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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / SEPTEMBER 15, 2003: VOL. 2 NO. 37

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Breaking News - Operating Systems & Middleware:

Major Vendors Showcase Reliable Web Services

Fujitsu Limited, Hitachi Ltd, NEC Corp and Oracle Corp announced that they have successfully demonstrated interoperability between four independent implementations of reliable Web services based on the Web Services-Reliability (WS-Reliability) specification, which the companies jointly submitted to the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) in January. The WS-Reliability specification defines an open reliable messaging infrastructure that enables companies to conduct reliable business-to-business trading or collaboration using Web services. This demonstration is the first deliverable of an ongoing Proof-of-Concept activity for the Web Services-Reliability specification. The OASIS Web Services Reliable Messaging (WS-RM) Technical Committee members plan to update their implementations to accommodate the upcoming release of the next version of the specification, already under development by the committee.

The interoperability demonstration will be conducted today during the latest WS-RM Technical Committee meeting in Bedford, Mass. The WS-Reliability specification enabled the four Web service applications used in the Proof-of-Concept demonstration to reliably exchange messages over an unreliable network test bed that simulates message loss, duplication and delays. The network test bed will be used by the group for future WS-Reliability interoperability tests. Additional supporters of WS-Reliability are expected to participate in future Proof-of-Concept demonstrations.

The demonstration highlights two functions of the WS-Reliability specification. The first one is "Guaranteed Delivery" in which the sender will automatically resend the same message if no positive acknowledgement was received, and the other is "Duplicate Elimination" in which the receiving application eliminates duplicates of the same message. These two functions greatly improve the reliability and efficiency of business applications, by preventing message loss and duplication. This will allow, for example, buyers to ensure that Purchase Order messages are successfully delivered to their suppliers, and prevent suppliers from receiving duplicate orders due to network routing problems.

In addition to guaranteed delivery and duplicate elimination, the OASIS WS-Reliability specification also addresses message delivery management, including message persistence, ordered delivery and delivery status notifications for sending and receiving applications.

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is a leading provider of customer-focused IT and communications solutions for the global marketplace. Pace-setting technologies, highly reliable computing and telecommunications platforms, and a worldwide corps of systems and services experts uniquely position Fujitsu to deliver comprehensive solutions that open up infinite possibilities for its customers' success. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited reported consolidated revenues of 4.6 trillion yen ($38 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31. For more information, please see: www.fujitsu.com/.

About Hitachi Ltd

Hitachi Ltd, headquartered in Tokyo, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 340,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2002 (ended March 31) consolidated sales totaled 8,191.7 billion yen ($68.3 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors, including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's Web site at www.hitachi.com/.

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