DataPower B2B Appliance XB60

The IBM WebSphere DataPower B2B Appliance XB60 is a unique B2B appliance that delivers secure trading partner data integration tracking, routing, and security functions in a network device, while reducing operational costs and improving performance. The XB60 is a nondisruptive technology that allows organizations to extend their existing B2B implementations and internal integration infrastructure, thus delivering rapid return on investment and reduced total cost of ownership. Key features of the XB60 are as follows

WebSphere DataPower B2B Appliance XB60 benefits

Simplified deployment and ongoing management
Reduces need for in-house skills that are typically needed to deploy and manage a B2B solution. The XB60 is a hardened drop-in B2B appliance that is suitable for DMZ deployments. The XB60 uses dedicated, tightly optimized hardware and firmware, and has no software to install.
High security assurance Higher levels of security assurance certification available only with hardware, including Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 4+ certification. Exceptional data security
and certificate management built into the appliance. Robust Authentication, Authorization, and Auditing (AAA) capabilities with built-in integration to external repositories.
High reliability and assured deliverySwappable redundant components, whole-box VRRP-style failover, RAID 1 for HDD
options, automated B2B data resends when using industry standard EDIINT protocols.
Manual B2B resends that can be initiated by your trading partners.
Auditability/monitoringRobust logging and support for saving logs to a large variety of log targets utilizing a broad
range of log formats. Real-time transaction monitoring of B2B transactions utilizing a
simple to use B2B Transaction Viewer, which can be configured to allow trading partners
to view their own transactions.
FlexibilitySupport for a wide range of protocols to allow flexibility to connect to as many trading
partners as possible. Many back-side protocols are supported to provide more options for integrating to back-end applications. Supported connection protocols include http(s),ftp(s), sftp, POP3, SMTP, MQ, JMS, AS1, AS2, AS3, NFS, IMS™ Connect, TIBCO EMS,
and ODBC (DB2®, Oracle, MS SQL).
Low total cost of ownershipDedicated B2B appliances have been shown to reduce deployment and operational costs
by as much as 50%. Dramatically decreases the testing time and amount of development
required to upgrade your environment; most policies are configuration-driven as opposed to development-driven.

Architecture of the WebSphere DataPower B2B Appliance

The XB60 builds on top of the DataPower Application Integration appliance by adding trading
partner profile management, B2B transaction viewing capabilities, and industry standards-based B2B messaging protocols to the already robust integration capabilities of the core appliance. These three key capabilities are at the heart of the B2B Appliance. They are designed in such a way that the B2B Appliance is positioned extremely well to handle simple partner connections with data passing through directly to end applications for further processing. If more complex data flows are required, the application integration capabilities of the XB60 can be used to perform data validation, transformation, rules-based enforcement, and content-based routing.
B2B Gateway ServiceThe B2B Gateway Service is a configuration object that is responsible for processing and routing B2B data.
Partner profilesPartner profiles are configuration objects that are capable of supporting multiple destinations; the profiles are associated with any number of B2B Gateway Services.
B2B Transaction ViewerThe B2B Transaction Viewer is used to view all transactions that pass through a B2B Gateway Service.
The components that make up the B2B functionality in the XB60 are depicted in Figure 1

MQ File Transfer

IBM WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition provides a reliable, managed file transfer solution for moving files—regardless of size—between IT systems. It enables files and documents to be transferred across a dual-purpose backbone that also handles messages.

Key features of WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition are as follows:

> Provides reliable managed file transfer (MFT) using WebSphere MQ
> Enables consolidation of messaging and file transfers into single backbone
> Provides bulk transfer of files, regardless of size
> Records log of transfer activity for audit purposes to queues and external databases
> Automates and controls file movement between IT systems with scheduling, triggering, and directory monitoring
> Extends MQ Explorer graphical interface for remotely configuring transfers and monitoring progress
> Provides command line interface for programmatic control of transfers
> Provides scripting interface for XML definition of transfers using Apache Ant
WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition provides an enterprise-ready managed file transfer
capability that is both robust and easy to use. WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition exploits
the proven reliability and connectivity of WebSphere MQ to transfer files across a wide range
of platforms and networks. In addition to leveraging existing WebSphere MQ networks,
WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition can be easily integrated with existing file transfer
systems, as illustrated in Figure 2.

WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition benefits
The benefits provided by WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition are described in this section.
AuditabilityWebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition provides full logging of transfers at both the source
and destination systems. File transfer audit logs are stored in WebSphere MQ queues and optionally in a relational database (SQL).
Ease-of-useUsing WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition, file transfers can be initiated using the graphical user interface in WebSphere MQ Explorer, via command-line commands, and using scripts.
SimplicityWebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition has a low resource footprint, and apart from WebSphere MQ, has no other pre-requisite software.
SecurityAccess to files is controlled by file system permissions. File transfers can be protected using SSL encryption and authentication.
AutomationFile transfers can be set up to occur at specified times or dates, or repeated at specified intervals. File transfers can also be triggered by a range of system events, such as new files or updated files.

