tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247671802024-02-24T12:46:53.180-08:00Ahmed Farrag Biztalk Developers’ LoungeThe Relaxing/Informative Lounge for DevelopersAhmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-29450389587676810462010-05-13T09:39:00.000-07:002010-05-13T09:42:29.092-07:00Application Infrastructure: Cloud Benefits Delivered<p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><a href="http://www.appinfrastructure.com/">http://www.appinfrastructure.com</a><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> Want to bring the benefits of the cloud to your current IT environment? Cloud computing offers a range of benefits, including elastic scale and never-before-seen applications. While you ponder your long-term investment in the cloud, you can harness a number of cloud benefits in your current IT environment now. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Join us on <strong><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'">May 20 at 8:30 A.M. Pacific Time</span></strong> to learn how your current IT assets can harness some of the benefits of the cloud on-premises—and can readily connect to new applications and data running in the cloud. As part of the Virtual Launch Event, Gartner vice president and distinguished analyst Yefim Natis will discuss the latest trends and biggest questions facing the Application Infrastructure space. He will also speak about the role Application Infrastructure will play in helping businesses benefit from the cloud. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Plus, you’ll hear some exciting product announcements and a keynote from Abhay Parasnis, GM of Application Server Group at Microsoft. Parasnis will discuss the latest Microsoft investments in the Application Infrastructure space aimed at delivering on-demand scalability, highly available applications, a new level of connectivity, and more. Save the date! </span></p><p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">add it to your calender </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><a href="http://www.appinfrastructure.com/Save%20the%20Date%20Application%20Infrastructure%20Virtual%20Launch%20Event.ics">http://www.appinfrastructure.com/Save%20the%20Date%20Application%20Infrastructure%20Virtual%20Launch%20Event.ics</a></span></p><p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Regards,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> Ahmed Farrag<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family:Calibri;"> </span></o:p></p>Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-86606836584314216452010-02-24T05:16:00.000-08:002010-02-24T05:24:27.239-08:00Biztalk 2009 Benchmark and Assesment Questions<span style="font-family:arial;">There have plenty of enhancements in the performance of Biztalk over the last versions, this has mainly been due to 1) the enhancements in the underlying platform, mainly the SQL Server, and 2) to the tuning of the Biztalk engine itself with the cumulative updates happening from one version to another..<br /><br />Biztalk 2009 really sets a really impressive standard for performance with it's underlying SQL Sever 2008,, all details for the scenario used and the numbers that were achieved could be found in the below articles<br /><br /></span><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee377068(BTS.10).aspx"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee377068(BTS.10).aspx</span></a><br /><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee377036(BTS.10).aspx"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee377036(BTS.10).aspx</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee377057(BTS.10).aspx"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee377057(BTS.10).aspx</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"<em> With these results, the Biztalk Server Product Team was able to demonstrate that a single Biztalk Server computer and a single SQL Server computer can support over 94 million messages in a messaging scenario and 37 million orchestrations during a 24-hour period. By scaling the Biztalk Server and SQL tiers to the optimal configuration available in our environment, we were able to process over 181 million messages per day and over 86 million orchestrations. The results were performed in a sand boxed environment by using the class of hardware deployed in many enterprises</em>" ... quoted from the above results..<br /><br />I would just like to highlight that the above results were done in a sand boxed environment with certain types of adapters and hardware ,, so please have a look above on the exact scenario used and how they achieved these results.<br /><br />Also, performance could vary a lot depending on the type of adapters you are using, amount of tracking you are doing, complexity of the orchestrations, messages sizes , extra..<br /><br />so generally when a customer asks me , "How many Biztalk server would I need ? " ,, my answer is always "it depends ! " .. to make life easier for my customers, i give them these simple questions to fill for each application that will be connected to Biztalk...