Towards P2P XML Database Technology

To ease the development of data-intensive P2P applications, we envision a P2P XML Database Management System (P2P XDBMS) that acts as a database middle-ware, providing a uniform database abstraction on top of a dynamic set of distributed data sources. In this PhD work, we research which features such a database abstraction should offer and how it can be realised efficiently by extending and combining existing XML databases with P2P technologies. The first step in this research is a distributed database extension called XRPC. Our planned future work builds upon this, adding P2P abstractions to all main database functionalities (query processing, transactions and data storage)

When Is an Enterprise Service Bus (Esb) the Right Choice for an Integrated Technology Solution?

The Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) is an important systems integration technology often closely associated with Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). Some maintain that an ESB should not be used apart from SOA. Others see the ESB simply as the next generation of middleware, incorporating the best of its predecessors, Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and Message Oriented Middleware (MOM), and a candidate for any integration requirement. Is the ESB a one-size-fits-all solution to be trusted for any integration requirement, or must its use be carefully considered with proper due diligence based on application complexity and/or the presence or absence of a defined SOA? This thesis probes these questions in an analysis of a world-wide survey of 230 industry SOA and middleware professionals conducted via the LinkedIn Professional Network during a six week period in November and December of 2010. In addition, the thesis applies a review of the survey results and current SOA and ESB literature to an architectural decision being made within the Systems Engineering and Application Development (SEAD) Practicum in the Master of Science program in Computer Information Systems at Regis University in Denver, which provides support for the University\u27s Academic Research Network (ARN). An ESB has been proposed as a new architectural component for the ARN infrastructure and this paper reviews the merit of this proposal. This thesis employs an interpretivist epistemology, understanding that there may be more than one acceptable answer to the question, When is an Enterprise Service Bus an appropriate component of an integrated technology solution

A comprehensive evaluation framework for system modernization : a case study using data services

Modernization is a solution to migrate cumbersome existing systems to a new architecture for improved longevity of business processes. Three modernization approaches exist. White-box and black-box modernization are distinct from one another. Grey-box modernization is a hybrid of the white-box and black-box approaches. Modernization can be utilised to create data services for a Service Oriented Architecture. Since it is unclear which modernization approach is more suitable for the development of data services, a comprehensive evaluation framework is proposed to evaluate which of the white- or black-box approaches is more suitable. The comprehensive framework consists of three evaluation components. Firstly, developer effort to modernize existing code is measured by acknowledged software metrics. Secondly, the quality of the data services is measured against identified Quality of Service criteria for data services in particular. Thirdly, the effectiveness of the modernized data services is measured through usability evaluations. By inspection of the combination of application of each of the evaluation components, a recommended approach is identified for the modernization of data services. The comprehensive framework was successfully employed to compare the white-box and black-box modernization approaches applied to a case study. Results indicated that had only a single evaluation component been used, inconclusive results of the more suitable approach may have been obtained. The findings of this research contribute a comprehensive evaluation framework which can be applied to compare modernization approaches and measure modernization success

A comprehensive evaluation framework for system modernization : a case study using data services

Modernization is a solution to migrate cumbersome existing systems to a new architecture for improved longevity of business processes. Three modernization approaches exist. White-box and black-box modernization are distinct from one another. Grey-box modernization is a hybrid of the white-box and black-box approaches. Modernization can be utilised to create data services for a Service Oriented Architecture. Since it is unclear which modernization approach is more suitable for the development of data services, a comprehensive evaluation framework is proposed to evaluate which of the white- or black-box approaches is more suitable. The comprehensive framework consists of three evaluation components. Firstly, developer effort to modernize existing code is measured by acknowledged software metrics. Secondly, the quality of the data services is measured against identified Quality of Service criteria for data services in particular. Thirdly, the effectiveness of the modernized data services is measured through usability evaluations. By inspection of the combination of application of each of the evaluation components, a recommended approach is identified for the modernization of data services. The comprehensive framework was successfully employed to compare the white-box and black-box modernization approaches applied to a case study. Results indicated that had only a single evaluation component been used, inconclusive results of the more suitable approach may have been obtained. The findings of this research contribute a comprehensive evaluation framework which can be applied to compare modernization approaches and measure modernization success

Town of New Durham, NH annual report for the year ending December 31, 2016.

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire

A generic framework for process execution and secure multi-party transaction authorization

Process execution engines are not only an integral part of workflow and business process management systems but are increasingly used to build process-driven applications. In other words, they are potentially used in all kinds of software across all application domains. However, contemporary process engines and workflow systems are unsuitable for use in such diverse application scenarios for several reasons. The main shortcomings can be observed in the areas of interoperability, versatility, and programmability. Therefore, this thesis makes a step away from domain specific, monolithic workflow engines towards generic and versatile process runtime frameworks, which enable integration of process technology into all kinds of software. To achieve this, the idea and corresponding architecture of a generic and embeddable process virtual machine (ePVM), which supports defining process flows along the theoretical foundation of communicating extended finite state machines, are presented. The architecture focuses on the core process functionality such as control flow and state management, monitoring, persistence, and communication, while using JavaScript as a process definition language. This approach leads to a very generic yet easily programmable process framework. A fully functional prototype implementation of the proposed framework is provided along with multiple example applications. Despite the fact that business processes are increasingly automated and controlled by information systems, humans are still involved, directly or indirectly, in many of them. Thus, for process flows involving sensitive transactions, a highly secure authorization scheme supporting asynchronous multi-party transaction authorization must be available within process management systems. Therefore, along with the ePVM framework, this thesis presents a novel approach for secure remote multi-party transaction authentication - the zone trusted information channel (ZTIC). The ZTIC approach uniquely combines multiple desirable properties such as the highest level of security, ease-of-use, mobility, remote administration, and smooth integration with existing infrastructures into one device and method. Extensively evaluating both, the ePVM framework and the ZTIC, this thesis shows that ePVM in combination with the ZTIC approach represents a unique and very powerful framework for building workflow systems and process-driven applications including support for secure multi-party transaction authorization

Mini-SOA/ESB Design Guidelines and Simulation for Wireless Sensor Networks

One of the major challenges in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is the difficulty of efficient integration with other WSN application domains. This is because there is no open standard framework to support heterogeneous types of sensors that are produced by many sensor manufacturers. In order to integrate different domain services, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) /Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) has been widely used as an open standard for providing location transparency and segregation. In this thesis, we propose mini-SOA/ESB Architecture to integration of wireless sensor networks. However, previous work on SOA/ESB has focused on large scale Enterprise service level integration, and is not adaptable to the WSN domains because of limited hardware and software capabilities. Sharing sensor data requires an open standard prototype to support various kinds of sensor applications composed of heterogeneous sensor nodes. This standard prototype can be applied to any application, such as OS-based architecture, VM-based architecture, Middleware architecture, and Stand-alone protocols. To address the issue, this thesis presents design considerations and a new model, which we call mini-SOA/ESB for WSNs, as an open standard. We believe that the proposed Architecture will be a basic building block for the integration of WSNs.Computer Science Departmen