We officially RTW'd the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 on June 8, 2009.

The BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0, formerly known as the ESB Guidance has been released to the web on the new ESB page in the BizTalk Developer Center on MSDN.

This toolkit is a collection of tools and libraries that extends BizTalk Server 2009 capabilities of supporting a loosely coupled and dynamic messaging architecture. It functions as middleware that provides tools for rapid mediation between services and their consumers. Enabling maximum flexibility at run time, the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 simplifies loosely coupled composition of service endpoints and management of service interactions.

What does the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 provide?

The BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 provides key building blocks that are required for implementing a comprehensive service-oriented infrastructure (SOI) including:

·         Endpoint run-time discovery and virtualization. The service consumer does not need to be aware of the service provider location and endpoint details; a new or modified service provider can be added to the ESB, without interruptions to the service consumer.

·         Loosely coupled service composition. The service provider and service consumer do not need to be aware of service interaction style.

·         Dynamic message transformation and translation. The mapping definition between distinct message structure and semantics is resolved at run time.

·         Dynamic routing. Run-time content-based, itinerary-based, or context-based message routing.

·         Centralized exception management. Exception management framework, services, and infrastructure elements that make it possible to create, repair, resubmit, and compensate fault messages that service consumers or BizTalk components submit.

·         Quality of service. An asynchronous publish/subscribe engine resolves different levels of service availability and provides high availability, scalability, and message traceability for ESB implementations.

·         Protocol transformation. Providing the ability for service provider and service consumer to interact via different protocols including WS-* standards for Web Services. For example, a service provider can send an HTTP Web Service request, which will result in sending a message via Message Queuing.

·         Extensibility. Provides multiple extensibility points to extend functionality for endpoint discovery, message routing, and additional BizTalk Server adapters for run time and design time.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 be officially released?

The BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 along with documentation will be released to the Web on Tuesday, June 9, 2009.

From where will downloads be provided?

You can download the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 and documentation from the Microsoft Download Center. The toolkit is packaged as binaries and samples in a Windows Installer.

What will the official name of ESB Guidance 2.0 be?

The official name is BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0.

What happens to those customers who are currently using ESB Guidance 1.0?

Customers who are using ESB Guidance 1.0 are strongly encouraged to upgrade to BizTalk Server 2009 and the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0.  ESB Guidance 1.0 will be deprecated in the next few months. Also, proactive monitoring of the ESB 1.0 forums will no longer take place after the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 is released.

Will source code for signed binaries be provided?

Source code for signed binaries will be available as a separate download (date to be determined).

What license will be used?

It will be a standard Microsoft, free, binary-only license.

How will the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 be packaged?

It will be packaged as a binary-only Windows Installer (32- and 64-bit).

Will BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 bug fixes be provided?

Bugs will be addressed on a best-effort basis, by the BizTalk ESB Toolkit Team.

Where do customers file bugs and requests?

The BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 Connect site has been created to log bugs with the BizTalk ESB Toolkit Team and to provide updates to additional tools over time. Once you log a bug, someone will respond to you within five days with an acknowledgment and status.

What is the BizTalk ESB Toolkit 2.0 forum commitment?

Assistance will be provided through forums, with a one-year notice of deprecation plans. Any fixes and responses to questions in the forums are best effort, and we will continue to leverage the community to provide peer assistance, though with a capability to issue critical fixes if necessary.

Where is the online community hosted?

A dedicated ESB Toolkit Forum is provided on MSDN, and can be located from within the BizTalk Dev Center.