<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Application Name :<br /></span><br /><ol><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Platform and Database </span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Does it have APIs? , if yes, what is the protocol and format supported? (for example XML over HTTP, method calls over TCP/IP, flat files uploaded to FTP Folder) </span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Average Number of Incoming Messages / second </span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Average Number of Outgoing Messages/Sec </span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Average Message Size in Kilobytes </span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Messaging Pattern (Synchronous /Asynchronous) </span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Required Latency in Millisecond (in case of synchronous messaging) </span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Is there batch processing , if yes, what is the size of the batch in megabytes </span></li></ol><p><span style="font-family:arial;">By answering the above questions, we will be in a situation to know whether we are in Low Latency scenario type of integration or more on a high throughput asynchronous type, or maybe even something in between! ... also, we could identify if there is FTP, POP3 or MSMQ adapters being used, and hence the possible need to cluster the Biztalk instances carrying hosting these adapter..<br /><br />Also, the batch sizes, will give us a guidance on whether to tailor for Higher RAM capacity in the Biztalk Boxes or not,, if we are looking at smaller messages, then the normal RAM recommendation is sufficient.<br /><br />By combining the numbers of all the applications that will be connected to Biztalk, you will be able to have a rough idea on how many servers that you would need...<br /><br />again, this is not an official way of sizing the capacity planning for your Biztalk environment, you should always refer to the published "<strong>Performance and Capacity Planning</strong>" available <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa577523(BTS.10).aspx">http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa577523(BTS.10).aspx</a></span><span style="font-family:arial;">, however, this is just my way to make my life easier when you are still at very early stages of assessment..<br /><br />Cheers<br /><br />Ahmed Farrag<br /></p></span>Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-11780553356180526722008-08-12T05:24:00.000-07:002008-08-12T05:34:28.197-07:00Moved to a New Blog<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/ahmedfarrag"><span style="font-size:130%;">http://blogs.msdn.com/ahmedfarrag</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><br />see you there :)<br /><br />Ahmed FarragAhmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-24150948352096545462008-05-09T05:43:00.000-07:002008-05-09T05:46:44.980-07:00Best Practices Analyzer v1.1 Shippedlast month, we shipped the Best Practices Analysers ..<br /><br />here are some more details about it if you didn't know it before !!<br /><br />Overview<br /><a class="" name="Description"></a>The BizTalk Server Best Practices Analyzer performs configuration-level verification by reading and reporting only. The Best Practices Analyzer gathers data from different information sources, such as Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) classes, SQL Server databases, and registry entries. The Best Practices Analyzer uses the data to evaluate the deployment configuration. The Best Practices Analyzer does not modify any system settings, and is not a self-tuning tool.<br /><br /><br />What’s new:<br />V1.0 has 77 rules, v1.1 has 220 with 143 new rules added! <br /><br />Here are some relevant rules<br /> 1. Added a warning rule for stopped orchestrations<br />2. a check on MaxLogSize MSDTC<br />3. Verify that TempDB and BizTalkMsgBoxDb data and log files are placed on separate drives<br />4. Check that the Max Degree of Parallelism setting is set to 0 in all other BizTalk databases<br />5. Verify that the MaxWorkerThreads in the SQL Server UMS configuration setting is set to XXX<br />6. Check that the Maximum Server Memory is set to XXX GB<br />7. System Time Diff between SQL and BizTalk Machines<br />8. Orphaned SPIDs<br />9. SQL Server Service Pack Installed for DB : xxxxxx<br />10. Ignore Duplicate Key check<br />11. Check Biztalk SQL Server JObs running or not<br /><br /><br />Where to Download:<br /><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=DDA047E3-408E-48BA-83F9-F397226CD6D4&displaylang=en">http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=DDA047E3-408E-48BA-83F9-F397226CD6D4&displaylang=en</a><br /><br /><br />- Ahmed FarragAhmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-28298073834419355032008-03-03T01:54:00.000-08:002008-03-03T02:18:19.981-08:00Biztalk Operational Guide Released !!<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">i'm</span> very excited about this new operational guide that was released a couple of weeks ago, it's really a must read for any <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Biztalk</span> developer/administrator, it covers all the topics related to deployment, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">management</span> and monitoring aspects of any Biztalk implemenation.