转：数据集成的关键问题

微软《架构师》杂志第8期，A Flexible Model for Data Integration by Tim Ewald and Kimberly Wolk

以往我们总是尽量考虑通信协议、消息方式，但对于集成而言，有一个灵活的数据模型才是最关键的。

 

There are many challenges in systems integration for architects and developers, and the industry has focused on XML, Web services, and SOA for solving integration problems by concentrating on communication protocols, particularly in regard to adding advanced features that support message flow in complex network topologies.

However, this concentration on communication protocols has taken the focus away from the problem of integrating data. Flexible models for combining data acrossdisparate systems are essential for successful integration. These models are expressed in XML schema (XSD) in Web service–based systems, and instances of the model are represented as XML transmitted in SOAP messages. In our work on the architecture of the MSDN TechNet Publishing System (MTPS) we addressed three pitfalls. We’ll look at what those pitfalls are and our solutions to them in the context of a more general problem, that of integrating customer information.