Enterprise Service Bus
An Enterprise Service Bus mediates centrally between applications: it can route messages, convert data formats and adapt communication protocols.
What is an Enterprise Service Bus?
An Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) is an integration pattern in which a shared mediation layer handles exchanges between applications. Its tasks can include routing messages, converting data formats and adapting communication protocols. Reusable interfaces aim to avoid each application having to implement every connection itself.
In a fictional software company, the project portal announces a new project through its own JSON message ProjectCreated. A central integration service converts it to the XML format used by older planning software and routes it there. Which portal value corresponds to the project owner in the planning system must be defined in business terms; format conversion does not resolve this question of meaning.
Middleware is the broader software term. ESB denotes a particular integration pattern; iPaaS describes the provision of an integration platform as a service. Whether central mediation is useful depends on the connections and their operation. Connecting applications does not automatically require an ESB.
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Related terms
- MiddlewareMiddleware provides shared software services. In an integration, it can handle communication and data adaptation between applications.
- iPaaSiPaaS is an integration platform delivered as a cloud service. The team configures connections, data mappings and error handling on that platform.
- Data mappingData mapping defines how source data enters a target structure. Field names, meaning, units and error handling all need to fit.
- Transactional inboxA transactional inbox uses durable message records to protect local processing against duplicate deliveries.
- Message acknowledgementA message acknowledgement tells the broker that a delivery has been received or processed according to the agreed rule.
- Retry jitterRetry jitter varies waiting times randomly to spread retries and reduce simultaneous requests from many clients.
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