<br /><br />i have seen many customers who have deployed <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Biztalk</span> but for some reason has missed on having a concrete strategy for the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">versioning</span>/<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">management</span> and monitoring parts of the solution. the operational guide sheds the light over a lot of these issues that need to be tackled on any production <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">environment</span>.<br /><br />you can find it here .<br /><br />The guide can be downloaded from here: <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5251f103-329d-4f8d-95b5-64f99f2f6dfc&DisplayLang=en">http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5251f103-329d-4f8d-95b5-64f99f2f6dfc&DisplayLang=en</a>.<br /><br /><br />Cheers <br />AhmedAhmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-6323579904141768012008-01-21T06:56:00.000-08:002008-01-21T07:03:36.854-08:00configuring MS DTC service on virtual imagesi was trying to build a biztalk lab today and i was basically connecting a couple of virtual images on a virtual server and trying to assign a Biztalk Role for each image, i ran into the standard MSDTC settings that you have to manage with Biztalk, which entails a couple of standard steps,,, after doing everything , the MS DTC didn't work !!! .. it said that the machines have the same identifier and therefore the DTC won't work, it seems that both images were a clone from each other !!<br /><br />i had to unistall and insall the MS DTC on the main server and it worked after that like a charm : )<br /><br />P.S: you will have to reboot the machine after you uninstall the MSDTC service using the msdtc.exe -uninstall<br /><br />Cheers :)<br /><br />AhmedAhmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-56352783157138919922007-12-25T06:34:00.000-08:002007-12-25T07:46:32.131-08:00Best Practices for the Biztalk SQL Server Adapter<a href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/0/f/50f397a7-13c7-4807-bd51-66db5f5b0908/best%20practices%20for%20the%20sql%20adapter.doc">http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/0/f/50f397a7-13c7-4807-bd51-66db5f5b0908/best%20practices%20for%20the%20sql%20adapter.doc</a>Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-34491005574697642002007-11-30T14:14:00.000-08:002008-05-06T00:13:41.439-07:00Now @ MicrosoftDear all -<br /><br />this week is my second week as a Microsoft Employee :)<br />my title in <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Microsoft</span> in a really <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Long</span> one ,, it goes like this<br /><br />"<br /><strong><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Regional Technology Solution Professional<br />Process Platform Solutions<br />Middle East and Africa (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">MEA</span> HQ)</span></em></strong><br />"<br />i guess it will be challenging to get this on the business card :)<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">i'm</span> really excited about the new Role, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">i'll</span> be basically working with the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">pre</span>-Sales team in Microsoft on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Biztalk</span> opportunities in the region, conducing technical <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Architecture</span> sessions and delivering proof of concept solutions.<br /><br />cheers : )<br /><br />AhmedAhmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-53224414845318853332007-10-27T06:01:00.000-07:002007-10-27T06:13:34.216-07:00Tips : Consuming Orchestrations as WebServiceas i promised those who attended my training last Thursday, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">i'd</span> post the issue that we faced together and the solution we found during consuming Orchestrations exposed as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Webservices</span> from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">infopath</span>.<br /><br />it started with the event viewer throwing an exception that the "NT Service Account" doesn't have privileges to access the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Biztalk</span> Database and we found another entry about the "Isolated Host" user doesn't have privileges to register the SOAP receive port.<br /><br />well, the solution was simple, basically, when you expose an orchestration as a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">webservice</span>, the wizard automatically creates the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">webservice</span> with it's code for you. however, when you try to call this <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">webservice</span>, from a client like InfoPath, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">AppPool</span> under which this site runs normally uses the default NT <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">System</span> Service account, all what you need to do is to assign a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">different</span> identity for that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">AppPool</span> that has privilege to access the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">SQL</span> Database.