Inside The Lab : .NET StockTrader

Apache support for the .NET StockTrader

gregleak@microsoft.com — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:19:00 GMT

This week at ApacheCon 2008, WS02 announced that they will be building an open source version of the .NET StockTrader sample application under “Project Stonehenge.” Driven by WS02, “Project Stonehenge” is a new Apache incubation project. They will use this project to set up sample applications to demonstrate seamless interoperability with multiple underlying platform technologies by using currently defined W3C and OASIS standards.

I think this is really exciting news, as it gives developers best practices for interoperable applications that communicate via distributed protocols. The project will demonstrate interoperability between platforms and provide sample code upon using service-oriented architecture (SOA), which developers can use in their own work. It also demonstrates cross-platform deployments of SOA technologies, which demonstrates both the technical and business value of SOA.

WS02 has been working with us since TechEd US last June on demonstrating interoperability using the .NET StockTrader reference application. I was on stage with them as they showed their demo during Bob Muglia’s keynote, and it’s great to see them to continue their support for the .NET StockTrader. We will also continue to support their interoperability efforts and consider participating in the future, including implementations of sample applications like the .NET StockTrader app. This project could offer a forum for important interoperability efforts around WS* and SOA, which can benefit the industry and customers.

Can’t wait to see what else we see in interoperability!

My Demo at TechEd IT Pro Last Week

gregleak@microsoft.com — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:32:00 GMT

Just in case you missed me last week at TechEd IT Pro, I did a demo during Bob Muglia's keynote, and below is a clip of it. Enjoy!

.NET StockTrader 2.0 demo at TechEd IT Pro 2008

.NET StockTrader 2.0 Demo at TechEd IT Pro

gregleak@microsoft.com — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:00:00 GMT

What a crazy couple of weeks in Orlando! I was at TechEd Developer last week doing a couple of sessions on my app, .NET StockTrader 2.0, and still here this week to do a .NET StockTrader 2.0 demo during Bob Muglia’s keynote at TechEd IT Pro. I will also have our partner, WS02, joining us on stage during the demo to showcase the interoperability on an Apache platform. Part of Bob’s keynote address, the .NET StockTrader and Configuration Service 2.0 will show how a composite application, running across Windows-, IBM WebSphere- and Apache-distributed components, could dynamically virtualized against physical resources on-premises and across the cloud.

New interoperability features demonstrated with WS-* Advanced Web Service Security are below:

· Message level security interoperability with WSO2 open-source based Web Services Application Server (Java)

· Message level security interoperability with WSO2 open-source Web Services Framework for PHP

· Interoperability across three distinct platforms (Microsoft, PHP, Apache Axis2/C) via Advanced WS-* protocols and X.509 certificates on service clients and service hosts.

Also, this demo shows that interoperability is real and ready for customers to leverage today. .NET StockTrader and Configuration Services 2.0 let customers to take advantage of their existing services and applications while enabling them to easily scale out by automatically detecting when you’ve added new computing nodes to the network and take advantage of scaling out with greater power. Real-world IT environments are a mix of technologies and we continue to prioritize to help customers achieve interoperability between systems for the benefit of sharing information across organizational and corporate boundaries.

There’ll also be a TechEd Online Interop panel discussion on Tuesday, June 10 at 2:00-3:00 pm ET with WS02, Sun and TIBCO to discuss how interoperability is important today and the role it plays for customers in the future. The panel will be held in the TEO are by the Microsoft store so if you have free time then, you should come by and watch the panel. It’ll be moderated by Burton analyst, Chris Haddad, and will be discussing the importance of interoperability today in our industry. The panel will also be taped so if you can’t make it, you can also check it online on the Tech·Ed Online Web site.

.NET StockTrader 2.0 and Configuration Services 2.0 Download Available!

gregleak@microsoft.com — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:41:00 GMT

Just wanted to provide everyone an update that the .NET StockTrader 2.0 and Configurations Services 2.0 are both available for download on the MSDN .NET StockTrader site, http://msdn.microsoft.com/stocktrader!

Know a lot of people were waiting anxiously for this and now it’s finally ready for you to try out. Also, I really do want your feedback on this app so please provide some comments on the developer forum, and we may use this feedback for future .NET StockTrader updates.

Let me know what you think!

.NET StockTrader Sessions at TechEd Developer 2008

gregleak@microsoft.com — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:01:00 GMT

I'm doing a couple of sessions this week at TechEd Developer in Orlando and if you're already attending, you should check it out. Hope to see you there!

