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Q1: What is Host Integration Server (HIS)?
Allows customers to integrate their IBM mission-critical host applications, data sources, messaging and security systems with new solutions developed using the Microsoft Windows Server System platform.
Host Integration Server 2004 offers significant value to enterprise administrators, architects, and developers seeking to efficiently extend investments found in IBM host systems using the Windows .NET Framework.
Q2: Name 1 of 8 reasons to upgrade to HIS 2004?
EXTENDED APPLICATION INTEGRATION:
The new Transaction Integrator (TI), formerly known as COM Transaction Integrator for CICS and IMS, has been extended to offer support for the .NET Framework and Visual Studio .NET 2003.
TI now allows Windows developers to use the Windows-Initiated Processing (WIP) technology to wrap existing line-of-business processes found in mainframe CICS and IMS applications, as well as those found in IBM AS/400 systems as XML Web Services or .NET server components. The TI project type includes multiple views (host, COM, .NET) as well as import/export wizards for COBOL and RPG host source code.
In addition to WIP, TI offers an innovative approach to integrating Windows applications across the network, called Host-Initiated Processing (HIP), allowing developers to produce bi-directional and asynchronous enterprise integration solutions without using IBM MQSeries.
Q3: Name 2 of 8 reasons to upgrade to HIS 2004?
EFFICIENT NETWORK CONSOLIDATION:
The core network integration portion of Host Integration Server 2004 has been extended to offer an IP-DLC 'Link Service' to enable Host Integration Server to participate in an IBM Enterprise Extender environment.
Customers can deploy Host Integration Server 2004 in a branch office, in a central location, or even within the data center, directly-connected to the mainframe across efficient gigabyte Ethernet.
The IP-DLC Link Service allows organizations with SNA-enabled wide area networks to realize broad cost savings.
Organizations can retire expensive channel-attached 374x FEPs, move towards a single physical media (Gigabyte Ethernet) within the mainframe data center, replace expensive and complex DLSw routers, while simplifying their overall network infrastructure.
Q4: Name 3 of 8 reasons to upgrade to HIS 2004?
IMPROVED HOST DATA ACCESS:
Host Integration Server 2004 offers a number of data integration technologies, including industry-standard ODBC Driver for DB2, Component Object Model (COM) OLE DB Providers for DB2 and host file systems (mainframe and AS/400), and a .NET Framework-enabled Managed Provider for DB2.
Improved in this release are the DB2 network protocol client (DRDA AR) over which the ODBC, OLE DB and Managed Provider communicate with remote DB2 database servers, allowing these data providers to offer expanded functionality such as two-phase commit for DB2 Distributed Transactions over TCP/IP and connection pooling when using enterprise single sign-on.
Q5: Name 4 of 8 reasons to upgrade to HIS 2004?
SECURED TN3270 HOST ACCESS:
The Host Integration Server 2004 TN3270 Service has been enhanced to offer Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport-Level Services (TLS) support.
Network administrators can now increase the overall security of their IP corporate network when accessing mainframe terminal and printer resources, including authentication of access to mainframe sessions and encryption of host data between a TN3270 clients and the TN3270 server.
Q6: Name 5 of 8 reasons to upgrade to HIS 2004?
ENHANCED SECURITY INTEGRATION:
Host Integration Server 2004 includes Enterprise Single Sign-On (SSO) for efficiently mapping accounts across Windows Active Directory directory service and IBM systems or applications, including 1:1 and Group: 1 association.
Based on a secure ticketing mechanism, Host Integration Server 2004 technologies such as the application and data integration features call into Enterprise SSO and obtains foreign credentials.
The Enterprise SSO infrastructure completely replaces the previously-available Host Security Integration feature set, allowing for more efficient and secure management of foreign credentials, SSO, and Password Synchronization.
Q7: Name 6 of 8 reasons to upgrade to HIS 2004?
ASYNCHRONOUS MESSAGING:
With Host Integration Server 2004 MSMQ-to-MQSeries Bridge, administrators can rapidly link applications that use inter-platform message queuing, allowing for improvements of up to 20 percent better message transport and delivery times in multi-computer scenarios, integrated setup, encryption, and support for MSMQ 2.0 and MQSeries 5.1.
Q8: Name 7 of 8 reasons to upgrade to HIS 2004?
SECURE PRODUCT CONFIGURATION and DEPLOYMENT:
Host Integration Server 2004 administration and runtime components support a new Secure Product Configuration and are 'secure by default' when installed.
The new Configuration Wizard and Secure Deployment Guide assist the administrator to expose and unlock portions of the product appropriate for their domain.
Q9: Name 8 of 8 reasons to upgrade to HIS 2004?
BETTER NETWORK ADMINISTRATION:
Microsoft Management Console snap-in for administering Host Integration Server computers has been improved to offer better usability through refined wizards and dialogs.
Improved in Microsoft Host Integration Server 2004 is the centralized SNA diagnostics tool allowing administrators to test and troubleshoot network connections and resources.
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