<br /><br />also you need to do the same for the user running the Isolated <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Biztalk</span> Host Instance.<br /><br />That's it :)<br /><br />Cheers :)Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-4733879804467284352007-10-26T04:13:00.000-07:002007-10-26T04:43:39.004-07:00Another Deep Technical Biztalk Traininglast Wednesday i have started a deep technical training on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Biztalk</span> 2006, the training took place at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ITWorx</span> and was attended by more than <strong>25 </strong>different software developers from different seniority levels,<br /><br />we had open <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">discussions</span> all through the two days plus many comprehensive demos, most of the attendees had little or no idea about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Biztalk</span> so we started by discussing the feasibility of building enterprise integration software, we went through the possible design alternatives for building such application, everyone started recommending components in such a solution.<br /><br />the design proposed by the attendees included a messaging component, business rules component, and different "<strong>agents</strong>" to handle different communication protocols :)<br /><br />then we started to map the proposed design by everyone to the actual <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Biztalk</span> Components, realizing that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">BizTalk</span> Does all this "<strong>out-of-the-box</strong>" .. i believe this helped the attendees a lot in realizing what exactly <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">BizTalk</span> does. :)<br /><br />these sessions were video taped , <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">i'll</span> try to do my best to get these videos and post them here.<br /><br />for those who attended the session, please feel free to drop by and send me your feedback. :) , i hope you have enjoyed it as much as i did.<br /><br />Cheers :)<br /><br />Ahmed <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Farrag</span>Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-82175012235729983922007-10-21T16:53:00.000-07:002007-10-21T17:08:05.224-07:00MEA MVP Open Day (My Last Event as a MVP)Today was a really nice day at the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">MEA</span></span> MVP Open Day in Egypt, i got to deliver a session on <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">BizTalk</span></span> titled "Real world <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">SOA</span></span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Biztalk</span></span>", in the session i have tried to focus on what it takes to build <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">SOA</span></span> solutions in the Real World and all the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">myts</span></span> and facts and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">SOA</span></span>.<br /><br />also i have touched base about the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Biztalk</span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Architecture</span> and how it fits in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">SOA</span></span> world and how you could easily use <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Biztalk</span></span> as the core engine of your <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">SOA</span></span> solution.<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">unfortunately</span> i have planned to discuss <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">a lot</span> about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">ESB</span></span> (<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Enterprise</span> Service Bus Guidance ) that is published on code<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">plex</span></span> ..www.codeplex.com/esb but i didn't have much time left in the session so i focused only on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">SOA</span></span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Biztalk</span></span>.<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">I'll</span> upload the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">PowerPoint</span> presentation tomorrow as i have just forgot the updated version of it on the presentation laptop !!!