<s>
IBM	B-Device
WebSphere	I-Device
DataPower	I-Device
SOA	I-Device
Appliances	I-Device
is	O
a	O
family	O
of	O
pre-built	O
,	O
pre-configured	O
rack-mountable	B-Application
network	O
devices	O
(	O
XML	B-Device
appliances	I-Device
)	O
that	O
can	O
help	O
accelerate	O
XML	B-Protocol
and	O
Web	O
Services	O
deployments	O
while	O
extending	O
SOA	O
infrastructure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
these	O
devices	O
were	O
created	O
by	O
DataPower	B-Device
Technology	O
Inc.	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
IBM	O
in	O
October	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
WebSphere	B-Language
family	O
consists	O
of	O
rack-mountable	B-Application
network	O
appliances	O
,	O
blade	O
appliances	O
,	O
appliances	O
that	O
rack	O
inside	O
a	O
z/OS	B-Application
mainframe	B-Architecture
,	O
and	O
virtual	B-Application
appliances	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
DataPower	B-Device
SOA	O
Appliances	O
can	O
be	O
integrated	O
with	O
other	O
IBM	O
middleware	O
products	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
WebSphere	B-Language
Application	O
Server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DataPower	B-Device
Appliances	O
contain	O
many	O
hardware	O
components	O
,	O
including	O
ASIC-based	O
IPS	O
,	O
custom	O
encrypted	O
RAID	B-Architecture
drives	O
,	O
and	O
(	O
optional	O
)	O
Hardware	O
Security	O
Modules	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DataPower	B-Device
Appliances	O
operate	O
a	O
single	O
digitally	O
signed	O
firmware	B-Application
containing	O
a	O
Linux-based	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
and	O
application	O
stack	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
firmware	B-Application
runs	O
on	O
a	O
flash	B-Device
storage	I-Device
device	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
updates	O
the	O
firmware	B-Application
image	O
every	O
10	O
–	O
20	O
weeks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
cannot	O
run	O
third-party	O
applications	O
on	O
DataPower	B-Device
as	O
they	O
would	O
need	O
a	O
traditional	O
server	O
and	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
of	O
a	O
traditional	O
filesystem	B-Application
,	O
it	O
runs	O
with	O
a	O
collection	O
of	O
isolated	O
virtual	B-Application
file	I-Application
systems	I-Application
called	O
'	O
Application	O
Domains	O
 '	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
it	O
can	O
appear	O
to	O
its	O
client	O
connections	O
to	O
be	O
any	O
type	O
of	O
network	B-Protocol
file	I-Protocol
system	I-Protocol
with	O
any	O
type	O
of	O
folders	O
and	O
links	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DataPower	B-Device
firmware	B-Application
is	O
mostly	O
used	O
to	O
perform	O
electronic	O
messaging	O
functions	O
,	O
like	O
transformation	O
and	O
routing	O
of	O
messages	O
as	O
an	O
enterprise	O
service	O
bus	O
or	O
to	O
protect	O
web	O
services	O
interfaces	O
and	O
the	O
architecture	O
behind	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
