in the cloud Common features of XML appliances They can parse, validate, transform and route XML messages via XPath and XSLT They can control access to applications that expose data and functionality through XML APIs They can control SLAs for how XML-based services get shared with other applications They can track XML traffic and usage of specific application services exposed through XML interfaces Classification of XML appliances Although the term XML appliance is the most general term to describe these devices, most vendors use alternative terminology that describe more specific functionality of these devices. The following are alternative names used for XML appliances: XML accelerators — are devices that typically use custom hardware or software built on standards-based hardware to accelerate XPath processing. This hardware typically provides a performance boost between 10 and 100 times in the number of messages per second that can be processed. Integration appliance — (also known as application routers) are devices that are designed to make the integration of computer systems easier. XML firewalls are classes of XML appliances focused on identity and message security. They typically implement WS-Security message standards along with standards like SAML, WS-I BSP, WS-Policy and so forth. Message-oriented middleware appliances - are hardware devices supporting the sending and receiving of messages between distributed systems. SOA Gateways are commonly used to govern SOA traffic. API proxy are commonly used to manage Web API's. Cloud brokers or gateways are commonly used to integrate enterprise applications with cloud services. See also XML Traffic SOAP XML-Enabled Networking WS-Security Apache Axis Integration appliance Message-oriented middleware References Computer-related introductions in 1999 Networking hardware XML