<br /><br />This event is very special to me, as it will be the last event for me as a MVP since <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">i'll</span> be joining Microsoft <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">MEA</span> team after 2 weeks, and as you all know, once you are in Microsoft, you can't be a MVP <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">no more</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">I'll</span> be working as a Regional TSP in the process group, focusing mainly on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Biztalk</span>, it's a challenging <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">position</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">I'm</span> really looking forward to it.<br /><br />anyhoow, if you have attended the session, i hope you have liked it and feel free to give me your feedback.<br /><br />cheers :)<br /><br />Ahmed <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Farrag</span>Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-68633803660252199692007-10-04T17:57:00.000-07:002007-10-04T18:00:21.749-07:00Biztalk Server 2006 R2 RTM is Ready !!!The Biztalk Team has Recently released the RTM Version of the very anticipated Biztalk Server R2, the New R2 version is available in evaluation version for registered users, you download the new release from <a title="here" href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/bb738059.aspx" target="_blank">here</a><br />The New version contains major enhancements, my favorites are the support for MOSS 2007 adapters, WCF Adapters and the all new RFID Support, I have been playing with the betas for quite a while and i seen the patterns and practices team doing a great job with there ESB guidance that was based on specific build of the R2 Release. i believe with this new release and with the upcoming release version of the ESB guidance, developers will have all what they need to build real SOA solutions, if you need to know more about the ESB Guidance project, you can check it at <a href="http://www.codeplex.com/esb" target="_blank">www.codeplex.com/esb</a>.<br /><br />Regards,<br />Ahmed Farrag<br />MVP Biztalk ServerAhmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-12412113091059240522007-08-20T04:22:00.000-07:002007-08-20T04:28:03.706-07:00ESB CTP 3 UddiPublisher Errori have been playing around with the ESB CTP 3 and i found the following error when trying to run the "PreProcessingCORE.vbs" ,, it started by creating the Virtual directory and then stopped at the step of running the uddipublisher project giving the following exception<br /><br />"Error Creating UDDI Entries... Class:Microsoft.Practices.ESB.UDDI.UddiClient Method: Void .ctor<system.string,> : Exception: System.ServiceModle.FaultException'1[uddiorg.api_v2.dispositionReport]: <fault>"<br /><br />the error is clearly an authentication error, so after trying several options for a while, i discovered that the error was in the Uddi publisher settings, the user name must be defined as <domain(machine>/<username>.<br /><br />Cheers :)Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-10696386259392882852007-08-05T13:10:00.000-07:002007-08-05T13:13:19.985-07:00Biztalk Build or Buy ???I have been asked a lot, "<em>where is the power of Biztalk?</em>" and that’s comes from experienced Software engineers, they always tend to say "<em>Well, we can do this!!”,</em> and in fact that's true, if you took a bird’s eye view on what Biztalk does, it's primarily two things,, Business Process Management and Messaging Solutions, and this involves basically handling messages from different sources with different formats.<br /><br />So what about the engineer who said that he can do this, well the answer is simple, Yes, you can do custom code to query a web service and get the response and then transform the message using XSLT and possibly apply some business rules checks. However when you try to deploy this solution in an enterprise, you will start facing some problems that you will have to address.<br />First, you will need to worry about the online vs. offline support of your application, what if the web service is not available? And you need to re-try the call; you will hence need to develop some sort of service that does this for you. Also, what about the business rules that you have applied; you need to give access to the business users to change them at any time, so you'd probably create a separate business rules store with its own configuration and database.<br /><br />What about the throughput of the messages, what if the load on the server increased, could your application be load balanced? , you'd then have to create some sort of a load balancing service that is could be distributed on multiple servers...!!<br /><br />You will find so many "what if" in this application that you will eventually end up building a complete framework just to support your initially small application!!<br />This framework of tools is what Microsoft calls Biztalk Server!!!<br /><br />Biztalk Server comes with out-of-the-box support for long-running transactions; Rules engine storage, scalable infrastructure, tracking capabilities and much more; basically all what you need to host an integration/BPM solution.<br /><br />So if you are targeting enterprise level solutions, I believe the equation turns in the favor of "Buy" not "Build”.Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-76256607175078241522007-07-09T01:56:00.000-07:002007-07-09T01:58:25.962-07:00I found out about a week ago that I received the <a href="https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/ahmed.farrag">Microsoft MVP Award </a>for BizTalk. I am really pleased to be part of this community and I am looking forward to continuing to help the BizTalk developer community. Thanks to everyone who nominated and supported me (special thanks to Mohamed Wahby (Microsoft Egypt) and Mohamed Karam (ITWorx) ).Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-18056955701163536372007-06-01T15:26:00.000-07:002007-06-01T15:30:26.184-07:00Biztalk Server and Windows Server 2003 Service pack 2i faced today a weird problem with the installation of Biztalk Server...<br /><br />After installing BizTalk server 2006, I configured both “Enterprise SSO” and “Group” Successfully.<br />When trying to configure “BizTalk Runtime”, it fails with the following error:<br /><br />“Could not deploy 'Microsoft.BizTalk.KwTpm.StsDefaultPipelines' on computer 'WS2003-VM-03'. Please check if BizTalk is installed correctly. (SeedCfg)”<br /><br />I tried un-install then re-install BizTalk server and still getting the same error.<br /><br />Here is my configuration:<br />OS: Windows 2003 Server + SP2<br />BizTalk Server 2006 – BizTalk databases are on remote SQL Server.<br /><br />the problem was <strong>fixed </strong>when i installed the Biztalk Server on a Windows 2003 with <strong>SP1 </strong>.. it seems like there is something with SP2 that couldn't register that assembly..<br /><br />Cheers ,,<br /><br />AhmedAhmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-65018212337883334012007-05-27T09:10:00.000-07:002007-05-27T09:21:58.607-07:00BiztalkersEgypt Site Launchedin the past couple of month i was thinking about creating a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Biztalk</span> Server <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">community</span> in Egypt, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">I'm</span> already a board member in a technical club called Cutting-Edge where we organize technical sessions and seminars for software developers.<br /><br />i have started a Special <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">interest</span> group inside the club focused on B<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">izTalk</span> technologies and called it "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Biztalkers</span>", i have also delivered 2 sessions in the past month to introduce <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Biztalk</span> to the club members...<br /><br />i believe the next step is to have an online <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">community</span> for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">biztalk</span> developers/architects in Egypt and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Middleast</span> where we could all learn from each other and provide video tutorials on how to start <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">biztalking</span> :) , that's where the idea of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">BiztalkersEgypt</span> Came from ...<br /><br />The site is now up and running <a href="http://www.biztalkersegypt.com/">http://www.biztalkersEgypt.com</a> and users are starting to register in it. i have also put a forum on the site where users could submit their questions and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">concerns</span>..<br /><br />i believe this is a very important step in promoting the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">awareness</span> for this product in Egypt and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">MiddleEast</span> in a very simplified yet efficient manner.Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-37394949656068167142007-04-12T10:32:00.000-07:002007-04-12T10:36:02.986-07:00A Must Read Troubleshooting guide ..i have been using this troubleshooting guide for a while right now and i believe its a must read for all biztalk developers, it covers sections about debugging orchestrations and monitoring the performance and lots more ...<br /><br />you can find the link here ..<br /><br /><a href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/7/6/376a6f6c-8c97-4ab5-9d5a-416c76793fbb/bts06developerstroubleshootingguide.doc">http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/7/6/376a6f6c-8c97-4ab5-9d5a-416c76793fbb/bts06developerstroubleshootingguide.doc</a><br /><br />Enjoy Biztalking :)Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-2240377856673058452007-04-12T03:47:00.000-07:002007-04-12T03:48:43.537-07:00'BizTalk Server: 8 Tips And Tricks For Better BizTalk Programmingi have came across this really interesting tips about biztalk programming, it really summarizes most of the pitfalls that most developers fall into, and as we always say, it's all about design, you can do lots of things with Biztalk, and you can do them in many different ways, the most important thing is how to do things the right way... :)<br /><br /><br />Enjoy Biztalking :)<br /><br /><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/07/05/BizTalk/Default.aspx">'BizTalk Server: 8 Tips And Tricks For Better BizTalk