I hate to admit this but you've just gone past my ability contribute anything more towards your project. Sounds like you've already got the internet connection worked out, and I know nothing about IBM 5250 protocol. All I can add is my best wishes for you to find the answers you need.
Well, that and that they won't fire you once you do get it working! Brian -----Original Message----- From: William Treloar [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, July 03, 2002 9:00 PM To: MSWinNT Discussions Subject: RE: Running a DB server over another country Ah-Ha!, I have been waiting for that one! What possible advantage would be gained from using the AS400? very little I suspect, unification of our databases, nah that's not one. The fact that my company owns the IMAS DB system on the AS400 and NZ don't own the Unix DB means slightly cheaper cost for future modifications. At an administration level, centralized, one less reason to keep me on in NZ. OK, Great I should have explained where I am at with this project. We currently have an IPSec VPN Router to router Connection between NZ and Aus. I am less than convince that this will do the trick, but I must not assume and do my testing. While I was over there last week determining what modifications are required to populate NZ data into the Aussie DB, They gave me the software they are using to connect to their AS400 server or eServer they like to call it. I have not had much luck using it at this time so I am currently trying an emulation package that I'm familiar with that allows connection to IBM 5250 protocol. This is where I'm at. Once successful I will need to stress test with the equivalent of 60 sessions at once on our current VPN connection. It's not a matter of should we go ahead with this, it a mater of how. The should was discussed by top brass and I had no say. Their recommendation, run NZ DB on Aus Server. It is left up to me to determine if this will work. so obviously I am still at the humble beginnings of this project and therefore sent out a message to this usergroup for any gotchas and recommendations. I don't know too much about our Ipsec VPN connection except that it is run under one Telco company A Guarantee of Service should be achievable then. Thanks for that, I will check. William. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, 4 July 2002 12:06 To: MSWinNT Discussions Subject: RE: Running a DB server over another country Granted our two offices are in the same state. We also use Unix for our database server, it is way more reliable than any of our Windows servers. I guess maybe I'm not clear on what you're trying to accomplish. You already have a working system, why do you want to change it? What advantages would you gain by using the server in Oz? I think you're worrying about the wrong thing when you mention telco monopolies. I'm refering to using an internet connection. As long as the endpoints in each country are reliable, the fact it's going from one country to another shouldn't matter. This assumes of course that the internet backbone between NZ and AU is reliable. So what matters is, can you get a guarantee of service from your internet provider? If so, you should be fine. Let me suggest a possible solution. You are already looking for terminal emulation software (which begs the question, what are you using now?), so when you get that set up, try a test using the internet instead of frame relay at one site. This will show you if the ISP can be relied upon. Are all your sites served by the same telco? Here in the US, it's hard to go from city to city without the telco changing, due to antitrust actions by the government. So you may need to have several ISPs to implement this fully. But since it is hard for me to imagine a business office today not having internet access, this seems to be something you need anyway. Am I wrong about this? I don't know anything about your business model, maybe the branches don't already have internet access? That would certainly complicate things. I am happy to share my experiences with you, but I'm leaving the office now and won't be back until Monday (4th of July holiday, casting off the chains of British colonial tyranny and all that). So I'll get back to you then. Brian -----Original Message----- From: William Treloar [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, July 03, 2002 4:05 PM To: MSWinNT Discussions Subject: RE: Running a DB server over another country Thanks Brian for your description. However you haven't told me where your 2 branches are located. We have 11 Branches throughout NZ all connecting to our Server based Unix Box using Frame Relay and apart from 1 or 2 small outages per year she is very reliable. However with Country to Country scenario you also have the issue of Teleco company monopolising one country and barely even register in the other. Yes the AS400 system is Text Based, Yes it uses the Server based Model. We are also looking at Telnet and Terminal Emulation Software for our PC's as you described. Cheers. William. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, 4 July 2002 10:49 To: MSWinNT Discussions Subject: RE: Running a DB server over another country Hmmm, big American corporation... Actually, we have 57 employees and two locations. We are about as low-budget as any company I have ever worked for. So if we can do it, anyone can! Here's what we do. Our main office has a T-1 line, it's about $800 a month I think. The branch office has a small sales staff and warehouse, roughly 15 workstations total. They have a business DSL connection, about $120 a month. The database application is sales order entry and inventory control with integrated accounting. In addition, they have email and web browsing. The database application is server based in the main office, and connects to the branch over the internet using telnet and terminal emulation software. The applications are text-based, so the traffic is minimal. Security is handled by firewall access to specific IP addresses only. Our reliability has been exceptional. We once experienced a router failure in the main office, it took about 4 hours for the ISP to configure a new one for us and deliver it. Other than that we've never had an outage lasting more than 2 minutes. We have been using this configuration for about 3 years. We are less than 1/2 mile from the ISP, I don't know how much difference that makes. The DSL has been just about as reliable as regular phone service. The thing that makes this work so well is that the database application is text based. All data manipulation is performed on the server, the actual amount of data passed over the internet is minimal. However, the applications themselves are very sophisticated, fully integrated and highly customized for our business model. You mention that the Oz system runs on an AS400. I would think it highly probable that it is text based also? If so, you should have no problem making this work. If you're stuck with a client-server model, well, I don't know. How are you doing it now? Brian -----Original Message----- From: William Treloar [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, July 03, 2002 2:40 PM To: MSWinNT Discussions Subject: RE: Running a DB server over another country Well I don't know, maybe in NZ we are a little behind big American Corps. but certainly talking among any IT people here, it is unheard of. revolutionary in NZ only maybe. Running Cost is always a big factor when you connect from one country to another, so maybe that is why we don't do it. Obviously bandwidth and reliability of median are 2 big factors when looking at such a system. So to those that have critical communications lines for such purpose in their business can you please tell me from your experience by explaining what type of median you use and how reliable it is...Server based, Client/Server whichever. Any other traps worth mentioning will be much appreciated. Cheers. William. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, 4 July 2002 05:46 To: MSWinNT Discussions Subject: RE: Running a DB server over another country Maybe I'm missing your meaning, but I don't see anything revolutionary about a centeralized database accessed by client machines, regardless of their location, or the platform upon which it is running. My concern about the connection speed would be based upon how much data is being passed over the wire. If the application is written to do server-based processing and the data entry and retrieval functions are merely input and display screens, 64K is more than adequate. If the database is written such that all processing is done on the client machines then the amount of data traveling over the network can become absurd. I know Microsoft pushes client-server as the model for their database, but it's really not appropriate when working with terabyte or even gigabyte sized databases. No matter how fast your internet connection is, it won't be enough. -----Original Message----- From: William Treloar [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, July 02, 2002 9:32 PM To: MSWinNT Discussions Subject: Running a DB server over another country Hi All, I have recently been over to Australia looking at their DB system when the question was raised by Top doggie over there, why not use their AS400 mainframe database server via 50 odd client connections in New Zealand. Yes, 50 people all over NZ, connect to aussie system in Australia for our order entry/GL system I suggested that this was rather revolutionary ( I have not heard of this among my peers). We currently use a 64k VPN ipsec connection between the Australia and New Zealand, I suggested that we need a median more stable such as Frame Relay. Can anyone tell me if they have a set-up similar to this or heard anything like this and what are the traps to look out for. TIA. William. ------ You are subscribed as [email protected] Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
