ABSTRACT
FOR THE LAST DECADE, MANY ENTERPRISES HAVE HAD SEPARATE TCP/IP AND SNA NETWORKS. The SNA network handled most mission-critical traffic, while the TCP/IP network carried much of the internal communication-e-mail, file transfers, design specifications, HR data, etc. While maintaining two separate networks is expensive, the benefit of consolidation is always weighed against the cost of degrading the performance of the SNA network. Fear of network degradation and loss of application availability kept many enterprises from consolidating their networks-no one wanted to risk their business on experimental technologies.
