Links To Help Understand Host Integration Concepts

There are estimates that as much as 70% of overall business data resides in IBM host systems, thus making
Host Integration Server such
an interesting part of an (SOA) architecture. Being able to interact with the data and applications that reside in those
mainframes and midrange servers (without leaving a footprint) as .NET web services introduces some compeling ways to reuse
existing assets in inventive new ways.

All that said, in order to understand Host Integration Server, you've got to
have a grasp on how host systems operate. Below I've listed a couple of the external links I've used over time to dig
deep into the various networking, data and application concepts.

Communications - SNA

• IBM Systems Network Architecture Protocols
• Introduction to SNA
• IBM SNA - Systems Network Architecture and Protocols
• SNA and TCP/IP Integration

Data

• Virtual Storage Access Method Tutorial
• IMS Primer

Applications

• A Beginner's Guide to Programming COBOL
• Customer Information Control System (CICS) Overview
• MQSeries Primer

HIS is one of the most mature server products we offer, starting as SNA Server back in the 90s. But a developer who has always
lived in a Microsoft world may have avoided products like HIS because it involved understanding concepts that were previously
unfamiliar. However, you may be missing the opportunity to utilize and integrate with data you previously thought was inaccessible in your
.NET applications.