Host Access Solutions: Terminal Emulation Software and Host Integration

Frequently Asked Deployment Questions

PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® Web Based Terminal Emulator

What desktops does PASSPORT WEB TO HOST run on?

PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® can be used on any PC running Microsoft® Windows Vista, XP or 2000 operating system. PASSPORT does not support any Microsoft operating system that is no longer supported by Microsoft. For more information on Microsoft product support status, see http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/.

What browsers are supported?

PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® can be used with the latest release of Microsoft® Internet Explorer and is backwardly compatible to version 5.0 (though the latest release of Internet Explorer is recommended).

What web servers are supported?

The majority of PASSPORT WEB TO HOST customers deploy the Zephyr terminal emulation suite from a Microsoft® 2008, 2003 or 2000 Server running IIS (Internet Information Server). However, PASSPORT WEB TO HOST can also be deployed from an IBM WebSphere Application Server, an Apache Server running Tomcat, a BEA WebLogic server running Application Server, or other Java application server.

How is PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® deployed?

Most customers deploy PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® from a standard web server. However, you can also deploy PASSPORT WEB TO HOST using SMS, MSI or a standard software publishing tool.

When a PASSPORT session is launched from a web server, an ActiveX component is downloaded to the end user's PC from the web server. The ActiveX component is only downloaded the first time a session is launched, or when a new version of the PASSPORT ActiveX component is detected.

Can I deploy PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® using Citrix or Terminal Server?

Although running PASSPORT WEB TO HOST on a Microsoft Terminal Server (with or without Citrix) is possible, it was not designed for this platform and is not recommended by Zephyr. If you choose to run PASSPORT WEB TO HOST from this platform, Zephyr will not offer technical support in resolving problems that may arise from using PASSPORT WEB TO HOST in this manner.

How are PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® sessions configured?

PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® is centrally administered through the PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® Administrator. The PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® Administrator consists of three parts: the Administrator web site, the Administrator Configuration Program and the PASSPORT web site.

The Administrator web site contains information on Setup, QuickStart, configuration, deployment, support, help and also starts the Administrator Configuration Program.

The Administrator Configuration Program, which looks and feels like Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer and the Microsoft® BackOffice product family, is used to configure session profiles, users and groups, keyboard layouts and attribute settings.

The PASSPORT web site is what the end user views in Internet Explorer before establishing a session with the host. For a more detailed discussion refer to the PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® Administrator Setup and General Information.

How do end users launch PASSPORT WEB TO HOST®?

PASSPORT sessions are launched from the URL http://Yourwebsite/pec/. Sessions can be launched using this URL in several different ways:

• From the PASSPORT website
• From a shortcut on the desktop
• From a URL on your company Intranet

These methods of launching a session can be used for both local and web server deployment of PASSPORT WEB TO HOST®.

The user is prompted for their user name with an option to choose a button to launch a host session directly. Based on the user name, a list of available sessions will appear. The session name is actually the name of an HTML file used to launch the session. When the session is launched, an ActiveX component is downloaded to the end user's PC from the web server.

The ActiveX component is only downloaded the first time a session is launched, or when a new version of the PASSPORT ActiveX component is detected. Once downloaded, the user simply accesses the host by launching an Internet Explorer session that connects directly to the host.

Can end-users configure their own settings?

The administrator has the option of either blocking or allowing a local configuration of the session profile by the end user.

Can PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® be integrated into our intranet or extranet portal?

Yes, many customers integrate PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® into their intranet or extranet portal and automate the launching of host sessions. This includes making links for various host sessions, or providing a URL that is used to launch a specific session. This URL can then be added to a Favorites list, or used to create a shortcut on your Windows desktop.

Are users and groups supported?

PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® includes its own version of Users and Groups that is very similar to those found in Windows 2003/2000/NT. Once session profiles are created, they can be assigned to either a user or a group as follows:

Groups

• Users can be assigned to groups
• Sessions can be assigned to groups

Users

• Sessions can be assigned to users

Can PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® sessions be remotely configured?

Yes. The PASSPORT Administrator can be used remotely to configure, monitor, deploy and support all aspects of the thin client application from a centralized server(s). To accomplish this, the remote administrator communicates with a Java™ servlet (for WebSphere or WebLogic) or ASP pages on the HTTP server to read and write configuration data. HTTP port 80 is used for communication to circumvent firewall problems.

Can session profiles be replicated from one server to another?

PASSPORT does not have any built-in method of replicating session profiles from one server to another. However, this can be easily done by performing an FTP file transfer of the directories containing the session profile information to the new server.

What type of network traffic does PASSPORT generate on the web server?

Since PASSPORT is an ActiveX component, it is downloaded only once from the HTTP server, or whenever a new version of the application is installed on the server. This minimizes the amount of network traffic with regard to applet download. The session profile (less than 1K) is downloaded from the HTTP server each time a session is started. For multiple sessions, multiple session profiles are downloaded from the HTTP server to launch each session.

The amount of network traffic used to launch a host session is comparable to displaying a small web page. As for traffic to and from the host application server (3270, 5250, VT100, VT220, VT420, SCO ANSI and Wyse 60), it is identical to other desktop or web-based emulators. This traffic can range from light (for users that may access 2 or 3 screens per minute) to heavy (for users performing many large file transfers).

What is the maximum number of workstations supported from a single web server?

Since the web server plays such a limited role (the web server is used to house the application, distribute session configuration information and check the version number of the application), the number of workstations that can be supported by a single web server can be quite high (i.e. thousands of users). The resources of the server ultimately determine the exact quantity.

Can existing RACF User Ids be used with PASSPORT?

Yes, here is one method of achieving this:

• From the Intranet, a user logs in and finds an HTML link to gain host access
• The HTML link points to an active server page (ASP) on a Windows 2008, 2003, or 2000 Server
• The ASP queries the employee ID through a session variable
• The ASP then uses the employee ID as an index value and retrieves the corresponding host LU names from a table stored on a SQL server
• The ASP then launches standard host session(s) with the LU name specified at run time
• The appropriate number and type of sessions are established

If the user tries to bypass the Intranet login process, via a shortcut or a bookmark for example, they are redirected back to the login page.

What is the size of the applet downloaded and how much memory does it use?

The PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® ActiveX CAB file that is downloaded from the web server to the client desktop is approximately 2.7MB in size. There is a lite version of the ActiveX CAB file that is approximately 1.4MB in size. The CAB file for the FTP Client is approximately 600KB in size. The only time these files are downloaded to the client desktop is the first time they are accessed and whenever a new version is placed on the web server.

Once the PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® software is downloaded to the desktop, approximately 6MB of disk space is used to store the downloaded components. When the PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® terminal emulator is running, approximate 11MB of memory is used. This is in addition to the memory used by Internet Explorer. Each additional session uses less memory than the first session because the code section is shared by all PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® sessions.

Quicktrial or Download Options

There are two ways to evaluate the PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® terminal emulator: either download a copy of the software or do a QuickTrial of the PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® application. With QuickTrial, there is no server installation, you simply download the client and run the application from our web server. This is a fast and easy way to look at the PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® software. For those that want to install the PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® software on their own web server, you can download the fully functional 3270, 5250, SCO ANSI, VT100/VT220/VT420 and Wyse 60 emulator trial and complete a full evaluation.