Microsoft's upcoming wireless platform will make possible virtually any type of wireless application
Email is by far the most widely used and arguably the most mission-critical enterprise application. Wireless enterprise email will be the wireless industry's killer application and will open the door for many other wireless enterprise applications. Microsoft Mobile Information 2001 Server is poised to fling that door wide.
Mobile Information Server is middleware that provides wireless access to Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server and Exchange Server 5.5 email, calendars, and contacts and to other enterprise data sources, such as Microsoft SQL Server databases. Most enterprise wireless email solutions available today (e.g., Palm VIIx, Research In Motion's—RIM's—BlackBerry) provide access to corporate email through POP3 and often require duplicating messages to an external consumer wireless email account. Wireless middleware is a more effective and secure method of accessing enterprise email from wireless or mobile devices. Acting as a proxy, wireless middleware lets mobile users access email and other enterprise data sources directly without forwarding or replicating messages and data to nonsecure external systems.
Like many companies, Microsoft is making a core shift toward wireless and mobile solutions through new products and services. Mobile Information Server is a key piece of that strategy. Mobile Information Server will ship with two built-in applications: Outlook Mobile Access and Intranet Browse. Outlook Mobile Access will let users access Exchange Server based personal information manager (PIM) data. Using Outlook Mobile Access, Mobile Information Server provides a view into users' mailboxes that's optimized for the small displays and constrained bandwidth that characterize wireless devices. Intranet Browse provides access to any intranet-hosted Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) application. (For an overview of WAP, see the sidebar "Wireless Application Protocol.") Mobile Information Server integrates closely with Windows 2000 and Exchange 2000 and has a strong security model based on Active Directory (AD).
An understanding of Mobile Information Server features and enabling technologies will help prepare you to implement this technology after it becomes commercially available later this year. My information is based on beta versions of the product, so some of the terminology and features I describe might change before Mobile Information Server's release to manufacturing (RTM).
Mobile Information Server Overview
Mobile Information Server, which Microsoft plans to release commercially in mid-2001, is one of Microsoft's .NET Enterprise Servers. Mobile Information Server comes in two editions: Enterprise Edition and Carrier Edition. Both editions of Mobile Information Server contain the same core components, but Carrier Edition includes additional functionality for carrier use. For example, Carrier Edition includes various connectors, such as the Short Message Service (SMS) connector, which provides direct access to the wireless carrier's SMS Center for direct SMS message delivery. The two editions work together to provide Mobile Information Server functionality, but you can also implement and operate them independently.
One key point to understand is that Mobile Information Server isn't a WAP gateway but rather is middleware for delivering services to mobile devices over wireless networks. WAP and pre-WAP (i.e., the Openwave UP.Link Server) gateways still are required between wireless networks (e.g., Global System for Mobile Communication—GSM, Code Division Multiple Access—CDMA, Cellular Digital Packet Data—CDPD) and wired networks (e.g., TCP, UDP).
Mobile Information Server contains two core components: the Message Processor and the Extensible Location Register. These core components provide data-processing functionality for different types of wireless devices. Mobile Information Server uses Microsoft Message Queue Services (MSMQ) to exchange messages between internal components. MSMQ isn't a core component of Mobile Information Server but must be installed on the same server. Developers can use the Mobile Information Server software development kit (SDK) to develop applications that interact with any corporate data source (e.g., AD, SQL Server, custom Exchange Server applications).
In addition to core components, Mobile Information Server contains data-source applications, device modules, event-source applications, administration components, and carrier connectors. Data-source application components interact with data sources to deliver data to the core (i.e., server) components. The core components in turn process, render, and route the data to the wireless device.
Mobile Information Server provides two basic types of functionality to wireless applications: browse and notification. Browse requires that a user initiate a URL request for a wireless application. Because the user initiates the interaction, this functionality is also known as data pull.
Notification alerts a user to events such as a SQL Server event or the arrival of an urgent message. Mobile Information Server sends the notification to the user as a short message through SMS, UP.Link Server Alerts, or (in the future) through a WAP push protocol. Message notification usually causes the wireless device to beep or vibrate to alert the user that a message has arrived. Notification functionality is also known as data push because the user doesn't need to take any action except to read the notification message. However, notifications can also involve data pull if, when users click a message to read it, they link to a browse application.
Device modules are COM objects that format data for the target device. A device module contains information—such as screen size, whether the device supports images, and maximum message size—for a particular device type. Mobile Information Server stores user device information—such as the device type, the device's SMTP address, and the wireless carrier the device uses—in AD. Mobile Information Server includes default device modules for plaintext devices (e.g., for SMS phone-service messaging) and for WAP 1.1 devices. As new devices enter the market, manufacturers will also provide modules that support the new devices. After Mobile Information Server is commercially available, you can expect to see modules and support for other device types, such as BlackBerry and Pocket PC.