Architecture of WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition

WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition comprises four components, all supported by one or
more WebSphere MQ queue managers in the network. These components are:
AgentsFTE Agents are programs that perform the fundamental file transfer function; for example, they send and receive files from the local system.
Configuration commandsThese are commands that are used to control FTE from a command line. Configuration commands perform tasks such as creating and deleting agents.
Administration commandsAdministration commands perform tasks such as creating new file transfers.
Graphical user interfaceThis is a point-and-click interface used to configure and administer FTE.
The components of WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition use WebSphere MQ to
communicate with each other, and the Agents in particular use WebSphere MQ to transport
the contents of files across the network to other Agents (Figure 3).

Sample deployment scenarios

In this section we outline a common business scenario for multi-enterprise file transfers. The
deployment scenario can support the use of any transport and B2B protocol that the
DataPower B2B Appliance XB60 has available; however, for the purpose of the two trading scenarios demonstrated in this guide (Inbound and Outbound) we are utilizing the most predominate B2B Messaging protocol: AS2. This allows us to demonstrate how the XB60 can use profile management to verify and validate the trading partners, B2B messaging to protect the payload data that is transferred between you and your partners, and provide non-repudiation of origin and receipt for the public side of the connection (Assured Delivery).
It also demonstrates how the XB60 integrates with WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition to facilitate an intra-enterprise file transfer to any location inside your enterprise.

Scenario #1: File transfer inbound from an AS2 trading partner

In this scenario, illustrated in Figure 4, the trading partner sends an AS2 message containing
the secured payload to the HubOwner’s B2B Gateway (XB60). The file is then routed to a file system shared between the XB60 and AGENT01 and an XML command file is sent from the XB60 to MQ FTE instructing MQ FTE to pick up the file and send it to AGENT02.

1. The trading partner sends an AS2 document into the B2B Gateway over any supported
protocol. The B2B Gateway Service will use profile management to verify/validate the
partner. If a supported B2B Messaging protocol (AS1, AS2, AS3) is used, the B2B
Gateway Service ensures that the message adheres to the B2B standard, that data
security is appropriately applied, and then removes the B2B protocol packaging.
2. The payload is routed into a Multi-protocol Gateway Service, where we use a
Multi-protocol Gateway policy to facilitate integration to WebSphere MQ File Transfer
Edition.
3. The Multi-Protocol Gateway policy sends the payload to an NFS mount point that is
shared between the XB60 and MQFTE AGENT01.
4. The Multi-protocol Gateway policy sends an MQ FTE Command XML file to the MQ FTE
Command Queue; this file triggers the MQFTE transfer and tells AGENT01 where to find
the file on the file system and where to send it to over the MQ Network.
5. a: If using a B2B Messaging protocol, once the file has been written to the NFS mount
point and the XML command file has been delivered to the queue, the B2B Gateway
Service will generate a Message Disposition Notification (MDN) advising the successful
transfer of the file and send that MDN back to the trading partner.
b: AGENT01 will consume the XML command file and route the payload to the receiving
agent; AGENT02. AGENT02 will then write the file to the destination directory.
6. The back-end application will consume the payload that MQ FTE has transferred.

Scenario #2: File transfer outbound to an AS2 trading partner

In this scenario, shown in Figure 5, the HubOwner is the originator of the file. The back-end application places the file on the file system where AGENT02 can pick up the file when instructed to do so via the mechanisms available in MQFTE. AGENT02 sends the file over the WAN to AGENT01, which writes the file to a file location shared between AGENT01 and the XB60. The XB60 polls the directory on a scheduled polling cycle and picks up the file for processing. It parses the file for sender and receiver information and routes the file securely to the receiving trading partner based on information in the partner profile.

1. The back-end application sends a file to a directory shared by AGENT02 and the file is routed to AGENT01.
2. AGENT02 sends the file across the WAN to AGENT01, which writes the file to an NFS
mount point that is shared between the XB60 and MQ FTE.
3. The B2B Gateway Service picks up the file from the shared NFS mount point, parses the file for sender and receiver information, and wraps the payload in an AS2 envelope using the attributes set up in the recipient’s Trading Partner Profile.
4. The B2B Gateway Service sends the file to the trading partner using the AS2 B2B Messaging Protocol.
5. The Trading Partner receives the AS2 message, processes it, and sends back an MDN to the XB60.

Creating MQ Objects:Queue Managers and Queues

A queue is a place to store messages until applications process them. A queue manager owns and manages queues. To create a queue manager and the queues needed for this article, start WebSphere MQ Explorer as follows: Start → All Programs → IBM WebSphere MQ → WebSphere MQ Explorer.
Figure 1 shows how WebSphere MQ Explorer looks when you start it.

Complete the following steps to create a queue manager with MQ Explorer:

1.In the Navigator view, right-click Queue Managers and then click New → Queue Manage. This starts the "Create Queue Manager" wizard.
2.On Step 1, enter "TestQM" as the queue manager name and click Next (see Figure 2).


3.Click Next on the wizard screens for Steps 2 and 3. At Step 4, make sure "Create listener configured for TCP/IP" is checked and the entered port number is free (see Figure 3), and then click Finish.