Software Foundations


The construction of an on demand computing environment requires a broad set of software based on open standards that provides for things like security, interoperability, systems management, application program integration, database management, collaboration, and more. IBM offers several families of software products that run across all eServer lines and provide the foundation for an on demand operating environment. In this section, we will look at four IBM software families that form the foundation bedrock of the IBM on demand strategy: WebSphere, DB2, Lotus, and Tivoli.

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Tivoli

Tivoli is the arm of IBM that develops software products used to simplify the management of several key issues that arise when operating computing infrastructures. The Tivoli family includes products that help a business manage security, storage, performance, availability, configuration, and system operation.

In the area of security, Tivoli provides software that allows businesses to centrally define a security policy and have that policy consistently enforced across the entire application and server portfolio. This means that rather than doing security at an individual level, although this is still possible, individuals can be assigned to groups and automatically inherit the security rights of a group. It also means that a central, rule-based privacy/security policy can be developed. Rules can be kept in a central data store and changed in this one place as needed. Tivoli security management aids in the development and use of this policy. The Tivoli security methodology also allows the use of a single sign-on and implementation of these policies across heterogeneous systems.

In the area of storage management, Tivoli again offers an array of products such as the IBM Tivoli Storage Manager. Many of these allow you to manage the multiple terabytes and petabytes of data acquired from Web contacts and nontraditional media, such as voice and pictures. Some of these solutions also help you back up and recover data, including the tools necessary to gain off-site recovery. As the volume of information explodes, the task of managing that information and insuring its availability becomes too big to manage manually. Tivoli offers a comprehensive SAN (Storage Area Network) solutions that provides end-to-end data protection, resource sharing, and SAN management for complex storage environments.

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Tivoli also offers a set of software products that address the management of system performance and availability. This software monitors the different components of a business's computing infrastructure. Based on policy set up, the products can send an alert, perform an action, or, in some cases, analyze, determine, and act on the information it receives without human intervention. This is indicative of the self-healing and self-optimizing software functions that arise from the autonomic computing element of an on demand operating environment.

Configuring and operating computing infrastructures is becoming an increasingly complex undertaking. As a business progresses down the on demand path, complexity will increase, and this is the impetus behind the autonomic computing initiative described earlier. Tivoli offers a line of configuration and operations software designed to provide the self-configuring and self-optimizing, tools that help reduce these complexities. For example, Tivoli Configuration Manager provides the software to effectively manage software distribution over servers, desktops, laptops, and other multiple devices, including pervasive devices such as Palm OS, PocketPC, and Nokia Communicator devices. The Tivoli configuration and operations management solutions are integrated products that can be purchased as a suite to provide an integrated result to help a business reduce costs, gain automated control of a computing infrastructure, and improve organization productivity.

WebSphere

WebSphere is a family of IBM software products that provide an open standard platform and tools that help a business develop, deploy, and integrate e-business application programs. The family is composed of many components that are loosely categorized into four groups: Foundation & Tools, Business Portals, Business Integration, and Transaction Servers & Tools.

The Foundation & Tools segment of the WebSphere family contains the core components of the WebSphere architecture. These include products that prepare existing applications for e-business on demand. Following a component structure, applications are integrated into automated, connected processes. The foundation of the WebSphere Software Platform is WebSphere Application Server. This middleware component provides the functions required to receive requests, execute functions, and interface with all other WebSphere components. It also provides a runtime environment for J2EE and Web services application programs, and allows them to access data from relational databases, legacy systems such as CICS (Customer Information Control System) and IMS (Information Management System), other application servers such as Lotus Domino, and CRM or ERP systems. This enables a business to integrate existing business processes with new Web applications using Web services, with little understanding of the old technology required.

The Business Portals segment of the WebSphere family includes the software components that allow you to create and customize the interface your customers use to interact with your business. These include tools that allow your users to customize their view of your Web site (personalization and portals) or access an application program from most any device (pervasive solutions, mobile connections, and voice solutions). Products in this segment include things like the WebSphere Portal and WebSphere Commerce Portal. The idea is to provide a customized interactive experience that increases the user satisfaction of a business's customers, employees, business partners, suppliers, etc.

