Wow, I've heard about some hardware XML routers, but today I saw an ad banner about hardware XSLT accelerator. Holy cow! Here is some marketing blah-bkah-blah:
Standards based XSLT processing is computationally intensive - it overburdens the server infrastructure resulting in poor user experience, high server infrastructure costs and scalability limitations. By delivering order of magnitude or better acceleration for XSLT processing - the XML Speedway significantly reduces the infrastructure costs, improves scalability and availability of the total solution. The XML Speedway provides this world-class performance through Sarvega's acclaimed highly optimized XESOS™ technology. Further, through XML Compression, end-to-end response time is improved regardless of location or network connection.And here is some meat:
XML Speedway can be deployed in a reverse-proxy in-line and server-assist modes with JaxP and C++ API. Flexibility extends to the variety of means available to de-reference XSL stylesheets, enable pipelined transformations, provides built-in support for various XSLT engines, XSLT and XML Schema caching and the ability to concurrently offload disparate backend applications with their own sets of transformations.And what this box can do:
Wire Speed XSLT Processing:
• XSLT transformation, XML Schema validation, XML/SOAP Routing
• XSLT 1.0, XML Schema 1.0, XPath 1.0, SOAP 1.1, SOAP 1.2
• Compression, XSLT/XML/Schema caching, MIME support, URL rewriting
• Support for non-XML content
Not bad. They say FOXSports.com is already using it. I wonder where is the price list.
PS. Hey, that's Sarvega company - once they wanted to hire me, now I see why :)
Oleg,
Just wanted you to know that DataPower has been working on XML-aware network hardware since 1999, back when it was just us and the Intel iPivot guys. We released the XA35, the first XML Acceleration Router, 3-4 years ago, and the XS40 XML Security Gateway and XI50 Integration Router soon followed. (http://www.datapower.com/products/index.shtml) There's also the XG4 XML Chipset, first to break the gigabit-per-second barrier for XSLT acceleration, schema validation and other operations. It's available as PCI card or custom daughtercard. (http://www.datapower.com/solutions/xg4.html)
I think almost all of the other appliances you mention are just software on a general-purpose server -- not custom hardware for XML acceleration.
Our customers include UBS, JPMorgan Chase, CIBC, Dept. of Defense, Principal Financial, Hartford Insurance, and many others.
Best regards.
As these products continue to appear, it becomes more and more apparent the need for replacability of the XML parser in .NET (among other technologies). This is something that needs to be one at the most core level in .NET, so that you can actually replace what's used in the .NET WebServices infrastructure, for example, and not only by your app code by using a different API.
This is something I hoped for in the past, only to be answered by Dare that it was like asking to allow pluggable System.String implementation... :S:S:S