ABSTRACT
Integrating an intranet with a data center is not simply a matter of implementing TCP/IP on a mainframe or AS/400 along with a Web server. Many of the host resident, mission-critical applications still required were developed, typically 15 years ago, such that they only work in Systems Network Architecture mode. The nearest that one can come to making theses applications TCP/IP compatible is to use them in conjunction with a host resident or “Off-Board” tn3270(E) (or tn5250, in the case of AS/400s) server which will perform standards-based SNA-to-TCP/IP protocol conversion. Otherwise, the applications will have to be rewritten to work in TCP/IP mode. This is not feasible since the cost and effort of doing so for the $20 trillion installed base of SNA mission-critical applications would make all the tribulations associated with the Y2K challenge appear trivial!
