Exception resolution for BPEL processes: a middleware-based framework and performance evaluation

WS-BPEL is widely used nowadays for specifying and executing composite business processes within the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). During the execution however, of such business processes, a number of faults stemming from the nature of SOA (e.g. network or server failures) may occur. The WS-BPEL scenario designer must therefore use the provisions offered by WS-BPEL to catch these exceptions and resolve them, usually by invoking some equivalent web service that is expected to be reachable and available. System fault handler specification is though an additional task for the WS scenario designer, while the presence of such handlers within the scenario necessitates extra maintenance activities, as new alternate services emerge or some of the specified ones are withdrawn. In this paper, we propose a middleware-based framework for system exception resolution, which undertakes the tasks of failure interception, discovery of alternate services and their invocation. The middleware is deployed and maintained independently of the WS-BPEL scenarios, removing thus the need for specifying and maintaining system fault handlers within the scenarios. We also present performance measures, establishing that the overhead imposed by the addition of the proposed middleware layer is minimal.