We've spoken about this before and Microsoft's ESB/SOA guidance keeps on getting better.  An updated version is due shortly, just in time for the September 2007 launch of BizTalk Server 2006 R2!  The ESB/SOA guidance kit can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/solutions/soa/esb.mspx.

The guidance kit is a great evaluation tool to test your ESB/SOA design and technical concepts.  It also can jumpstart your ESB/SOA proof-of-concept project and the pre-configured components and test scenarios can save you time and money.

The kit is part of Microsoft's comprehensive ESB offering through its Application Platform including Windows Server 2003, the .NET Framework 3.0, and BizTalk Server 2006. The Application Platform provides an infrastructure that enables the flexible and secure reuse of infrastructure and business services and the ability to orchestrate existing services into new end-to-end business processes. At the core of this solution is BizTalk Server 2006 which provides a basis for common ESB capabilities.