Matan, I have used Aix as a SNA gateway multiple times in different types of environments , I don't see that any type of issue. TCPIP via Aix should also work, with the right hardware/ software you should be able to do both.
Regards, Scott www.identityforge.com Sent from my iPad On Dec 30, 2011, at 11:31 AM, Chris Mason <[email protected]> wrote: > Matan > > Rather than twiddle my thumbs waiting for some answers which are a *long* > time coming, I decided to try to fill in some of the blanks myself - all in > the interests of trying to keep up to date in case any future request for a > consultancy might require knowledge of a current topic. > > First let me correct one of the answers I gave last time. > >>> Can I configure the SNA configuration so it will work over a TCP\IP , ... > >> Yes > > This was *wrong* - sorry! The correct answer should have been as follows: > > No, but I expect that equally acceptable would be the possibility to > "configure the SNA configuration so it will work over a UDP/IP" since I > expect the *real* requirement is that the IP network is used. Am I right? > > Hoping that the information provided would be correct at an overview level - > discarding as I discovered was necessary far, far too much "motherhood"[1] - > as it can sometimes be wide of the mark at a detailed level - I checked the > redbook site for the token "txseries": > > http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/cgi-bin/searchsite.cgi?query=txseries > > There were 8 "hits" and, rather worryingly, 2 did not allow a download. > Fortunately, the manuals around which the cloak was tightly wrapped looked as > if they were not vital for my purposes - but somebody else ... ? > > From "TXSeries for Multiplatforms Version 6 Revealed! The Next Generation of > Distributed CICS"[2] and, simply, "Revealed! The Next Generation of > Distributed CICS"[3] I managed to work out that what had been gobbledegook > >> TXseries using a PPC gateway ( SL2 ) > > actually "betokened" the following: > > <diagram> > > end user work stations > A > | > IP (TCP or UDP, but probably TCP) > | > V > AIX* with TXSeries > A > | > IP (TCP) > | > V > AIX* with Peer-to-Peer Communications (PPC) Gateway Server > A > | > SNA > | > V > z/OS with CICS Transaction Server > > * These could be the same system. > > </diagram> > > Also I see that Synchronisation Level 2 (SL2) requires the use of the PPC > Gateway Server. > > From "Revealed! The Next Generation of Distributed CICS": > > <quote> > > 4.3.2 TXSeries and local SNA configuration > > ... > > If synchronization level 2 is required, you must use PPC Gateway server SNA > support. > > ... > > </quote> > > Furthermore, we also find the following: > > <quote> > > 1.9.1 Deployment choices > > Choosing the network protocol for intersystem communication > > ... > > Synchronization level 2 across an SNA connection requires a separately > purchased communications product such as IBM Communications Server to be > installed on the same machine as TXSeries. > > ... > > </quote> > > Since I suspected you already knew all about Enterprise Extender, I got to > wondering if the word "purchased" above had stuck in the craw of the "suit" > in charge of the software budget and he or she had asked you to plead penury > to any "gurus" who may have a trick or two up their sleeves! > > Actually I suspect the above isn't quite correct and it should be that, in > your case, Communications Server for AIX must be installed in the same > machine as is running the PPC Gateway Server - which need not be, but > generally will be, the same machine as is running TXSeries. > > - > > I also managed to appreciate that this was, in principle, more than any more > general topic, a CICS question and so would probably best have been posed in > the CICS list, CICS-L. However, I have noticed lately that the denizens of > CICS-L are technically a bit shaky when stepping outside their immediate > "comfort zone" and so probably it's no bad thing to post in IBM-MAIN or, for > more of a focus on matters related also to Communications Server (CS), > specifically z/OS CS, IBMTCP-L: > > For IBMTCP-L subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to > [email protected] with the message: INFO IBMTCP-L > > - > > As for the reliability in detail of the redbook, treat it with utmost > mistrust when it claims to deal with the configuration of the SNA products. > Any discussion which conflates the SNA PU (physical unit) entity with the SNA > CP (control point) entity - unless the subject under discussion covers the > comparing and contrasting of network management flows - is clearly the work > of amateurs who haven't had adequate education in the topic they purport to > describe! > > See "Key" 2 in Table A-1, "Names and values relationship" > > Recall that I mentioned before that, in SNA, one medium for connecting two > adjacent SNA nodes is as good as any other. The example in Appendix A lists > the following definition items: > > 1. Define the node. > 2. Define the data link control (DLC). > 3. Define ports. > 4. Define link stations. > 5. Define the LU6.2 local LU. > 6. Define the LU6.2 partner LU. > 7. Define the LU6.2 mode. > 8. Define the partner LU6.2 location. > 9. Define side information (optional). > > Steps 2 to 3 relate to Ethernet as a medium. There is no reason whatsoever at > all why the medium should not be Enterprise Extender. > > Step 1, "Define the node", is somewhere between misleading and very > misleading when it proposes that the AIX node (and I saw also the Windows > node) should be an APPN *Network* Node. As a sample, tosh! I can think of a > reason why having a Network Node would be a correct choice but very few > customer configurations will require it. As a sample an APPN *End* Node