This document
is provided as an overview of the features and
benefits of the Alliance Series TCP/IP product.
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.
How
does Alliance TCP/IP work?
Can
I use Alliance for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)?
Can
I use Alliance for my Client/Server applications?
Can
Alliance TCP/IP help with my Web integration needs?
Why
would Alliance be better than Client Access for
communications?
Does
Alliance TCP/IP help with file transfers?
How
do RPG and Cobol programmers interface with Alliance?
What
hardware do I need on my AS/400?
What
software do I need on my AS/400?
How
can Alliance TCP/IP help with NT and UNIX integration?
What
kind of logging or debug facilities does Alliance
have?
How
is system performance managed by Alliance?
How
is Alliance licensed?
Alliance
Series TCP/IP is a communications application for the
AS/400 that uses the TCP/IP protocol to communicate
with other computer systems. TCP/IP is the protocol of
the Internet and most local networks. It is an open
systems protocol that is supported by all computer
vendors. Alliance provides both server and client
functions to let your AS/400 initiate or respond to
communications requests. For example, you can create a
Visual Basic application on the PC that communications
to Alliance on the AS/400 to send and receive
application data. The PC might request order
information for a customer, or might send data to the
AS/400 to be written to a database. Another example
might be an RPG application that needs to get data
from a UNIX server. Alliance can send the data request
to an application on the UNIX server that retrieves
information from an Oracle database and returns it to
the AS/400. TCP/IP clients and servers are the heart
of distributed applications on a network, and Alliance
provides this on the AS/400. [top]
Yes, Alliance
is being used today to send and receive ANSI X.12
documents across private and public TCP/IP networks.
Alliance can translate the ASCII data in an EDI
document to EBCDIC and interface with your AS/400 EDI
translator. It works well with Premenos (Harbinger),
Sterling, and Extol EDI translators on the AS/400. And
Alliance can provide a means of implementing real time
EDI. Alliance contains the configuration and
management facilities you need for a mission critical
EDI application. [top]
Yes. Alliance
provides an excellent means of providing client/server
communications for your network. And the same
application you create on the AS/400 with Alliance can
provide services to your PCs, Web server, and BBS
systems. You can implement a single interface to
AS/400 data and application services. Almost all
development applications like Visual Basic, C++,
Delphi, Web CGI, Java, and many other applications can
easily use TCP/IP communications to connect to the
AS/400. Visual Basic applications can use the
Microsoft Winsock control. C++ applications can use
the native Winsock DLL in Windows. Java applications
can use the Java sockets class. In all cases the PC
applications use standard sockets interfaces to
communicate with Alliance on the AS/400. [top]
For complex
Web integration requirements Alliance can provide an
easy to use interface to AS/400 data. Your CGI or Java
application can use standard TCP/IP sockets to
communicate with the AS/400. Alliance provides all of
the ASCII/EBCDIC translation services for your
interface. You can use the same Alliance server for
both Web CGI and Java applications. [top]
Client Access
services on the AS/400 are specific to the AS/400.
That is, applications that use Client Access
connections to the AS/400 cannot communicate with any
non-IBM system. Alliance provides a standard sockets
server interface that can be implemented on any host
system. You can migrate applications from the AS/400
to other systems without changing the PCs that
communicate with the host. Additionally, you must
install Client Access on every PC that communicates
with the AS/400. With Alliance your PC applications
use native TCP/IP networking and does not require the
installation of any client software. This conserves
resources on the PC and minimizes network
administration. [top]
No. Alliance
is designed as a request/response application and is
not designed for file transfer requirements. You can
use FTP on the AS/400 for simple file transfers. If
you have more complex file transfer needs you can use
Alliance FTP Manager which includes scheduling,
library scan, audit trails, and other features for a
more robust file transfer system. [top]
Alliance uses
data queues to exchange data with RPG and Cobol
programs. Data queues provide a very fast method of
sending and receiving data in applications. When
Alliance receives data from the client it converts it
to EBCDIC and writes it to a data queue that you
define. Your application receives the data from the
data queue, reads or updates an AS/400 database, and
writes a response in the return data queue. Alliance
converts the data to ASCII characters and returns the
data to the client. The RPG programmer does not need
to know TCP/IP sockets communications or the ILE C/400
language. The interface is fast and easy to use. [top]
To use TCP/IP
communication you need a LAN adapter (either Ethernet
or Token Ring) or an X.25 interface. Most AS/400s will
have either an Ethernet or Token Ring LAN adapter. No
other hardware is required. And Alliance can share the
LAN adapter with terminal sessions and SNA traffic. [top]
Since V3R1 of
OS/400 TCP/IP support is included in the base
operating system. You do not need to install any
special applications or additional software. Alliance
TCP/IP is compatible with V5R1 and later releases of
the operating system. [top]
Alliance can
provide an easy to use communications interface for NT
and UNIX applications. The applications programmer on
the NT or UNIX platform uses standard sockets
communications to exchange data with the AS/400. The
programmer does not need to be concerned about ASCII
to EBCDIC translation as Alliance will automatically
translate the data. And Alliance provides a scalable
server. You can define how many sockets applications
are available for the interface when Alliance starts.
You can begin with a low volume of transactions and
increase them as needed. Alliance is the easiest
method of communicating between NT and UNIX. [top]
Alliance has
a complete logging facility that can help you during
the development phase of your communications project.
All functions of Alliance are logged when a session is
started and you can view or print a full report of the
communications session. All data sent or received by
Alliance is logged in both character and hex format.
This can assist in resolving data exchange issues
between the AS/400 and the remote system. [top]
Alliance
includes its own subsystem with job queue and class.
You have complete flexibility in assigning the
execution characteristics of each Alliance client or
server application. If you want to use your own
subsystem for Alliance jobs you can define the job
queue for Alliance to use. You can assign different
Alliance client and server jobs to different
subsystems. Alliance keeps track of your
communications jobs regardless of the subsystem in
which they are running. [top]
Alliance is
licensed on a “per CPU” basis. There is no limit
to the number of users who can access Alliance. There
is no client software to install on PCs or other
systems that communicate with Alliance. These systems
use native TCP/IP sockets or Winsock interfaces.
Multiple CPU discounts are available if you have more
than one AS/400. [top]
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 AS/400, 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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