Calling a Web Service?

[Donald]

I need to consume a web service. Here's my situation:

1) I need to consume a web service from an IBM AIX server/Web Sphere.
2) The IBM AIX Server is not on the same network as the IIS server that is
"hosting" the web service. That is, the IBM AIX server cannot ping the IIS
server.
3) We have a application server (Windows 2003 server) that allows
communication from the IBM AIX server to the IIS server.

Here's a diagram of our architecture:

[IBM AIX Server]---------[Application Server]---------[Web Service/IIS server]
^
|
[router]
Again, I need the IBM AIX server to consume the web service, but, it cannot
see the web service directly.

Does anyone know of possible solutions?

Here's one solution I was thinking of:

1) Create a TCP/IP relayer/forwarding application. For example, I could
write a multi-threaded TCPIP listening service and place it on the
application server. I could open a socket from the IBM AIX server to the
Application server and pass the parameters required by the web service. The
application server could then call the web service and pass the data/xml back
through the open socket to the IBM AIX server.

Any other possible solutions? Are there any products from Microsoft that I
can install on our application server that will do what I need?

Thanks.

[John Saunders]

"Donald" <Do****@discuss ions.microsoft. comwrote in message
news:F8******** *************** ***********@mic rosoft.com...

>I need to consume a web service. Here's my situation:

1) I need to consume a web service from an IBM AIX server/Web Sphere.
2) The IBM AIX Server is not on the same network as the IIS server that is
"hosting" the web service. That is, the IBM AIX server cannot ping the
IIS
server.
3) We have a application server (Windows 2003 server) that allows
communication from the IBM AIX server to the IIS server.

Here's a diagram of our architecture:

[IBM AIX Server]---------[Application Server]---------[Web Service/IIS
server]
^
|
[router]
Again, I need the IBM AIX server to consume the web service, but, it
cannot
see the web service directly.

Does anyone know of possible solutions?

Here's one solution I was thinking of:

1) Create a TCP/IP relayer/forwarding application. For example, I could
write a multi-threaded TCPIP listening service and place it on the
application server. I could open a socket from the IBM AIX server to the
Application server and pass the parameters required by the web service.
The
application server could then call the web service and pass the data/xml
back
through the open socket to the IBM AIX server.

Any other possible solutions? Are there any products from Microsoft that
I
can install on our application server that will do what I need?

This isn't a web services problem. You need to talk to your network people.
That AIX machine needs to be able to see your IIS box using http and/or
https. There's nothing fancy about this at all.
John

[Donald]

Thanks for responding John. I understand that this is a solution.
Unfortunately, the Business will not allow the AIX server to be on the same
network as the IIS server. I work for a large financial corporation and they
are very "picky" about isolating servers. I wish they would allow me to do
this, because it solves all the problems.

So my issue remains how do I call a web service when I can't see IIS? Is
there a proxy server or relay server that is available (or do I have to write
my own)?

This is really the same problem for a n-tier application(?). If a client
application needs to consume a web service but they only have access to a
middle tier/business layer, how does the client consume the web service/data
layer?
"John Saunders" wrote:

"Donald" <Do****@discuss ions.microsoft. comwrote in message
news:F8******** *************** ***********@mic rosoft.com...

I need to consume a web service. Here's my situation:

1) I need to consume a web service from an IBM AIX server/Web Sphere.
2) The IBM AIX Server is not on the same network as the IIS server that is
"hosting" the web service. That is, the IBM AIX server cannot ping the
IIS
server.
3) We have a application server (Windows 2003 server) that allows
communication from the IBM AIX server to the IIS server.

Here's a diagram of our architecture:

[IBM AIX Server]---------[Application Server]---------[Web Service/IIS
server]
^
|
[router]
Again, I need the IBM AIX server to consume the web service, but, it
cannot
see the web service directly.

Does anyone know of possible solutions?

Here's one solution I was thinking of:

1) Create a TCP/IP relayer/forwarding application. For example, I could
write a multi-threaded TCPIP listening service and place it on the
application server. I could open a socket from the IBM AIX server to the
Application server and pass the parameters required by the web service.
The
application server could then call the web service and pass the data/xml
back
through the open socket to the IBM AIX server.

Any other possible solutions? Are there any products from Microsoft that
I
can install on our application server that will do what I need?

This isn't a web services problem. You need to talk to your network people.
That AIX machine needs to be able to see your IIS box using http and/or
https. There's nothing fancy about this at all.
John

[John Saunders]

"Donald" <Do****@discuss ions.microsoft. comwrote in message
news:44******** *************** ***********@mic rosoft.com...

Thanks for responding John. I understand that this is a solution.
Unfortunately, the Business will not allow the AIX server to be on the
same
network as the IIS server. I work for a large financial corporation and
they
are very "picky" about isolating servers. I wish they would allow me to do
this, because it solves all the problems.

So my issue remains how do I call a web service when I can't see IIS? Is
there a proxy server or relay server that is available (or do I have to
write
my own)?

This is really the same problem for a n-tier application(?). If a client
application needs to consume a web service but they only have access to a
middle tier/business layer, how does the client consume the web
service/data
layer?

It doesn't.

Your network people need to open a hole in the firewall. Period. Even if
you wrote some sort of proxy, how would the AIX box know how to access it?
What protocol would you use which would allow bits to travel from the AIX
box to the IIS box?

Your network people need to open a hole in the firewall. If they're
concerned about opening port 80, you can run your web service on some other
port. They could also require SSL or limit the firewall opening to just your
IIS box.

If they're saying that bits from your IIS box aren't secure enough for them,
then fundamentally, the AIX box can't use a Web Service. It's really that
simple.

John