Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010 Patterns

Understanding the solution at runtime

Earlier we saw a package diagram representing a typical BizTalk solution and in the previous chapter we discussed how BizTalk uses the management database and the GAC to load solutions. How this all works is a fairly important aspect of our solution architecture and of BizTalk so we'll now have a quick stroll through this process. The actors involved are as follows:

• BizTalk runtime (.NET runtime)
• Message box
• Management database
• Global Assembly Cache (GAC)

Of these, the only one that we have not covered is the GAC. The GAC is a core feature of the .NET framework and was created to address the shortcomings of COM architectures. The GAC is a database or repository of .NET assemblies installed on a machine; hence the ...