Date	Timeslot	Code	Title	Session Type	Speaker(s)
6/5/2008	10:15 - 11:30	SOA310	Interoperability Scenarios with Microsoft .NET and J2EE	BRK	Gregory Leake
6/6/2008	08:30 - 09:45	SOA306	Providing Load Balancing, Application-Level Failover, and Centralized Configuration Management with Windows Communication Foundation Services and Microsoft .NET Applications	BRK	Gregory Leake

What is Configuration Services 2.0?

gregleak@microsoft.com — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:36:00 GMT

Last week, I presented at different types of user group sessions including the .NET Connected Systems Group in NYC and the Scalability Group in Boston. I showed a new feature of my StockTrader app, Configuration Services 2.0, which makes it easier to build services easier with .NET Framework 3.5 and WCF, and you may have read more here, Microsoft Continues Its Work On Oslo -- SOA for Windows.

Here are a few of the main objectives of the Configuration Services 2.0 and this will all be posted in the white paper on MSDN on the .NET StockTrader site:

1. Make it easier to build services with .NET 3.5 and WCF

o Includes template bindings, security examples, interoperability examples with Java

o Manages host process, endpoints, connections between services automatically

o Designed for high-performance

2. Provide centralized configuration management of service nodes

o Move host and application-specific settings from config files to a repository approach

o Provide Web-based management UI

o Provide way to automatically update settings without host restarts

3. Provide these capabilities via easily re-usable shared libraries

o Easy for customers to implement in their own applications and services

o Provides base classes, uses .NET reflection

o ~20 lines of code and not much time investment for customer to implement!

You can also call this something like a distributed “Service Network” and is one of the first examples of a general purpose Service Network built using .NET managed code. These code libraries can be leveraged as part of your SOA projects to develop new composite application that mix/match services across both .NET and Java. The Service Network should be able to automatically detect when you’ve added new computing nodes to the network and take advantage of scaling out with greater power without requiring complex setup or configuration – it should auto-detect that more resources are available for use. You can read more about Service Network on Steven Martin’s blog.

Below is also a diagram that might make more sense. Let me know what you think and would love your thoughts on this.

Quick Update on my User Group Presentations

gregleak@microsoft.com — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:21:00 GMT

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind for me since I've been on the road presenting my .NET StockTrader 2.0 at user group meetings in San Francisco, New York City and Boston. Really want to provide more details on my experience on the road and will share more in the upcoming days, including the top questions I've been getting and my presentation that I've been showing. Just want to thank everyone for coming out to see me and giving me vaulable feedback on my new demo. It's been really beneficial for me and I'm greatful for you letting me come out. It just took shipping 5 servers to 3 different cities and setting-up a mini lab, but it was all worth it!

I'm off to London to showcase my .NET StockTrader 2.0 and Configuration Services 2.0 demo at the Microsoft Architect Summit, but keep your eyes out on MSDN since the .NET StockTrader 2.0 download will be up any day now, http://msdn.microsoft.com/stocktrader. Will also include a tutorial, new white papers and new Windows Server benchmarks.

Putting the Final Touches on .NET StockTrader2.0

gregleak@microsoft.com — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:45:00 GMT

Taped this video on Sunday when I was putting the final touches on my app and I talk a little bit about one of the new cool features, Configuration Services, and will definitely talk more about it during my presentations at the .NET User Group meetings this week and next. Also, look out for more blog postings on this too and want your feedback on it!

Final Touches of the .NET StockTrader 2.0

.NET StockTrader Benchmarks from Feb

gregleak@microsoft.com — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:29:00 GMT

As I finish up and put the final touches on .NET StockTrader 2.0, I wanted to share some benchmark findings that I did last February during the launch of the new versions of three cornerstone technologies: Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008. Based on Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5, I released new benchmarks for the .NET StockTrader, which also show that Windows Server and .NET can push perf boundaries against other publicly available apps like IBM’s J2EE StockTrader perf application.

Some of my favorite findings are:

· Microsoft Windows Server 2008 with .NET Framework 3.5 delivers 117% better throughput than IBM WebSphere 6.1 on Red Hat Linux for the Web Application Server test using the IBM-designed Trade 6.1 benchmark as well as delivers 93% better throughput for the remote services test.

· On the Sun Microsystems’ WSTest Web Services benchmark, .NET StockTrader demonstrates 94% better throughput on Windows Server on processing Web Service requests and 86% better throughput performance for the EchoStruct operation.

Check out the full white paper here, http://msdn.microsoft.com/stocktrader, which has a chart that better explains the high performance that I tested for the .NET StockTrader based on Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5.

