1 Introduction to Oracle Fusion Middleware

Oracle Fusion Middleware is a comprehensive family of products ranging from application development tools and integration solutions to identity management, collaboration, and business intelligence reporting. This chapter provides an introduction to Oracle Fusion Middleware.

It includes the following sections:

For definitions of unfamiliar terms found in this and other books, see the Glossary.

1.1 What Is Oracle Fusion Middleware?

Oracle Fusion Middleware is a collection of standards-based software products that spans a range of tools and services: from Java EE and developer tools, to integration services, identity management, business intelligence, and collaboration. Oracle Fusion Middleware offers complete support for development, deployment, and management.

For information about Oracle Fusion Middleware concepts, see Understanding Oracle Fusion Middleware.

1.2 Oracle Fusion Middleware Components

Oracle Fusion Middleware provides the following components:

  • Oracle WebLogic Server, an enterprise-ready Java application server that supports the deployment of mission-critical applications in a robust, secure, highly available, and scalable environment. Oracle WebLogic Server is an ideal foundation for building applications based on service-oriented architecture (SOA).

  • Oracle SOA Suite, a complete set of service infrastructure components, in a service-oriented architecture, for designing, deploying, and managing composite applications. Oracle SOA Suite enables services to be created, managed, and orchestrated into composite applications and business processes. Composites enable you to easily assemble multiple technology components into one SOA composite application.

  • Oracle HTTP Server, which provides a Web listener for Java EE applications and the framework for hosting static and dynamic pages and applications over the Web. Based on the proven technology of the Apache HTTP Server, Oracle HTTP Server includes significant enhancements that facilitate load balancing, administration, and configuration.

  • Oracle Web Services Manager, which provides a way to centrally define and manage policies that govern Web services operations, including access control (authentication and authorization), reliable messaging, Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism (MTOM), WS-Addressing, and Web services management. Policies can be attached to multiple Web services, requiring no modification to the existing Web services.

  • Oracle Platform Security, which provides enterprise product development teams, systems integrators, and independent software vendors (ISVs) with a standards-based, portable, integrated, enterprise-grade security framework for Java Standard Edition (Java SE) and Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) applications.

    Oracle Platform Security provides an abstraction layer in the form of standards-based application programming interfaces (APIs) that insulate developers from security and identity management implementation details. With Oracle Platform Security, developers do not need to know the details of cryptographic key management or interfaces with user repositories and other identity management infrastructures. When you use Oracle Platform Security, in-house developed applications, third-party applications, and integrated applications benefit from the same uniform security, identity management, and audit services across the enterprise.

  • Oracle Data Integrator provides a fully unified solution for building, deploying, and managing complex data warehouses or as part of data-centric architectures in a SOA or business intelligence environment. In addition, it combines all the elements of data integration — data movement, data synchronization, data quality, data management, and data services—to ensure that information is timely, accurate, and consistent across complex systems.

    See Also:

    Administering Oracle Data Integrator