Reactivity released a new appliance and software, the latest in a flurry of
products to improve the performance of Web services for service-oriented architectures (SOA)
The XML machine maker launched SOA Gateway, an appliance that helps
enterprises run Web services
integrate applications. It also released new operating system software with the ability to read Security Assurance Markup Language (SAML)
While getting Web services to talk to each other and perform jobs across
disparate machines is a challenge, customers don’t want to pay the
extra overhead costs for moving XML, which is the main reason Reactivity
created the new machines, said company spokeswoman Joelle Gropper Kaufman.
But the machines can’t do it alone, so Reactivity whipped up
Multi-Way Connect technology, which provides secure, high-speed links to
multiple SOA Gateway machines.
Another key barrier is security, Kaufman said. Gateway, which runs more than
250 applications out of the box, employs a blend of identity and access
enforcement technologies so that Web services are securely shuttled across
servers and other hardware in a network.
Kaufman said this capability was made possible through the Belmont, Calif.,
company’s Federated Identity Reference Architecture, which provides a
record of the identities that appear in each transaction.
To ensure rapid, secure XML transfer, a device maker like Reactivity needs a
reliable operating system. The new version, XOS 4.2, increases the
throughput speed of XML by 50 percent and improves SAML validation for rapid
security assurance, Kaufman said.
The OS also boosts XML processing when attachments are included in the
payload, and it includes new ebXML
support.
With the performance boost, XOS 4.2 users can layer identities based on the
Reactivity Federated Identity Model, a reference architecture based on the
Liberty Alliance trust model that lets businesses preserve trust across Web
services transactions.
Reactivity competes with DataPower, Sarvega and Forum Systems in the market for
improving the performance, security and integration of XML-based Web
services. Cisco Systems is expected to enter this market this year.
