Microsoft BizTalk Server 2000 is a collection of tools and server software that enables us to implement application integration efficiently. In the next chapter we'll introduce a hypothetical business devoted to the installation and upkeep of residential services - for example, pool care. We'll use this example over the course of several chapters and build a sample system to illustrate the core services and tools of BizTalk Server. Obviously we want an ability to understand and process BizTalk message documents. But we need to think about what application integration really involves beyond this if we are to understand the features included in Microsoft BizTalk Server.
Lets start at the top.
Each of these applications needs to communicate information to the others via network messages. Now let's consider the messages themselves. Mapper is a graphical tool for designating how messages are mapped from one message format to another, so that BizTalk Server can translate between formats automatically. Messaging Services is a runtime server process that implements message exchange and data transformation as specified in Messaging Manager. Document Tracking is a browser-hosted interface which provides the ability to query for reports on messages passing through Messaging Services.