14-11-2012, 12:24 PM
WINDOWS DNA
Windows-Dna-Report.doc (Size: 336.5 KB / Downloads: 36)
Introduction
For some time now, both small and large companies have been building robust applications for personal computers that continue to be ever more powerful and available at increasingly lower costs. While these applications are being used by millions of users each day, new forces are having a profound effect on the way software developers build applications today and the platform in which they develop and deploy their application.
The increased presence of Internet technologies is enabling global sharing of information—not only from small and large businesses, but individuals as well. The Internet has sparked a new creativity in many, resulting in many new businesses popping up overnight, running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Competition and the increased pace of change are putting ever-increasing demands for an application platform that enables application developers to build and rapidly deploy highly adaptive applications in order to gain strategic advantage.
It is possible to think of these new Internet applications needing to handle literally millions of users—a scale difficult to imagine a just a few short years ago. As a result, applications need to deal with user volumes of this scale, reliable to operate 24 hours a day and flexible to meet changing business needs. The application platform that underlies these types of applications must also provide a coherent application model along with a set of infrastructure and prebuilt services for enabling development and management of these new applications.
Understanding the Microsoft Windows DNA Architecture
Microsoft President Steve Ballmer caught the attention of industry observers today by introducing Windows DNA for Manufacturing, a technical architecture designed to bring software integration to manufacturing environments. Earlier this month, a new Windows DNA Lab opened near Washington, D.C. -- the third such facility in the United States to spring up as a resource for companies building solutions on Windows DNA.
Clearly, Windows DNA is gaining a strong following. But as with any new industry trend, it raises an obvious question What exactly does this architecture have to offer? More important, what does it mean to the people it's designed to affect? Jigish Avalani, group manager of Windows DNA marketing at Microsoft, explains that Windows DNA refers to the Windows Distributed interNet Application architecture, launched by Microsoft in fall of 1997.
Guiding Principles of Windows DNA
The Microsoft application platform consists of a multi tiered distributed application model called Windows DNA (Figure 1) and a comprehensive set of infrastructure and application services. Windows DNA unifies the best of the services available on personal computers, application servers, and mainframes today; the benefits inherent in client-server computing and the best of Internet technologies around a common, component-based application architecture.
Web computing without compromise
Organizations want to create solutions that fully exploit the global reach and "on demand" communication capabilities of the Internet, while empowering end users with the flexibility and control of today's PC applications. In short, they want to take advantage of the Internet without compromising their ability to exploit advances in PC technology.
Interoperability
Organizations want the new applications they build to work with their existing applications and to extend those applications with new functionality. They require solutions that adhere to open protocols and standards so that other vendor solutions can be integrated. They reject approaches that force them to rewrite the legions of applications still in active use today and the thousands still under development.
True integration
In order for organizations to successfully deploy truly scalable and manageable distributed applications, key capabilities such as security, management, transaction monitoring, component services, and directory services need to be developed, tested, and delivered as integral features of the underlying platform. In many other platforms, these critical services are provided as piecemeal, non-integrated offerings often from different vendors, which force IT, professionals to function as system integrators.
Lower cost of ownership
Organizations want to provide their customers with applications that are easier to deploy and manage, and easier to change and evolve over time. They require solutions that do not involve intensive effort and massive resources to deploy into a working environment, and that reduce their cost of ownership both on the desktop and server administration side.
Faster time to market
Organizations want to be able to achieve all of the above while meeting tight application delivery schedules, using mainstream development tools, and without need for massive re-education or a "paradigm shift" in the way they build software. Expose services and functionality through the underlying "plumbing" to reduce the amount of code developers must write.
Reduced complexity
Integrate key services directly into the operating system and expose them in a unified way through the components. Reduce the need for information technology (IT) professionals to function as system integrators so they can focus on solving the business problem.
Language, tool, and hardware independence
Provide a language-neutral component model so developers can use task-appropriate tools. Build on the PC model of computing, wherein customers can deploy solutions on widely available hardware.
Windows DNA Technologies
The heart of Windows DNA is the integration of Web and client/server application development models through the Component Object Model (COM). Windows DNA services are exposed in a unified way through COM for applications to use. These services include component management, Dynamic HTML, Web browser and server, scripting, transactions, message queuing, security, directory, database and data access, systems management, and user interface.
Windows DNA fully embraces an open approach to Web computing. It builds on the many important standards efforts approved by bodies such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Adhering to open protocols and published interfaces makes it easy to integrate other vendor solutions and provides broad interoperability with existing systems.