What is MQ?
IBM MQ is an application platform that integrates different applications within an enterprise and helps them to exchange information. MQ acts as a decoupler, which means different applications can talk to each other using MQ as the middleman. This means that MQ can integrate into different applications built differently.
Example: Imagine there are several people from various countries in a conference room who don't have a common language to communicate with each other. However, there is a team of people who are trained and good at communicating with all these people in their native language. MQ is like a team of people who act as translators and it lets communication happen smoothly and reliably.
Basics of MQ
Imagine you have several applications built in different programming languages and are running on different servers. This can make it difficult for them to communicate directly with each other. MQ is like a middleman that connects with these applications and helps them talk to each other and also provides a reliable and safe way to exchange information with each other. It also decouples the applications from each other, which means they don't have to depend on each other. They can be developed and upgraded or patched independently, also the applications can be deployed on different servers in different network locations and so on.
Let's look at some of the basics of MQ.
Messages
Messages are packets or packages of data that are produced and consumed by the applications.
Queues
Queues are locations where messages can be delivered. These messages are then stored safely and securely in that location until consumed by the application.
Queue Managers
Queue managers are the MQ servers that host the Queues.
Queue Channels
Queue channels are the way (means) queue managers (MQ servers) communicate with each other.
MQ Networks
MQ networks are loose collections of interconnected Queue managers, all working together to deliver messages between applications or to the locations.
MQ Clusters
MQ clusters are tightly coupled Queue managers, enabling scalability and availability, which means MQ clusters have several Queue managers working together to handle the message traffic. By sharing the workload it is evident that no single queue manager becomes overloaded. This allows your enterprise to scale the message-handling system to meet the demands of your business.
MQ Clusters also provide high availability, meaning if one queue manager in the echo system goes down, the other queue managers pick up the workload and process the messages ensuring that the system remains operational in the event of a failure.
Types of MQ Messaging
IBM MQ supports two types of messaging,
Point-to-Point messaging.
Publish/Subscribe messaging.
Summary
In summary, IBM MQ systems are horizontally scalable, highly available, and provide assured delivery of data.
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