The paper on MSDN presents the benchmark results of two key application server workloads:

1. Trade 6.1 Application Server Benchmark created by IBM – This benchmark serves as IBM’s primary capacity planning tool for WebSphere, and as their primary performance sample application for Java Enterprise applications. The benchmarks detail throughput results for the IBM implementation vs. the functionally equivalent of the .NET Framework 3.5 implementation.

2. WSTest Web Services 1.5 Benchmark, created by Sun Microsystems – This benchmark tests an application server’s performance as a Web Service Host, measuring the platforms ability to process Web Service operations involving HTTP/SOAP requests, isolating the networking stack, Web server integration, and XML serialization engines within the application server.

The benchmarks also show that the .NET Framework is a proven foundation for enterprise mission critical applications and the misconceived perception that .NET isn’t scalable for enterprise apps. With Windows Server, the .NET Framework really does deliver impressive performance, scalability and interoperability relative to other options in the market. The .NET StockTrader is also a good proof point of interoperability as well since it has complete, seamless connections between front and back-end technologies. The sample app also illustrates that a developer who uses .NET can now focus on adding more features and functionality to your applications spending less time writing lines and lines of code and debugging.

I’m at my lab right now working on the new benchmarks for .NET StockTrader 2.0, which I hope to have posted on MSDN very, very soon so key an eye out for it!

Dates/Times for .NET User Group Sessions this Month

gregleak@microsoft.com — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:45:00 GMT

Just wanted to provide more details on the .NET User Group sessions this month that I'm presenting at to include the dates and locations. I'll be showing my full demo of the .NET StockTrader 2.0 and will have a few great giveaways too, including copies of free software to raffle off. Hope to see you there and get some great feedback on my app from you!

San Francisco (April 16): 6:30 PM, Microsoft San Francisco Office, 835 Market Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA. Get more info and register here, http://www.baynetug.org/DesktopModules/DetailXEvents.aspx?ItemID=316&mid=49.

New York City (April 21): 6:00 PM, Microsoft NYC Office, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, 6th Floor, New York, NY. Get more info and register here, http://www.nyccsug.org/.

Boston (April 23): 6:00 PM, Microsoft Waltham Office, 201 Jones Rd., Sixth Floor, Waltham, MA. Get more info and register here, http://www.bostonsug.org/.

Coming To A .NET User Group Near You!

ladinh — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:58:00 GMT

Going to be on the road in April and will be presenting at a few .NET User Group meetings, including NYC and the Bay Area. Will be discussing the new updates of my .NET StockTrader on Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5, and hope to meet new develoeprs as well as introduce my application to the ones who haven't seen it yet.

More details to come next week about the sessions, but stay tuned and hopefully, you can come out and see my full demo. Would love to get your thoughts and to see it in action for yourself!

A Little Introduction of Myself and My Work

ladinh — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:43:00 GMT

I work in the Connected Systems Division at Microsoft, but spend most of my time in my lab developing new enterprise software and samples that focus on interoperability, scalability and performance. I’ve been at Microsoft for about 15 years and have held a few positions in the company, but working in my lab has been one of the most satisfying. I’m truly a developer at heart. I really do hope this blog becomes more of a forum where I can hear other developers’ thoughts on my applications as well as other insights on developing code.

One application that I developed last year and continue to work on is the .NET StockTrader, http://msdn.microsoft.com/stocktrader. The .NET StockTrader is an end-to-end sample application for .NET Enterprise Application Server technologies. It is a distributed service-oriented application based on the .NET Framework, and illustrates many of the .NET enterprise development technologies for building highly scalable, rich "enterprise-connected" applications. It is also designed as a benchmark kit to illustrate alternative tuning options within .NET and their relative performance.

You might think I would have a team to help me with developing my app, but it’s only me and my benchmark and networking expert, Jody. Jody has worked with me for years now, and got his start at National Software Testing Laboratories outside of Philadelphia. Let’s just say that we have a long history working together and definitely have seen some long nights in testing, tuning, fixing, and re-tuning various applications, but always learning new ways to really leverage the .NET Framework in scalable and interoperable enterprise scenarios—and publishing these findings so hopefully customers can use them.

Stay tuned because I have some interesting findings and updates that I’d love to share in the upcoming weeks. But for now, check out, http://msdn.microsoft.com/stocktrader, for additional materials including to download the sample app to test yourself.

Channel 9 Video Series Part 2: Demo of StockTrader in action, discussion of architecture and implementation

gregleak@microsoft.com — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:51:00 GMT

Channel 9 Video Series Part 1: An Architectural Overview of Stocktrader

gregleak@microsoft.com — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:41:00 GMT