EPA Service Oriented Architecture

							                     EPA Service Oriented Architecture
                      Objectives and Benefits
                      The objective of EPA’s Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is to provide a more productive, standards based
                      approach for delivering cost effective business functions. This IT design framework is agile and flexible. SOA
                      decreases costs and simplifies operations and maintenance by building shared services that are truly aligned
                      with business requirements.


SOA Basics                                                              What SOA components are currently available?
A service-oriented architecture is a collection of standards based      Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) – A
Web services that use a common messaging technology model.              standard, interoperable platform that enables organizations and
The communication can involve either simple data passing or it          applications to quickly, easily, and dynamically find and use Web
could involve two or more services coordinating an activity. SOA        services over the Internet
involves three basic players: a service provider, a service consumer,
                                                                        Network Authentication and Authorization Server (NAAS) –
and a service broker. Some means of connecting services to each
                                                                        Security services for authentication and authorization of web
other is needed.
                                                                        services
Web services are a key messaging component for EPA’s SOA
                                                                        Quality Assurance – Services for validating XML documents
Web services are the connection technology of EPA’s service-
oriented architecture. Web services use eXtensible Markup               Web Service Specifications – Design standards for ensuring Web
Language (XML) to create this robust connection. EPA’s Central          service interoperability
Data Exchange (CDX) uses a combination of technologies for Web
service application and management to support the Agency’s              XML Gateway – Web service message filtering and XML
SOA.                                                                    acceleration services (coming soon)




          Join the Agency’s Web services Working group!
How do Web services work?                                             Shared Web services provided by CDX:
Web services are based on a universal programming model that          Network Security Services
facilitates the sharing of functionality and information via the       Authenticate – Users (or computers) authenticate with the NAAS
Internet, regardless of operating system, hardware or delivery         to obtain Security Tokens to access services on the Network,
device, programming language, database or other back-end               including data exchanges.
system. Web services provide EPA programmatic services across
the Internet and make it easier to work both across and within         Authorization – A determination of whether the service requestor
organizations.                                                         is entitled to perform the operation, which can range from invoking
                                                                       the Web service to executing a specific part of its functionality.
How can Web services assist your program’s needs?
Web services are information sources and application components       Database Services
whose functionality and interfaces are exposed to consumers            Query – A database query that provides results to the requestor
using emerging Web technology standards. In contrast to Web            in XML format.
sites, Web services are offered computer-to-computer, via defined      Solicit – A query performed against a database on the network
formats and protocols and are capable of processing large amounts      that returns the result in XML format to the requestor.
of data across the Internet. Examples of Web services used in the
Agency include: publishing the substance registry; collecting air,    Document Exchange Services
water, waste, and facility data; and providing security and quality    Submit / Download – One or multiple sets of data are sent/retrieved
assurance for the Exchange Network.                                    to and from the service provider.

                                                                      Quality Assurance Services
    Web Services / SOA Contacts                                       XML documents are parsed against design schemas for testing and
     Connie Dwyer (dwyer.connie@epa.gov)                              production data.
     Chris Clark (clark.chris@epa.gov)
                                                                       Schematron – Complex business rules are evaluated in order to
     EPA Central Data Exchange (http://www.epa.gov/cdx)
                                                                       validate data.
     EPA Web Services (http://www.epa.gov/webservices)
     For information regarding the Web Services Working Group,        Administration Services
     please contact Connie Dwyer.                                     User account and access privileges are made available as services.