A virtual service functions as public-facing proxy for a Web service, REST service, OData service, or XML service endpoint. You deploy virtual services on a specific type of policy enforcement point called the webMethods Mediator. Consumers who wish to use a particular Web service, for instance, submit their requests to the virtual service on the webMethods Mediator, not to the endpoint where the service is actually hosted. The virtual service receives requests from consumers and routes them to the appropriate service endpoint.

You define and deploy virtual services using CentraSite Business UI. You can attach a policy to a virtual service just as you would a regular Web service. Additionally, you can include processing steps in a virtual service to perform activities such as content-based or context-based message routing, load-balancing, failover handling, and message transformation.

For more information about defining virtual services, see Run-Time Governance with CentraSite.