MTS (Microsoft Transaction Server) is designed to help users run business logic applications in a typical middle tier server. MTS divides work up into activities, which are typically short independent chunks of business logic, such as transfer funds from account A to account B. MTS relies heavily on object orientation and in particular on COM; loosely an MTS activity is represented by a COM (business) object.
| Note: | MTS is the name of the component that you can install (from the Option Pack) on Windows NT. On Windows 2000 it is known as COM+ and is an integrated part of the operating system. Throughout this section, we refer to it as MTS. |
MTS provides three services to the business object administrator, removing much of the worry from the business object programmer:
You usually use MTS with front end code that is a COM client to the objects held within MTS, and back end services such as a database, with WebSphere MQ bridging between the MTS business object and the back end.
The front end code can be a standalone program, or an Active Server Page (ASP) hosted by the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS). The front end code can reside on the same computer as MTS and its business objects, with connection through COM. Alternatively, the front end code can reside on a different computer, with connection through DCOM. You can use different clients to access the same MTS business object in different situations.
The back end code can reside on the same computer as MTS and its business objects, or on a different computer with connection through any of the WebSphere MQ supported protocols.
For detailed information on using MTS, including how to configure it, and how to develop your applications and object code, read the WebSphere MQ MTS Support part of the Help Center.