[Posted by: Darran Tompkins]
Microsoft Host Integration Server 2000 extends Windows to other systems by providing application, data, and network integration. Host Integration Server lets you quickly adapt to new business opportunities while preserving existing infrastructure investments.
Host Integration Server 2000 enables you to embrace Internet, intranet, and client/server technologies while preserving investments in existing systems. This document lets you to learn what makes Host Integration Server the easiest, most affordable application integration platform for an enterprise company.
Host Integration Server 2000, the follow-up release to Microsoft's highly successful SNA Server, extends Microsoft Windows® to other systems by providing application, data, and network integration. Host Integration Server lets you quickly adapt to new business opportunities while preserving existing infrastructure investments. With its enterprise-class scalability, performance, and reliability, Host Integration Server can support the most demanding business needs.
Host Integration Server 2000 is Microsoft Corp.’s new SNA gateway for the end-user to Internet, intranet or client-server environments, permitting the integration of existing mainframe application and database information into new Windows applications.
The platform is the Windows 2000 upgrade of the SNA Server that performed the same function for the BackOffice Suite on Windows NT systems – plus features unique to Windows 2000 that are geared toward high-end use.
Applications are integrated using COM+, XML and SOAP technologies. The new product makes it possible to make multiple data copies and move them to varying locations while automatically synchronizing data. It permits a two-way relationship between Oracle and SQL Server databases and also is designed to integrate with SQL Server 2000, BizTalk Server 2000 and Commerce Server 2000.
In March/2000, Microsoft entered into an agreement with Software AG (www.softwareag.com) to use its COM Transaction Integrator (COMTI) on Host Integration Server in order to covert Customer Information Control System (CICS) 3270 applications on IBM mainframes into running on a Windows 2000 or Windows NT Server.
This is a high-level overview that explains the features and functionality offered with Host Integration Server for comprehensive and flexible managed host access, and as an application integration tool that is an adaptable, easy, and affordable solution.
An estimated 70 percent of all corporate data is stored on host systems, such as IBM mainframe and AS/400 computers. Yet, increasingly, organizations rely on personal computers together with Web-based and Windows®-based applications for everyday productivity and line-of-business solutions. Companies have discovered that Web and Windows solutions often are easier to learn and quicker to implement than comparable host-based applications. To preserve their time and capital investments in host technology, organizations must either migrate all of their host-based resources to the Windows platforms, which can be expensive and time-consuming, or integrate their host-based resources with more efficient Windows-based and Web-based solutions.
Integrating host-based data and applications with Web-based and Windows-based applications offers significant benefits, including:
Whether companies want to create data warehouses to improve decision-making, develop Web-based applications that perform transactions using host-based data, or allow users to include archived data in reports, Microsoft Host Integration Server 2000 offers integration components that make it easy to achieve those goals.
To help its customers achieve these benefits, Microsoft has offered a host integration solution since 1990, when it introduced Communication Server 1.0 in partnership with Digital Communications Associates. Microsoft SNA Server 2.0, which followed in 1992, allowed system administrators to send local area network (LAN) and SNA networking traffic across the same network infrastructure.
Since then, Microsoft has continued to improve SNA Server based on customers' needs, developing it into a complex and feature-rich product. Host Integration Server 2000 builds on the strengths of SNA Server 4.0 and offers a range of mature technologies that help companies solve their host integration challenges.
This is a high-level overview that explains the features and functionality offered with Host Integration Server for comprehensive and flexible managed host access, and as an application integration tool that is an adaptable, easy, and affordable solution.