Programming,'bloggerForm','scrollbars=no,width=475,height=300,top=175,left=75,status=yes,resizable=yes</a>Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-26752948180163344122007-02-21T05:51:00.000-08:002007-02-21T05:55:51.586-08:00Any Element in Biztalk Schema<p>we had a working orchestration today that needs to send notification for the failed messages, one problem came around, the schema of the failed message doesn't match anything to given to the orchestration !!! , </p><p>the solution was so simple, we created a new generic schema, that contained the same root node and under it the Magical "any" element node type.!!! </p><p>so now the notification orchestration will only check the root node , and it will accept the message no matter what elements come under the root... and that was IT :)</p><p>Cheers :) </p><p>Ahmed </p><p> </p><p> </p>Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-1170258072137452642007-01-31T07:37:00.000-08:002007-01-31T07:41:12.156-08:00(Cutting-Edge ) Get To Know Biztalk SessionI have uploaded the material for the demo i made in the cutting-Edge club biztalk session ... <br /><br /><a href="http://s26.quicksharing.com/v/1634551/1LoanProcessing.rar.html ">click here </a><br /><br /><br />please feel free to contact me if you have an questions. <br /><br /><br />Cheers <br /><br />AhmedAhmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-1169641884893123362007-01-24T03:12:00.000-08:002007-01-24T04:31:24.950-08:00Handling Different Flat Files in the Same PipelineI have been asked a while ago about what to do if you have different Flat file schemes arriving at the same location each with a different schemas. <br /><br />converting flat file into XML files is done by the flat file schema wizard which requires that you create a custom pipeline to put the disassembling schema in it, so the first thing that pops up in your mind is , what if I receive different schemas on the same port ?? I can't make a custom pipeline for each type of schemas; So what I should do,, ?? <br /><br />actually, some prefer to take this "trick" to the orchestrations by passing the file as "passthrough" and the orchestration will decide which transformation map to use, but I'm personally against this option because this enforces tight coupling between the message types and the deployed orchestrations, also it will raise several issues in the deployment and versioning of the whole solution. <br /><br /><br />I have seen a solution Gilles' Web log where it extends the Flat file disassembler to create a new one that detects the schema type and applied the right transformation .. <br />here is a <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/gzunino/archive/2004/08/19/217277.aspx">link </a><br /><br />we have tried this solution and it worked nicely, it's not a simple solution though but it preserve the service orientation of the biztalk solution .<br /><br />keep biztalkingAhmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-1169557653637406622007-01-23T05:05:00.000-08:002007-01-24T03:10:29.153-08:00Anti Patterns -- ( The worst you can do !!! )I came across this really interesting article about the Worst you can do with Biztalk, it really sheds the light about the real working problems that I have seen in Biztalk Project, everybody asks about the business logic and where to place it correctly in Biztalk, I believe this article shows the best way to place your business logic<br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/ebattalio/archive/2006/11/16/anti-pattern-kitchen-sink-maps.aspx">Click here</a><br /><br /><br />Keep up the patterns and Enjoy Biztalking :)Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-1167776780213220732007-01-02T14:25:00.000-08:002007-01-02T14:26:20.256-08:00Old Lady Pwnz Mercedes Guy<table xmlns="http://purl.org/atom/ns#" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td colspan="2"><embed flashvars="" id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=2889527841583480458&hl=en" style="width:400px; height:326px;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"> </embed></td></tr><tr/><tr><td>Really Funny<br /> </td></tr></table>Ahmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767180.post-1167159423206879042006-12-26T10:52:00.000-08:002006-12-26T10:57:03.216-08:00Calling .NET Assembly from Biztalk Server 2006 OrchestrationI have working for a while on multiple Biztalk Server project and I have also recently delivered a workshop on this great product,, <br /><br />I have decided to share the samples I have made during the workshop for those who are interested in learning this product. <br /><br />one of the these samples shows how to call .NET assembly from an orchestration, all you have to do is simple, declare a variable and choose it's type to be from the class you created, initialize this file and then call it's method,,, !!! Very simple, isn't it.. ?<br /><br />the class has to be a "serializable" class since all the objects in Biztalk are XML objects, <br /><br />to download the complete application with source code <a href="http://s26.quicksharing.com/d/921538/1167158522/CallingAssembly.zip">Click here</a><br /><br />have a nice time Biztalking :)<br /><br />Cheers, <br />AhmedAhmed Farraghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04814045429931908377noreply@blogger.com4