New POJO Service Engine and Bindings in GlassFish ESB 2.2

Open source ESBs are gaining traction as legitimate, low-cost alternatives to commercial products.  Sun's OpenESB project is keeping up with commercial competitors with it's newest release of the GlassFish ESB component.  The new 2.2 version of GlassFish ESB introduces new tools to implement some of the more complex design patterns for SOA, EAI (Enterprise Application Integration), and Business Integration.  Email binding, REST binding components, and a POJO service engine are some of the primary new features in GlassFish ESB 2.2.  

GlassFish ESB is a distribution of the core runtime and components for the OpenESB project.  The project receives components from the open source community for accessing back-end systems and other ESBs or SOA platforms, and for message transformation.  OpenESB implements standards for Java Business Integration (JBI) and Java EE.  OpenESB also provides a NetBeans-based IDE for creating integration solutions and composite applications.  GlassFish ESB includes service engines, binding components, editors, and tools to help users create JBI applications.  Users can also purchase packages (Platinum and Healthcare packs) with more functionalities.  Here are the enhanced features of each :

GlassFish ESB 2.2 Standard (free)

Email Binding Component – Supports configuration and connection to email servers within a JBI environment, which allows emails to be sent from and received by a JBI application.
REST Binding Component – Supplies external connectivity for REST over HTTP from JBI applications.  This lets external systems to invoke RESTful web services hosted by the JBI platform and allows JBI components to invoke external RESTful web services.
POJO Service Engine -  Allows business logic to be specified in Java as Plain Old Java Objects (POJOs) before the business objects are run in a JBI component.

The standard installation of GlassFish ESB also received JMS, FTB, HTTP, and File binding component enhancements.  Many improvements were made to the BPEL Service Engine as well.

GlassFish ESB 2.2 Platinum Pack

Worklist Manager Service Engine – Lets users define manual tasks for insertion into an otherwise automated workflow, like a BPEL process.  Users may also manage and monitor the handling of any generated tasks.
COBOL Copybook Encoder – Provides runtime and tooling needed to define and test COBOL Copybook encoders, which are fixed-length and field-based.
BPEL Monitor – Monitors the BPEL Service Engine.  Provides a comprehensive, real-time view of active applications.
Event Management – API support for retrieving JBI runtime alerts that are pushed to subscribed clients through reverse-ajax.
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GlassFish ESB 2.2 Healthcare Pack

Sun Master Index – Identifies and cross-references patients and other participants whose information is stored in disparate systems throughout an organization.
HL7 Binding Component – Allows GlassFish ESB to connect with HL7 v2 messaging systems, manage message enveloping and routing, and perform message validations.
PIX/PDQ Manager – Addresses integration issues specific to sharing healthcare information based on guidelines.  The group of applications form a specialized implementation of HL7 messaging that helps create an Information Health Exchange.

GlassFish ESB 2.2 also adds support for NetBeans 6.7.1, GlassFish Enterprise Server 2.1.1, Windows Server 2008 (32bit), Red Hat Linux Server 5.3, IBM AIX 5L 6.1 (64bit), Mozilla Firefox 3.5.2, and Safari 3.2.  Sun provides commercial support for GlassFish ESB and OpenESB if needed. 

You can find a gentle introduction to GlassFish ESB at DZone's Tech Library.  GlassFish ESB can be downloaded for free under the Common Development and Distribution License