Host Integration Server 2000 is the next version of Microsoft’s SNA Server 4.0 and is a comprehensive gateway and application integration platform that provides an organisation with the best way to embrace Internet, intranet, and client/server technologies while preserving investments in existing host based systems. HIS 2000 is the first product to extend the definition of a host-to-Web gateway to include a state-of-the art applications integration platform in one affordable, manageable product. Host Integration Server 2000 provides comprehensive bi-directional services for integrating Windows with legacy systems. Host Integration Server 2000 extends Windows to other platforms by providing interoperability in three areas:
Microsoft changed the name from SNA Server to Host Integration Server. The name change reflects the full scope of functionality offered by this product and highlights Microsoft’s commitment to providing support and integration possibilities for back-end and host systems through increased performance and ease of configuration for DB2 access, COM+ support for integrated CICS/IMS transactions, and support for Microsoft Message Queue Server 2.0 and IBM’s MQSeries 5.1 for messaging-oriented middleware integration. These features allow users to build more scalable and reliable integrated solutions while maintaining transactional integrity. In addition, this product has been updated to take advantage of features inherent to the Windows 2000 platform.
The solutions are complementary. The BizTalk Initiative and associated BizTalk Server 2000 product, along with Host Integration Server 2000, provide essential integration frameworks and technologies for a complete end-to-end solution for customers. The BizTalk Framework helps create standardized formats that make it easier for business-to-business process integration. BizTalk Server 2000 will provide the necessary routing, transformation and business process integration tools and services. Host Integration Server 2000 provides the enterprise technology adapters that will allow new applications the ability to seamlessly "plug-in" to existing systems. The use of these three aspects together provides Microsoft's complete application integration solution.
Also, Host Integration Server 2000 does take advantage of new Windows 2000 features such as Active Directory, but you will also be able to take advantage of other new Host Integration Server 2000 features if you’re running on Windows NT.
Host Integration Server 2000 offers a comprehensive host integration solution that provides the best way to embrace Internet, Intranet, and client/server technologies while preserving investments in existing enterprise computing platforms and technologies. Host Integration Server 2000 allows you to connect, integrate, and Web-enable heterogeneous legacy applications, data, and transaction environments for a variety of Microsoft products and technologies.
Systems Network Architecture (SNA) is a proprietary networking architecture developed by IBM that defines a set of communication protocols and message formats for managing network data. SNA defines methods for terminal access to mainframe computers, file transfer, printing, and peer-to-peer communications that allow applications to exchange data over a network.
Host Integration Server 2000 offers a comprehensive integration solution that provides the best way to embrace Internet, Intranet, and client-server technologies, while preserving investments in existing enterprise computing platforms. Host Integration Server 2000 allows you to connect, integrate, and Web-enable heterogeneous legacy applications, data, and transaction environments in conjunction with a variety of Microsoft products and technologies.
In the AS/400 environment, all components on the network can communicate with each other. Advanced Peer-to-Peer Networking (APPN) is an IBM-developed network architecture that supports distributed processing. APPN defines how peer-oriented components communicate with each other, along with the level of network related services (e.g., routing services) that are supplied by each computer in the network. As shown in the following figure, Host Integration Server 2000 appears as a PU 2.1 Low-Entry Networking (LEN) node in an AS/400 environment.
Host Integration Server 2000 enables companies to respond quickly to rapidly evolving business and technology demands while preserving their investments in existing host technology. Host Integration Server 2000 includes a comprehensive set of integration components for connecting host-based data and transactions with new applications, allowing companies to design flexible solutions that meet their integration challenges.
With Host Integration Server, you can quickly and seamlessly connect the worlds of legacy host systems with client/server and Web networks.
Client/server and Web-to-host developers now have new and flexible ways to leverage existing AS/400, mainframe systems data and applications.
Host Integration Server provides rapid, flexible deployment with lower cost of ownership.
With Host Integration Server 2000, you get a faster, more cost-effective way to manage application, data, network, and security integration. Host Integration Server 2000 simplifies creating your data and transaction pipelines and network integration between the Microsoft Windows® platform and IBM mainframe and mid-range systems. In addition, with the Host Integration Server 2000 integrated security, you can enhance the security of your applications at a fraction of the cost.