is > what should have been used. > > Steps 5, 6 and 7 are to be expected when parallel SSCP-independent sessions > using LU type 6.2 needs to be defined. > > Step 8 is utter, utter, utter nonsense! The inability for authors, imagining > they are describing APPN definitions, to advance beyond the overdefinition > requirements of antediluvian Low Entry Networking (LEN) just makes me > physically sick! > > Then I had a look at the last few of the actual samples and - would you Adam > and Eve it? - nary a trace of "partner LU 6.2 location"! It looks as if they > reproduced the list from some description from a bygone age and didn't bother > to take the trouble to check the "summary" against the "detail". Well, it's a > redbook, so we're in "Curate's Egg" territory! > > Unfortunately, the VTAM definitions are not shown so that I could tear those > to threads as well! > > The above comments relate to the AIX definitions. The problem I mentioned > before regarding the inability to distinguish the SNA PU entity and the SNA > CP entity looks like it infects the Windows definitions which appear to cater > for DLUR/DLUS - which I would expect if somehow TN3270 was being supported. > I'd be rather surprised if the Windows definitions actually worked! If they > do, I'd like to see how! > > - > > [1] Redbooks are *not* for "motherhood" - that just wastes logical trees. > They are for technical detail albeit, as required here, at a general level. > "Motherhood" is for announcement letters - supposedly to impress "suits" - > although any "suit" worth his or her salt will probably treat it all as > hogwash and ask his technical folk for whatever meat may be encased in the > obese verbiage. > > [2] http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/redp4099.html > > [3] http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247185.html > > - > > Chris Mason > > On Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:31:49 -0600, Chris Mason <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Matan >> >>> Does somebody have some info regarding building a SNA network configuration >>> between Z/os to AIX , ... >> >> I can safely say "Yes"! >> >>> Can I configure the SNA configuration so it will work over a TCP\IP , ... >> >> Yes >> >> I'm guessing you also want to know *how*! It's called Enterprise >> Extender.[1] A deprecated alternative is to use DLSw. >> >>> ... instead of building a pure SNA network ? >> >> It depends what you have in mind by "pure". >> >> SNA defines formats and protocols for communication over a network of nodes. >> Using the OSI model, communication between adjacent nodes is called "data >> link control" (DLC). In support of the DLC layer, SNA allows a number of >> different "lower level" protocols, for example, SDLC or 802.2 (over a LAN). >> Included in the category of DLC is the combination of UDP over IP. Taking >> the point of view of IP-based protocols, UDP is a "transport" protocol and >> IP is a "network" protocol. However, from the point of view of SNA, together >> with an 802.2-like "protocol conversion" (sub)layer, the UDP/IP combination >> is simply a DLC.[2] >> >> Thus an SNA network which incorporates Enterprise Extender here and there as >> a means of communications between adjacent nodes is as *pure* an SNA network >> as any you will find - or, sadly these days, used to be able to find. >> >> - >> >>> ... I now facing this issue in order to configure a communication for CICS >>> <-> TXseries using a PPC gateway ( SL2 ). >> >> If you want further guidance - from me anyhow - please explain the >> significance of the presumed software you mention here, perhaps with an >> online URL or two. CICS I know, the rest not. >> >> - >> >> As always, if a question might involve the IP component of z/OS >> Communications Server, the best place to ask the question is in the >> following list: >> >> For IBMTCP-L subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email >> to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBMTCP-L >> >> - >> >> [1] I thought you knew all about Enterprise Extender! Assuming you do know >> all about Enterprise Extender in VTAM, you need to check on how to set up >> Enterprise Extender in Communications Server for AIX. Unfortunately my saved >> URL for a page from which you could download all the manuals of all flavours >> of Communications Server no longer works - I do ***not*** accept the IBM >> apologies you may be sure! The following is an URL for the Administration >> Guide of V6.4 which indicates the possibility to use Enterprise Extender: >> >> http://www-05.ibm.com/e-business/linkweb/publications/servlet/pbi.wss?CTY=US&FNC=SRX&PBL=SC31-8586-04 >> >> [2] While checking to get you the necessary reference for the AIX manuals, I >> found this list which precisely illustrates my point: >> >> <quote> >> >> Each port is associated with a specific link protocol, which can be any of >> the following: >> >> - SDLC >> - Token ring >> - Ethernet >> - X.25 or QLLC (qualified logical link control) >> - Multipath Channel (MPC) >> - Enterprise Extender (HPR/IP) >> >> </quote> >> >> - >> >> Chris Mason >> >> On Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:22:20 +0200, Matan Cohen <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> Hi , >>> Does somebody have some info regarding building a SNA network configuration >>> between Z/os to AIX , I now facing this issue in order to configure a >>> communication for CICS <-> TXseries using a PPC gateway ( SL2 ). >>> My main question is : >>> Can I configure the SNA configuration so it will work over a TCP\IP , >>> instead of building a pure SNA network ? >>> >>> -- >>> ______________________ >>> best regards, >>> matan cohen > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
