Types Of Middleware
Types of middleware:
- Message Oriented Middleware (MOM). This is a large category and includes asynchronous store and forward application messaging capabilities as well as integration brokers that perform message transformation and routing or even business process coordination.
- Object Middleware. This category consists largely of Object Request Brokers (ORB) that were mentioned on one of the earlier definitions.
- RPC Middleware. This type of middleware provides for calling procedures on remote systems, hence the name Remote Procedure Call. Unlike message oriented middleware, RPC middleware represents synchronous interactions between systems and is commonly used within an application.
- Database Middleware. Database middleware allows direct access to data structures and provides interaction directly with databases. There are database gateways and a variety of connectivity options. Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) packages are included in this category.
- Transaction Middleware. This category as used in the Middleware Resource Center includes traditional transaction processing monitors (TPM) and web application servers. One could make the case for splitting the category.
- Portals. We include enterprise portal servers as middleware largely because they facilitate what we refer to as “front end” integration. They allow interaction between the user’s desktop and back end systems and services.