Summary

The Microsoft ESB Guidance uses Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 R2 to support a loosely coupled messaging architecture. BizTalk Server includes a powerful publish/subscribe mechanism for messaging applications that works by creating and filling subscriptions, which provides a highly efficient and scalable platform for service-oriented architecture (SOA) applications.
The Microsoft ESB Guidance extends the functionality of BizTalk Server to provide a range of new capabilities focused on building robust, connected, service-oriented applications that incorporate itinerary-based service invocation for lightweight service composition, dynamic resolution of endpoints and maps, Web service and WS-* integration, fault management and reporting, and integration with third-party SOA governance solutions.
The Microsoft ESB Guidance was developed jointly by the patterns & practices team and the Connected Systems Division.

Audience Requirements

The Microsoft ESB Guidance is intended for developers working with Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 and who build solutions that leverage the Service Oriented Architecture pattern. To take full advantage of the Microsoft ESB Guidance, developers should possess knowledge and experience working with the following:

• Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 R2
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
• Microsoft .NET development techniques, including the development of ASP.NET Web services and .NET Framework components

What's New

This is the first full release of the Microsoft ESB Guidance. Compared to the latest community technical preview release, this release contains the following new features:

• New ESB Web services, including the Itinerary and Resolver services
• New samples that demonstrate itinerary processing, UDDI service integration, and the BizTalk Operations and Resolver services; the ESB Management Portal, and an implementation of the Scatter/Gather pattern for Web services
• New core features, such as itinerary processing, centralized event logging, the Exception Management Framework; it also introduces the AmberPoint Embedded Nano Agent for BizTalk Server and the SOA Software Management Point for BizTalk Server.

Resources

Below is the final documentation in CHM format. You can download the complete ESB Guidance (source code, samples, and documentation) from Microsoft Download Center Please see the official ESB Guidance page on MSDN for more information about its contents, intended audience, design goals, and future plans.