Dublin is the code name for a application server which will ship as a separate download for Windows server around the .NET 4.0 timeframe. The application server’s focus will be on Workflow Foundation and Windows Communication Foundation applications. So, to me the developer pushing out code today what does it mean?
Well it means that a lot of the grunt work involved with WCF/WF applications is taken away because Dublin will provide a host for them - no more need for IIS for WCF and bespoke solutions for WF. That is not so great, I mean of course you can write your own still and in some situations that will be faster or more scalable than Dublin, but because the host is built the surrounding services come included. So lets take a prime example of how this would effect WF: Currently WF has a great tracking system which you can visualize using WinForms or ASP.NET, but why should I need to “copy-and-paste” that code into every WF application? Why isn’t there an out of the box tool like BizTalk has? Well since the Dublin server will host your workflows they will now provide you with a tool to do it!
Dublin setup/configuration tool
There is some important points to understand here:
- Dublin is NOT .NET Framework 4 - It’s a separate Windows Server component. Updates will follow the Framework update schedule, but that’s as close as it gets.
- Dublin is backwards compatible to .NET Framework 3.5 - So the work you are doing today is not wasted.
- Dublin will support Oslo - Dublin is the first application to support administrators deploying out of Oslo.
- So do I need BizTalk - Yes. BizTalk will still be great for B2B or LOB integration scenarios where you still will need to write code to get close to those great out of the box features. It is told they will work well together, but I have no details on how yet.
- So do I need IIS - Yes. Even though a lot of apps now run on IIS will be moved to Dublin, you still want IIS for what it it good for - websites. In addition to that Dublin’s management interface is part of IIS!
Dublin settings in IIS 7.0
- OS supported - Nothing official I can find but it uses IIS 7.0 so that implies Windows 2008 is a requirement.
- What will it be called - Nothing offical although the beta bits have Windows Application Server as the name so it looks like it could be that.
Interesting the first customers to start work on Dublin are the Dynamics AX and CRM teams. Since I know CRM let me explain how I think they will use it (nothing official here). In MSCRM 4.0 you have two core components (high level):
- Async Service - Which runs workflows
- Web site - Which does the front end and web services
The async service will be dropped and it’s function together with hosting of the web services will be shifted over to Dublin with IIS continuing to host the website!
Persistence Out of the Box!
You can find out more at http://www.microsoft.com/NET/Dublin.aspx
Pictures from: http://www.biztalkgurus.com/blogs/biztalk/archive/2008/11/02/first-look-screen-shots-of-windows-application-server-dublin.aspx