Mule (software)

Mule

Stable release	3.1.1 / March 15, 2011; 7 months ago (2011-03-15)
Written in	Java
Operating system	Cross-platform (JVM)
Type	Enterprise Service Bus
License	CPAL license
Website	http://www.mulesoft.org/

Mule is a lightweight enterprise service bus (ESB) and integration framework.^[1] It can handle services and applications using disparate transport and messaging technologies. The platform is Java-based, but can broker interactions between other platforms such as .NET using web services or sockets.

The architecture is a scalable,^[2] highly-distributable object broker that can seamlessly handle interactions across legacy systems, in-house applications and almost all modern transports and protocols.^[3]

Features

Some of the key features of Mule are:

• Pluggable connectivity, for around 50 protocols including JMS, JDBC, TCP, UDP, Multicast, HTTP, servlet, SMTP, POP3, file, XMPP.
• Message routing capabilities
• Deployment topologies including ESB, ESN, "hub and spoke" and client server
• Web services and WS-* support using Apache CXF, Xfire, Axis and Glue
• Integration with JBoss and other application servers
• Spring integration
• Transformation layer
• Integrated security management

Concepts

• Supports routing and message auditing capabilities as defined in Enterprise Integration Patterns by Gregor Hohpe and Bobby Woolf.^{[citation needed]}
• Non-intrusive approach. Any object can be managed by the ESB container.^{[citation needed]}

Supporting tools

1. Mule IDE, which is a set of Eclipse plug-ins for developing, deploying and managing Mule projects.
2. Mule Studio a graphical tool for designing, testing and running Mule flows.
3. MuleForge provides a hosted project environment for Mule extensions such as Transports Modules, examples and core extensions. MuleForge provides its project management environment using Atlassian tools.

Mule has an integration engine, but the community edition lacks the support for Advanced Management interfaces. MuleSoft offers an Enterprise Edition of Mule that provides a rich Management console, a Service registry, and High Availability.

See also

• AdroitLogic UltraESB
• Apache ServiceMix, a similar and related open source ESB
• FUSE ESB (enterprise ServiceMix)
• Guaraná DSL
• Open ESB
• Petals ESB

References

1. ^ http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Enterprise-Service-Bus
2. ^ http://www.theserverside.com/tt/articles/article.tss?l=CaseStudyMule
3. ^ http://today.java.net/pub/a/today/2007/07/31/exploring-esb-patterns-with-mule.html

Further reading

• Tijs Rademakers and Jos Dirksen, "Open-Source ESBs in Action" (Manning Publications: Oct 2008, ISBN 1933988215; ISBN 13 978-1933988214), http://www.esbinaction.com
• Peter Delia and Antoine Borg, "Mule 2: A Developer’s Guide" (Apress: Nov 2008, ISBN 143020981X; ISBN 13 978-1430209812), http://www.ricston.com/mule-2-developer-guide-to-esb-and-integration-platform/
• David Dossot and John D'Emic, "Mule in Action" (Manning Publications: Apr 2009, ISBN 1933988967; ISBN 13 978-1933988962), http://www.muleinaction.com

External links

• Documentation and Resource Center
• Software Downloads
• Company website
• ServiceMix web site
• Enterprise ServiceMix (FUSE ESB) web site