in the registry to be accessible over an HTTP URL using a standard web browser. A Parameterized Stored Query feature allows a complex query to be stored in the registry in parameterized form. To invoke the query, the client provides some or all of the query parameters, usually using a web form to fill in the parameters and submit the query. Other query improvements include iterative queries, content based queries, and improved filter query syntax.

In version 3.0 subscriptions may be created by the user for content-based event notification of specific events of interest. Notification is sent to a web service or an email address. Additional new features include extensibility of registry protocol for defining new types of requests and responses, incorporation of user defined domain specific taxonomies, and the ability to group related content artifacts in packages..."

UDDI Version 3.0

The Sun Service Registry supports UDDI discovery enabling registry queries using the Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration protocol. In February 2005, OASIS announced that Version 3 of the Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) specification, in development since mid-2002, had been ratified as an OASIS Standard.

The UDDI Version 3.0.2 Specification describes the Web services, data structures, and behaviors of all instances of a UDDI registry. It "describes a registry of Web services and programmatic interfaces for publishing, retrieving, and managing information about services described therein."

Prior to balloting the UDDI 3.0.2 specification for approval as a standard, seven OASIS organizational members provided attestations with respect to successful use of UDDI Version 3, as required by the OASIS TC Process. These companies include Computer Associates, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP AG, Systinet, and UnitSpace.

According to the UDDI specification Introduction, Web services are meaningful "only if potential users may find information sufficient to permit their execution. The focus of Universal Description Discovery & Integration (UDDI) is the definition of a set of services supporting the description and discovery of (1) businesses, organizations, and other Web services providers, (2) the Web services they make available, and (3) the technical interfaces which may be used to access those services. Based on a common set of industry standards, including HTTP, XML, XML Schema, and SOAP, UDDI provides an interoperable, foundational infrastructure for a Web services-based software environment for both publicly available services and services only exposed internally within an organization."

The UDDI protocol is a "central element of the group of related standards that comprise the Web services stack. The Version 3 specification defines a standard method for publishing and discovering the network-based software components of a service-oriented architecture (SOA). The key objective in UDDI Version 3 is to support secure interaction of private and public implementations as major element of service-oriented infrastructure."

In the development of UDDI Versions 1 and 2, "much of the attention was focused on the UDDI Business Registry (UBR), a public implementation of the UDDI standard that represents a directory of publicly available e-commerce services. Although the UBR remains an important part of the UDDI project, it represents only one aspect of the overall effort. Just as the overwhelming majority of DNS activity occurs within the confines of a company's own network, so too do most UDDI implementations support a business' internal Web services infrastructure.' The implementation in UDDI version 3.0.2 "recognizes the need for federated control in real-world operational environments and further integrates the standard with other elements of service-oriented infrastructure."

About Sun's "Pragmatic SOA"

The Sun approach to SOA is called "Pragmatic SOA" — emphasizing "incremental projects, quick returns on investment, and building out a SOA infrastructure in phases. It features 'wrap and reuse' as opposed to 'rip and replace' in order to bring legacy/existing applications into a SOA. The goal is to minimize disruption to existing infrastructure and reduce initial risk while gradually implementing web services and climbing the skill curve to SOA expertise. Over time, organizations can evolve into a flexible, standardized architecture without undergoing rip and replace. Another important aspect is to foster cultural change to encourage sharing and reusing services to reap the full benefits of SOA...

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is an integrated software infrastructure and design approach based on best practices. A Service-Oriented Architecture when implemented effectively, can enable enterprises to better leverage and integrate IT assets, while increasing flexibility to respond to business transformation and opportunity. In a world of rapidly changing technology and emerging standards however, achieving agility with a loose coupling of IT infrastructure is not always straightforward...

A Web Services Registry is required when an organization needs to track and manage increasing numbers of Web services. The promise of Web Services depends on the ability to share assets, which requires centralized facilities for access and control. Most typical Web Service registries today provide basic publish and discovery of Web Service descriptions. They do not provide a standard repository capable of storing SOA artifacts, nor governance capabilities for managing the end-to-end life cycle of SOA artifacts related to Web Services.

With Sun's Service Registry, customers can truly address both Web Services access and SOA governance. By providing standard registry and repository functions, and integration with various components of the Java Enterprise System, Sun enables SOA for a wide range of government and commercial customers around the world...

Enterprises need to be able to deal with heterogeneous systems and platforms, and want the ability to avoid being locked in to any particular vendor. Pragmatic SOA insists on open, industry standards that ensure interoperability and platform independence, resulting in reduced vendor lock-in..."

