Host Access Solutions: Terminal Emulation Software and Host Integration

3270, 5250, VT100, VT220, VT420, SCO ANSI and Wyse 60 Host Access General Questions

PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® Web Based Terminal Emulator

Can PASSPORT WEB TO HOST be used with Windows Vista?

Yes, PASSPORT WEB TO HOST 2007 can be used with Windows Vista and has received the "Works with Windows Vista" designation.

Can PASSPORT WEB TO HOST be used with Windows XP/2000?

Yes, PASSPORT WEB TO HOST is fully compatible with Windows XP/2000.

Does PASSPORT WEB TO HOST support Windows NT, 98 or 95?

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/.

How does PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® differ from IBM Host on Demand?

From an architectural and feature perspective, two web to host terminal emulation products lead the market: PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® from Zephyr and Host on Demand (HOD) from IBM®. Both solutions include an extensive list of features normally found only in desktop-based emulation. Yet the two solutions are very different.

PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® was designed specifically for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Windows. Thus, companies that use Windows Vista, XP and 2000 as their primary desktop platform will find the 32-bit Microsoft architecture of PASSPORT to be far less maintenance intensive than the Java-based IBM HOD (a common complaint of IBM HOD users is the frequency of Java updates).

Depending upon the PC system, PASSPORT WEB TO HOST can also be significantly faster and more usable than the 8-bit interpretive Java™ design of HOD. In fact, experts claim that a C++ application like PASSPORT can be up to 70% faster than a Java™-based solution. With PASSPORT, users can continue to use important Windows functions like Cut, Copy and Paste with the emulator and have use of the full PC keyboard.

What is the difference between PASSPORT PC TO HOST® and PASSPORT WEB TO HOST?

The terminal emulation and file transfer featured in both Zephyr terminal emulation suites is identical.

PASSPORT PC TO HOST® provides desktop-based terminal emulation and file transfer and is Certified for Windows Vista. It is also fully compatible with Microsoft Windows XP and 2000. Most customers use SMS, MSI or a comparable software distribution tool to distribute the application. You can also publish the application from a Citrix server, with our without the use of the Citrix single sign-on solution.

As the name implies, PASSPORT WEB TO HOST is a browser-based terminal emulator that runs within the framework of Internet Explorer. PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® provides the same terminal emulation and file transfer found in PASSPORT PC TO HOST, but is generally deployed from a web server (it can also be deployed using SMS or MSI). The web-based solution can be used to integrate host access through an organizational portal.

What are the advantages of PASSPORT WEB TO HOST®?

The primary advantages of using a web-based terminal emulator for host access over a desktop-based thick client are portal integration (the ability to launch host sessions from a corporate or organizational intranet) and centralized administration.

With centralized administration, all configuration and management of the application is done on the web server. There is no need to install and configure the client software on each client PC. When a new release of the software becomes available, only the web server needs to be upgraded. The new software will be detected and automatically downloaded to the client PC, eliminating the need to manually install an update on each desktop.

This publishing model can render significant savings for network administrators and is especially helpful if you have lots of remote users. Experts estimate that a 25% savings can be realized for host access simply by migrating to this model.

How does PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® work?

PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® is an ActiveX component that performs 3270, 5250, VT100/VT220/VT420, SCO ANSI and Wyse 60 terminal emulation within Internet Explorer. It also includes FTP file transfer.

A typical scenario under which PASSPORT WEB TO HOST can be used is described here:

The PASSPORT session is launched from the PASSPORT web site. The URL http://Yourwebsite/pec/ is the default URL used to launch an PASSPORT session. 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 whenever the server version of the ActiveX component changes to a later version. Once downloaded, the user simply accesses the host by launching a browser session that connects directly to the host.

What is 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.

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.