Sterling B2B Integrator Technical Framework

Sterling B2B Integrator is written in Java™ and can run in an application server-independent configuration or alongside an application server such as BEA WebLogic™, and JBoss™ products. Sterling B2B Integrator uses Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) adapters when you communicate with an application server.

Application server independence is a valuable configuration because:
  • It requires fewer product prerequisites, which may reduce your total costs.
  • It enables greater flexibility in deployment options.

  • It works well if you use J2EE application servers that Sterling B2B Integrator does not support, or if you have a policy of not deploying a different application server in any production environment.

There is no difference in the functionality between Sterling B2B Integrator used in an application server-independent configuration and Sterling B2B Integrator used alongside an application server. Integrating with an application server requires the use of an adapter (EJB adapter), which is included with the product.

The following display shows a simplified view of the system architecture:

Think of Sterling B2B Integrator as a standards-based business process management system consisting of a toolbox of integration components, on top of a J2EE infrastructure. The integration components include the mapper, Graphical Process Modeler (GPM), B2B services, EAI adapters, and Web Extensions. The J2EE framework enables many key aspects of the Sterling B2B Integrator system, including:
  • Standards-based interfaces for common middleware functionality
  • Support for multiple operating systems, including UNIX, Windows NT/2000, Linux, and IBM z/OS® and iSeries®
  • Load balancing
  • Fault tolerance
  • An advanced EJB object-oriented development and deployment environment that facilitates reuse of existing component software, easier change management, and easier application knowledge transfer
  • Scalable component clustering
  • Ability to create complex process flows