In a lot of BizTalk Server environments, performance is critical. It is not uncommon to hear for a client that they need to be able to process a specific level of transactions in a certain time window. Unfortunately, it is usually followed by the question: "So, how much hardware do I need?" There isn't anyway to answer that question because there are too many unknowns. How big are the messages? How complex are the pipelines and maps? What about the orchestrations, if any? What other systems or adapters will be involved? There are several strategies for finding out how much hardware you need. The first is a 'grow as you can' model. You deploy your system on a good foundation. A good SQL Server and a good single or pair of BizTalk servers. Once in production, slowly increase the traffic or consumers of the business process. As limits are reached, add more servers to the BizTalk group. This is a very organic model, and allows you to add only what you need. This mo...
I don't often explicitly state that I work for Quick Solutions when I post to my blog. Others that work with me talk about QSI all the time. I do this because I want the articles to be what 'I' have to say about technology, not what QSI has to say. I started working for QSI in June of 2003. I was about to start my own consulting company, and they asked me to come in to help them start their solutions business (having built a high quality technical staffing business). I thought, why not? Getting to build what I want to build on someone else's dime definitely reduces my personal risk, and if it didn't work out, I could just pick back up the 'start my own company' thing. Nearly five years have passed, and we have built a great team. A team that is considered one of the leading development shops in our region. Each, and EVERY person on this team would be considered a rock star at any company. We have a great culture for the team, and a deep seated ownership...
Today we are packing for the big move. Quick Solutions is moving to some new swanky office space, with an awesome new delivery center. The new center has wall to wall whiteboards, network projectors for group programming (pair programming is so 20th century), a game room, new open seating (shared workspace is the key to productivity), and lots of other new goodies. It is an amazing investment by the company, and shows their commitment to building the best team on the block. As we are packing, we started joking around (not that joking around is rare, and would have occurred regardless of the packing state). How does and architect pack? An architect doesn't pack anymore. He did that ten years ago. He goes to plenty of packing conferences, and has read a lot of books on packing. An architect will map out how the whole enterprise should pack, and even dictate what (clearly out of date) packing supplies and processes should be used. These processes will be the perfect match for some ...
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