DCOM – Distributing/Accessing

Distributed COM (DCOM) allows objects to be created and accessed on remote computers. DCOM provides a standard protocol that can sit on top of any standard networking protocol. If connectivity is established between computers at the network layer, DCOM-based communications can occur.

DCOM runs on top of these network protocols:

• TCP/IP
• IPX/SPX
• UDP
• NetBIOS
• HTTP

DCOM communications also work between dissimilar computer hardware platforms and operating systems. If DCOM has been implemented on both ends of a communication, it does not matter to either the client or the component which operating system is executing the other.

These platforms currently support DCOM, or will support it in the future:

• Windows NT
• Windows 95/98
• Sun Solaris
• AIX
• MVS
• Unixware (SCO)
• Linux
• Macintosh (Apple)

Developing DCOM servers capable of processing a few clients is manageable. However, developing servers capable of processing thousands of transactions can be daunting. In an effort to facilitate the development of scalable DCOM servers, Microsoft has developed and released MTS, which is designed to insulate developers from complex system-oriented tasks, such as process and thread management, and from involvement in development-intensive activities, such as directory management. MTS handles all of the applications' infrastructure, allowing developers to focus on business logic. Support is provided for accessing SQL Server and Oracle databases within MTS.