Eliminating SNA Servers from your IBM Network

Reduce Costs and Increase Performance by Eliminating Unnecessary Hardware and Software Expenses

Microsoft SNA Servers were introduced 15 years ago and were extremely useful in connecting MS Windows networks to IBM mainframes and AS/400 hosts using native SNA connections.

However, since the introduction of TCP/IP with TN3270E and TN5250E as the preferred connection protocols for IBM host sessions, continued use of MS HIS and SNA Servers will usually represent unnecessary hardware and software expenses and a possible inhibitor of performance.

As well as the Microsoft HIS / SNA Server, we find that other external TN3270 servers and SNA Physical Unit (PU) gateways such as Cisco CIP, Novell SAA, IBM Communication Servers (OS/2) and many other proprietary servers are still in use, with similar results.

Some organizations seem to fear the removal of these aging connectivity methods. Perhaps because local desktop and/or server applications appear to have been written specifically for SNA protocols. In such cases, Zephyr can assist with the transition of the SNA-based application to the TN3270E/TN5250E standard.

What Are the Benefits?

The benefits of eliminating the Microsoft SNA Server and other gateways include increased performance and speed of communications, simpler administration and reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) for your 3270 and 5250 terminal emulation sessions.

Zephyr recommends that if your organization runs an IBM zSeries system you should consider removing these external servers in favor of using the IBM Communication Server (CS) TN3270E Server, delivered as a standard part of z/OS. The TN3270E server delivered with IBM CS is extremely flexible, secure and in our opinion probably the best performing TN3270E server available today.

Zephyr technicians agree and would add that since z/OS Version 1.9 now forces the TN3270E server to run in a separate address space, the performance and the resilience options has been further improved.

Originally, Zephyr PASSPORT terminal emulation products supported all the native SNA connection types and worked very well with the various gateways available. However, since 1998 we fully embraced TCP/IP and rewrote PASSPORT software to only work with TN3270E, TN5250 and other telnet protocols.

Consequently, PASSPORT is widely considered one of the smallest footprint, best performing and robust terminal emulation software applications available today. PASSPORT software is certified to run on Windows 7, Vista, XP and 2000. Under our unique annual subscription license plan, we guarantee that Zephyr PASSPORT will operate with future versions of Microsoft Windows Operating Systems at no extra cost.

If you want to eliminate your old Microsoft SNA Server or other gateways and integrate MS Windows PC's and applications directly with your IBM Mainframe, contact us to see how we can help you make a successful transition today.