Principal References

• Announcement 2005-06-15: "Sun Microsystems Addresses SOA Governance with Sun Service Registry. Comprehensive Service Registry and Repository Offering to Support Both UDDI v3 and ebXML Registry 3.0 Standards Enabling Secure, Federated Information Management."
• Sun's Service Registry
• Pragmatic SOA: Sun's Approach to SOA
• Java Web Services Developer Pack. Note: An Early Access version of Sun's Service Registry is included in Java Web Services Developer Pack (Java WSDP) 1.6, generally available in June 2005.
• Sun Java Enterprise System. The Sun Service Registry will be included in Release 4 of the Java Enterprise System, planned for delivery in fall of 2005. "Sun Java Enterprise System is subscription-based approach to infrastructure software that reduces cost and complexity throughout the data center, available both as a single, fully integrated, end-to-end infrastructure software solution and as five individual solution Suites that target your most critical business needs."
• Sun Resources: Java Technology and Web Services
• Sun Service Registry contact: soa-info@sun.com
• freebXML registry contact: Farrukh Najmi (XML Standards Architect, Sun Microsystems).
• Sun Microsystems web site
• ebXML Registry Version 3.0:
  • "OASIS Approves ebXML Registry Version 3.0 Committee Draft for Public Review [and as an OASIS Standard]." News story with references to the Committee Draft and balloting for approval of the OASIS Standard.
  • "ebXML Registry 3.0: An Overview." By Farrukh Najmi (Sun Microsystems). June 08, 2005 (or later). 66 slides. [source PDF]
  • OASIS ebXML Registry TC web site
  • ebXML Registry Links
  • "Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML)" - Local references.
• UDDI references:
  • OASIS UDDI Member Section web site
  • "OASIS Consortium Members Approve UDDI Version 3 as an OASIS Standard."
  • OASIS UDDI Specification TC web site
  • "Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI)" - Local references.
• Other references:
  • freebXML: OASIS ebXML Registry Reference Implementation Project
  • "Using ebXML Registry to Publish, Manage and Discover WSRP Artifacts." WSRP — ebXML Registry Technical Note. Version: '1.0-draft-11'. Edited by Farrukh Najmi (Sun Microsystems). Produced by the WSRP Publish Find Bind SC. September 30, 2004.
  • "Registering Web Services in an ebXML Registry." By By Joseph M. Chiusano (Booz Allen Hamilton) and Farrukh Najmi (Sun Microsystems). OASIS Regrep TC, Technical Note. 12 March 2003. Note: Needs updating to be completely aligned with ebXML Registry 3.0.
  • "Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Web Services: The Road to Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)." By Qusay H. Mahmoud. April 2005.
  • Web Content Management Using the OASIS ebXML Registry Standard." By Farrukh Najmi. Paper presented at XML Europe 2004.
  • Java BluePrints Solutions Catalog
• Press:

  • "Sun to Embed Services Registry in Java Enterprise System." By CBR Staff Writer. From Computer Business Review Online (June 17, 2005). "Microsoft already has a basic UDDI registry included with Windows Server 2003, and third parties such as Systinet, SOA Software, and Infravio that offer deeper functioned best-of-breed products. Of the bunch, Sun's registry most closely resembles a lighter version of Infravio because of the ebXML support. ebXML was an early standard that was much broader than UDDI, because it attempted to cover much of the trading partner and contract management provisions of EDI (electronic data interchange), an early form of electronic commerce that automated the exchange of routine shipping documents between trading partners. As such, it is a bit more mature than UDDI, because it also includes features like version control, but is far less popular for deployment of web services because of its greater complexity... As currently packaged, JES includes components such as the former NetBeans appserver, webserver, identity management, access control, messaging and collaboration, and portal in various editions. When Sun integrates the registry with JES as part of version 4, it will tie it in with access and identity management, portal, and the appserver."

  • "Sun Readies SOA Web Services Registry. UDDI, ebXML Supported in Early Version." By Paul Krill. From InfoWorld (June 15, 2005). "The combined registry-repository offering supports the UDDI v3 and ebXML Registry 3.0 specifications and is intended to provide governance for SOAs. Governance encompasses control and policy management, according to Sun. Key functions of the registry include enablement of SOAs by providing centralized access to discovery, use, and reuse of Web services and secure, federated information management... 'I think this sort of inaugurates Sun's move into SOA. A registry is certainly a key component of creating and managing an SOA, Gardner said. Sun, however, still lacks an enterprise service bus and security and management capabilities for SOA, Gardner said. Sun's registry differs from rival offerings from companies such as Systinet (Profile, Products, Articles) because it combines UDDI and ebXML functions, [Sun's] Badani said..."

  • "Sun Dangles SOA Service Registry." By Clint Boulton. From InternetNews.com (June 15, 2005). "Ashesh Badani, group manager for SOAs at Sun, said the metadata storage and Web services lifecycle management are what separates Sun's Service Registry from products from rivals such as Systinet, IBM, Microsoft, HP and others. 'Our contention is that for true SOA governance, you need more than just the discovery of and access to Web services, you need the lifecycle management services and metadata management,' Badani said in an interview. The software is the latest move by the systems vendor to help customers corral and integrate myriad computing components under a service-oriented architecture (SOA). SOAs are frameworks for reusable code and services that facilitate Web services transactions across disparate networks..."