This
document is provided as a source of
information about many of the common questions
asked about Alliance All-Ways Secure. You can use
the links below to go to a specific section,
or use the Find button on your browser to
search for a topic or phrase.
What
is FTP?
How
can Alliance All-Ways Secure help with my file
transfer needs?
Does
All-Ways Secure provide any scheduling capability?
How
does Alliance All-Ways Secure provide security for
the System i?
What
audit trails does All-Ways Secure keep?
How
can All-Ways Secure secure my data with PGP?
Can
I use All-Ways Secure commands in my CL programs?
Can I use All-Ways Secure in my RPG and Cobol
applications?
Can
All-Ways Secure automatically process files I
receive via FTP?
Can
All-Ways Secure compress files?
I
need to convert my System i database files to
Excel CSV format. Can Alliance All-Ways Secure
help with this?
How
can the library scan function automate my file
transfer tasks?
How
much programming is required to use All-Ways Secure
What
support does All-Ways Secure have for Systems
Management?
Can
All-Ways Secure help update my web site?
How
is All-Ways Secure different than the Client
Access Transfer function?
Can
I use All-Ways Secure to send files to my PC
users?
What
are the hardware and software requirements?
How
is All-Ways Secure licensed?
About
Patrick Townsend & Associates, Inc.
What is
FTP?
FTP
stands for “File Transfer Protocol” and is
provided by IBM as a part of the OS/400 TCP/IP
application set. There is no charge for the
application on the System i. It supports
transferring files between an System i and any
other system using a TCP/IP connection. You
can even transfer files between two System is
using FTP. FTP is a bulk file transfer
protocol. Other than EBCDIC to ASCII
translation it does not perform any changes to
the data you send from one system to another. [top]
How
can Alliance All-Ways Secure help with my file
transfer needs?
With
the advent of the TCP/IP network protocol and
open systems applications, many System i customers are using FTP for their file
transfer needs. The System i supports FTP as
both a client and server system. However, the
native FTP application on the System i has
several limitations. It cannot provide for
scheduling capability, batch operation,
session logging, automatic processing of
received files, or history audit trails.
Alliance All-Ways Secure can do all of these
things. All-Ways Secure uses the native FTP
support on the System i, but adds additional
functions to provide you with a commercial FTP
application. [top]
Does
All-Ways Secure provide any scheduling capability?
Yes,
you can schedule any FTP session on a daily,
weekly, or monthly basis. You can even define
multiple schedules for the same session to
allow for maximum flexibility. All-Ways Secure
uses the native job scheduling capability on
the System i so you can always use the standard
System i commands to work with schedules. [top]
How
does Alliance All-Ways Secure provide security for
the System i?
Alliance All-Ways Secure
includes a license for Alliance
FTP Security. This application provides a way
to secure your System i from unwanted and
inappropriate access to the System i FTP
application. With Alliance FTP Security you
can restrict who uses the FTP application,
which files are available for upload and
download, what FTP commands can be used, and
which internal and external networks have
access to the System i FTP application. Alliance
FTP Security is an important component. [top]
What
audit trails does All-Ways Secure keep?
All-Ways Secure
maintains two levels of audit trails
for FTP sessions. A detailed log is maintained
that shows all of the FTP commands and results
for a session exactly as if you were running
the session from an interactive display. The
detailed log shows all of the substitutions
that may have occurred in the script you are
using. It provides a permanent history of what
actually happened in the session. The second
level of audit trail is a history record for
the session. It records the success or failure
of the session, a text description of any
errors that might have been encountered, job
information, and other information that can
help in analyzing problems. The detailed log
and history file can be viewed with
interactive options on the Inquiry menu and
printed by reporting options. [top]
How
can All-Ways Secure secure my data with PGP?
The
Alliance All-Ways Secure PGP Option is a full
implementation of the Network Associates PGP
(Pretty Good Privacy) encryption product on
the System i. It is a native System i application
with no requirement for an external PC.
PGP encryption is strong encryption
that uses public/private key technology to
secure your files. You can securely exchange
data with banks, insurance companies, benefits
providers, and your EDI trading partners using
PGP encryption.
PGP encryption is HIPAA compliant for
data security.
For
encryption of sensitive data at a field level
in your System i database files you can use the
Alliance Triple DES encryption APIs. Triple
DES is an industry standard providing 156-bit
encryption technology and is accepted by Visa
and governmental agencies as an acceptable
method of securing your data.
Triple DES encryption is a fast
algorithm for encrypting data and is
recommended for encrypting data at a field
level. Your can incorporate Alliance Triple
DES APIs into your business applications, or
use database triggers to automatically encrypt
data on read and write operations.
[top]
Can
I use All-Ways Secure commands in my CL programs?
Yes,
All-Ways Secure provides a complete set of
commands that let you control FTP sessions on
a step-by-step basis in your CL programs.
Commands such as FTPOPEN, FTPUSER, FTPPASS,
FTPGET, etc., provide complete access to FTP
sessions at a program level.
You can also use the Alliance SSL FTP
commands to secure the communications with a
remote FTP server.
Sample code is provided in the product
library to help you get started. [top]
Can
I use All-Ways Secure in my RPG and Cobol
applications?
Yes,
All-Ways Secure provides a service program named
FTPCLN that you can bind to
your ILE RPG and Cobol applications to
make them capable of performing FTP functions.
