Support for EDXL-DE Message Routing Will Streamline Sharing of Information Regarding Developing Situations
Ottawa, Canada, February 10, 2009 – Solace Systems, the leading supplier of messaging middleware and content networking hardware, today announced support for the Emergency Data Exchange Language Distribution Element (EDXL-DE) specification. Ratified by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) in 2006, EDXL-DE describes an XML-based message “envelope” which facilitates data sharing within and across emergency information systems. Solace’s ability to quickly and securely route these messages to the appropriate recipients enables faster identification and more effective management of potential and actual threats and disasters.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is driving the development of this infrastructure to support secure communications between intelligence services, other government agencies, first responders and front-line emergency services personnel. As one such standard, EDXL-DE ensures that all kinds of real-time updates, whether they are aerial photos, chemical weapons detection sensor data or ground coordination plans are delivered within milliseconds to organizations which need, and are authorized to receive, that kind of information.
“Solace’s hardware-based content networking routers were designed to securely route many types of information at very high speed and with zero message loss, all in a robust, fault-tolerant platform. These are key requirements of EDXL-DE, ” said Ralph Frankel, chief technology officer, Solace Systems. “Adding geospatial context to real-time alerts allows information to be routed to security and law enforcement organizations based on complex and irregular boundaries rather than simple distance or proximity. This is an essential capability for many applications.”
Solace’s content routers are the industry’s first EDXL-DE compatible hardware appliances. Each router can simultaneously support millions of publishers and subscribers and can manage throughput of millions of messages per second to create a fully-functional EDXL-DE network grid. Multiple routers work together to deliver automated best-path routing, load balancing and fault tolerance to assure maximum uptime through both normal and crisis scenarios. Solace content routers can reduce datacenter capital, software and operations costs by ten or more times as a result of the inherent efficiency benefits of hardware over software.
“I have searched for a compliant solution that is production ready since the ratification of the EDXL-DE standard and as far as I know, no other vendor except for Solace has produced a solution in a plug-and-play hardware package, ” said Matt Kern, vice president and enterprise architect at Constellation Inc., a public sector technology integrator. “This is a significant step forward for emergency communications as EDXL-DE is the only international standard for publish-subscribe emergency message routing.”
Dr. Donald Ponikvar, member of the OASIS Emergency Management Member Section Steering Committee and Senior Vice President of Defense Group Inc. agrees.
“The Federal government is moving more and more towards open data standards to facilitate the transfer of key information during crisis situations, ” said Dr. Ponikvar. “EDXL-DE is an important component of a robust system that can flexibly work with a variety of sensors and networks, to include links to state and local systems. Routers that subscribe to this standard are an important part of the solution.”
For additional information on EDXL and related standards including EDXL-DE, EDXL-HAVE, EDXL-RM and CAP please visit www.oasis-open.org.
(No party representing the United States Federal Government, at any time in processing this release, endorsed or provided preferential treatment to Solace Sysetms either within the context of a procurement or outside such a procurement.)
* Amended to correct Dr. Ponikvar’s title due to an error in our web editing process. The correct version was sent to BusinessWire.