Fujitsu Limited, Hitachi Ltd, and NEC Corp announced that they are making available as open source their jointly developed messaging software that implements the Web Services Reliability (WS-Reliability) standard, a messaging specification for Web services designed to ensure superior reliability. The software will be available for download free of charge as of Nov. 26 at the Web site of the Information-Technology Promotion Agency, Japan (http://businessGrid.i pa.go.jp/rm4gs/index-en.html).

Until now, in order to construct a highly reliable system that employs Web services, it was necessary for each application on the Web services network to guarantee the reliability of the transmissions. This software solves that problem by providing a reliable messaging function that prevents the loss of messages and the duplication of messages in transit. By making messaging highly reliable, the software eliminates the need for each individual application to guarantee transmission reliability.

For an in-depth explanation of the WS Reliability standard, please refer to www.gridtoday.com/04/1115/104252.html.

Last year, a group of IT vendors including Fujitsu, Hitachi and NEC, issued a draft of the WS-Reliability specification, and have worked with OASIS, the standards organization, to have it designated as an industry standard. The specification passed a public review and the final voting stage held by OASIS members, with OASIS formally adopting it as an official standard on Nov. 15. The three companies began their participation in the standardization work with the objective of promoting standardization in the Web services domain. To further the adoption of the WS-Reliability standard, the three companies disclosed the software's source code, releasing it as open source.

Releasing this software as open source will help speed the widespread adoption of software products that incorporate this reliable messaging function, thereby making it possible for customers to develop highly reliable Web services systems in shorter time frames and at lower cost.

Since July of 2003, the three firms have jointly pursued the development of middleware software for the realization of Grid computing as part of the Business Grid Computing Project promoted by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The software was developed as part of this project.

For more information

The Information Technology Promotion Agency's RM4GS (Reliable Messaging for Grid Services) page: http://businessGrid.i pa.go.jp/rm4gs/index-en.html.

OASIS

Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards; a non- profit organization that encourages the use of existing standards, such as SGML and XML, in business, and is involved in the setting of recognized standards to make technologies more useful. It is responsible for ebXML and Web services specifications, SAML and other security-oriented specifications.

Business Grid Computing Project

This project seeks to bring the benefits of Grid computing to the business sector, allowing a company's network-attached infrastructure to integrate with other computers beyond the organization's walls. Japan's METI launched this project in 2003 to develop the enabling technology.