Directly in your programs you can open
connections to remote FTP servers, list files
on the server, send and receive files, and
perform all of the normal FTP functions. You
can also use the SSL APIs to securely transfer
data to and from your System i.
Alliance provides a complete logging
interface to let you update internal
application logs and write FTP history
records.
Can
All-Ways Secure automatically process files I
receive via FTP?
Yes. All-Ways Secure
includes a library scan function
that will automatically process files in a
library based on criteria you set up. It will
call your application to process the file or
run commands that you specify. It will also
automatically back up the received file to a
separate library if you like. The automatic
processing option is very flexible and
provides an extensible programming interface. [top]
Can
All-Ways Secure compress files?
Yes. All-Ways Secure
includes support for compressing
files using GZip and Zip. GZip is a
compression utility common on UNIX platforms.
Zip is a compression format that is common on
PC platforms such as Windows
95/98/NT/2000, Macintosh, and Web
servers. The compressed files are fully
compatible with WinZip, PKZip and other
compression applications. All-Ways Secure can
compress the files in ASCII or EBCDIC format
and automatically transfer them to the remote
system. [top]
I
need to convert my System i database files to
Excel CSV format. Can Alliance All-Ways Secure
help with this?
Yes.
Alliance All-Ways Secure includes a license for
the CrossData/400 product. CrossData/400 can
convert any System i database file to Excel CSV,
tab-delimited, or fixed ASCII field records.
It handles all of the conversion of System i numeric fields to ASCII format. Zoned, packed,
binary, and floating point fields are all
handled during data conversion. And no
programming is required. Alliance CrossData/400
can also convert Excel CSV and tab-delimited
files to System i relational database files
without programming. [top]
How
can the library scan function automate my file
transfer tasks?
In
addition to being able to process received
files, the library scan function can
automatically send a file via FTP to a remote
site. You can define an FTP session for a file
to library scan and it will use that session
to do the transfer. All file transfers
initiated by library scan are recorded in the
detailed log and the history file. [top]
How
much programming is required to use All-Ways Secure
No
programming is required if you use library
scan, scheduled transfer, or interactive
panels. All-Ways Secure only requires that you
define the FTP parameters for the session.
However, if you need to integrate FTP
functions into your interactive or batch
applications, All-Ways Secure provides Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs) to let you do
this. The APIs are easy to use and can be
called from any RPG, CL, or Cobol application.
The APIs always provide a return code
indicating the success or failure of the
request. [top]
What
support does All-Ways Secure have for Systems
Management?
All-Ways Secure
provides a full SNMP alert application
so that errors can be sent to your systems
management application. You only need to
activate the System i SNMP agent (no-charge
application provided by IBM) and you have
immediate error notification to all major
systems management applications like IBM
SystemView, CA Unicenter, Tivoli, SunNet
Manager, Spectrum and many others. [top]
Can
All-Ways Secure help update my web site?
Yes.
You can define FTP sessions to All-Ways Secure
that send one or more files to your web site.
The web site can be located on your System i,
UNIX, NT Server, or any other web server
system. You can tell All-Ways Secure how to do the
translation of the data for your web server.
If your web server is located on the System i All-Ways Secure
can place the files on the IPCS
file system. Additionally All-Ways Secure can
compress files in Zip format for Internet
compatible download. [top]
How
is All-Ways Secure different than the Client
Access Transfer function?
All-Ways Secure
is a native System i application that
runs on the System i. Client Access is a PC
application that can only be initiated by a PC
user. This means that your System i administrator and application programmer have
much better control over the FTP session with All-Ways Secure. It also means that you can always
determine the success or failure of the
application. And, if you have file transfer
requirements that are dependent on other
applications on the System i, All-Ways Secure provides a superior means of integrating file
transfers with these applications. [top]
Can
I use All-Ways Secure to send files to my PC
users?
Yes.
Most PCs such as Windows 95, Windows NT, and
Macintosh can receive files with FTP. You must
first install the FTP support from Microsoft
or Apple Computer to accomplish this, but
these applications are included with the
software distribution and are available at no
extra charge. Once your PC is enabled to
receive files using FTP you can send them with
All-Ways Secure. [top]
What
are the hardware and software requirements?
Alliance All-Ways Secure
runs on any System i hardware model
and on V5R1 or later release of the operating
system. No special features of the operating
system are required. Alliance All-Ways Secure does
not use any MI interfaces or special operating
system calls that will cause security failures
on the System i. Alliance All-Ways Secure is
Year2000 compliant. [top]
How
is All-Ways Secure licensed?
Alliance All-Ways Secure
is licensed on a processor group
basis with unlimited user access. A discount
is available if you have multiple System is. All-Ways Secure
is available on a 30 day trial basis. [top]
About
Patrick Townsend & Associates, Inc.
Patrick
Townsend & Associates, Inc. is a
Washington state corporation. The company
specializes in communications products and
communications consulting services for the
Windows NT Server, IBM System i, and IBM
mainframe environments. Business partner
companies include IBM, Novell, Microsoft,
Lotus, Infinite Technologies, and others.
Founded in 1984 the company has provided
services for Bank of America, Visa
International, Viking Freight, Roadway
Regional Group, IBM Corporation, Novell,
Safeway, PMI Mortgage Insurance, and many
others. For more information and product
pricing, contact: Patrick Townsend &
Associates, Inc., 7700 Earling Street NE,
Olympia, WA 98506. Voice: (360) 357-8971. FAX:
(360) 357-9047. E-Mail: info@patownsend.com.
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