iAS, SOA, Fusion Middleware Difference

Got few queries like to know the difference between SOA,iAS and Fusion….which creates Great Confusion. So here it goes…

Middleware was (mind it was)a software which just used as an additional piece of software to load balance the Webserver. Later, it got new components added to it and it does more than just load balancing. Middleware now is a very powerful software which does many things like Transaction management, Connection Pooling to name a few.

Oracle has come far in the Middleware software. It has evolved to many heights. But the product naming and versioning still brings some confusion to the users.

Oracle iAS is the Middleware software from Oracle with OHS (Oracle Http Server aka Apache Server), and plugged in modules from Oracle like mod-plsql, mod-osso etc and other components like OID, Content Management SDK etc.

SOA Suite is a new software from Oracle which is based on SOA. This is a set of components and SDKs which include all the latest technology and specifications. SOA Suite is a combination of iAS and BPEL Process Manager, Web Services Manager, Rules Manager , Activity Monitor and above all Enterprise Service Bus.

Oracle Fusion Middleware (a new confusion)is much more than iAS and SOA Suite . It adds both of these to some more components like Business Intelligence, Data Hubs, Portal, Identity Management, Collabsuite and Developer Tools like JDeveloper, Forms and Reports.

About the Author Atul Kumar

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6 comments

Atul says April 9, 2008

Perfectly written, up to the point.

Hope to see something like this in future as well

Saurabh says November 24, 2009

This was gr8. I would like to see more on this difference part, a bit more elaborated.

Saurabh

apkumar says November 16, 2010

Hi Atul,
can u give step by step installation of OEL 4/5, ORACLE 11G AND FUSION MIDDLEWARE i.e., installation of oel4/5 for oracle 11g r2 database, creating and conmfiguring a database for oracle fmw and installalation of fmw

Thanku

apkumar says November 16, 2010

Hi Atul,
Can u give good Metalink note numbers for FMW INSTALLATION STEP BY STEP?
Thank u

Atul Kumar says November 22, 2010

@ apkumar,
FMW consists of lot of components like weblogic, soa, webcenter, OID, OAM, OIM OBIEE ….

which one you are looking for ?

Kevin says July 21, 2017

Could you elaborate a bit on what this means for Oracle Applications? We use EBS, Hyperion and OEM. Would any of those be considered FMW, but not iAS? I’m trying to decipher what I’m licensing.

Thanks,
Kevin

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