The Business Integration segment of WebSphere includes products that help a business integrate internal and external business process workflows and integrate as well as disparate application programs. That is, business integration provides the tools to integrate data, applications programs, processes, and people. For example, the WebSphere MQ Workflow, WebSphere InterChange Server, and WebSphere Business Integration Workbench products are designed to enable business integration. This software allows you to model your enterprise business processes, cost them, simulate the processes, and then deploy them. The MQ Workflow product is also used for application program integration, enabling the flow of information between otherwise incompatible systems.

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In the fourth WebSphere segment, Transaction Servers & Tools, you find software that helps you maintain and integrate your legacy systems with your current application development. This is important because there are many application programs and supporting subsystems that were originally developed many years ago that are still in productive use, often providing critical business functions. The challenge is to integrate these existing (or legacy) systems into the infrastructure as you evolve towards an on demand operating environment. The WebSphere tools a business can use to perform this integration include things like WebSphere Studio Enterprise Developer, WebSphere Asset Analyzer, WebSphere Host Integration Solution, and the CICS Transaction Gateway.

DB2

DB2 is the IBM family of database software products designed to manage large amounts of information efficiently. The software that is required to store data, move data, and manage data is in this group. Database software is already important to businesses of all sizes and will become increasingly important as a business moves towards the on demand model. The growth of information being stored is being driven fundamentally by two trends. First, the growing number of customers, employees, and business partners interacting with application programs and Web sites generates a mass of valuable business information that must be stored. Second, the type of information being stored (document images, photographs, graphics, audio, video, etc.) requires more storage space, which must be more efficiently managed. For these reasons, DB2 products are often used in conjunction with WebSphere and Tivoli software to build and manage large data warehouse projects.

The DB2 family includes the flagship DB2 Universal Database as DB2 Content Manager, DB2 Information Integrator and the U2, IMS, and Informix database products (IBM purchased Informix in 2001). DB2 Universal Database, IBM's relational database, is also a staple of Fortune 500 companies. In addition, IBM uses DB2 Universal Database to underpin many of its other software products, such as Content Manager and WebSphere Application Server. DB2 Content Manager and DB2 Information Integrator are primarily used for storing unstructured data such as document images, PC-created documents, photos, and videos. DB2 Everyplace makes it easy to extend DB2 database access to portable devices such as PDAs and smart phones. For example, a group of second-year Penn State University students used DB2 Universal Database and DB2 Everyplace to implement an on-line campus store called "Virtual Coconuts" as a class project. Penn State students can order Hawaiian shirts, grass skirts, and other items through Virtual Coconuts on their Palm Pilot PDAs.

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IMS is a transaction-oriented database used in many everyday applications, including automated teller machines (ATMs) and travel reservation systems. Informix was acquired by IBM in 2001 because of its strong customer base in the mid-size data storage and data warehouse market. U2 is designed for use within vertical application programs.

Lotus

The Lotus Notes and Domino family of software products provides advanced communication and collaboration functions. Lotus was a key purchase for IBM in the early 1990s. With the purchase, IBM expanded into the developing collaborative world and has enjoyed great success. Lotus has continued its emphasis on collaborative products and provides the ability for global teamwork, global meetings, and global learning. Some examples of products from the Lotus family are Lotus Notes, Lotus Domino, Lotus Sametime, and Lotus Team Workplace.

Lotus Notes provides a messaging/collaboration framework based on a shared Notes database that enables geographically dispersed teams to work together efficiently. The Domino Server family is an integrated messaging and Web application software platform. It consists of several components including Domino Server (the server for Notes), Domino Everyplace (supporting wireless hand-held devices), and application program development tools such as Domino Designer, Enterprise Integrator, Domino Application Studio, etc.

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Lotus Sametime is a collaboration and messaging tool that provides an instant chat feature allowing people to send text messages to each other in real time. It also contains a facility to share documents during a meeting. Lotus Team Workplace is a Web-based collaborative team workspace that integrates with existing applications such as Lotus Notes, Sametime, and Microsoft Office XP The tool helps users schedule meetings, manage tasks, communicate in real time, present ideas, and create and edit documents.




Building an On Demand Computing Environment with IBM. How to Optimize Your Current Infrastructure for Today and Tomorrow
Building an On Demand Computing Environment with IBM: How to Optimize Your Current Infrastructure for Today and Tomorrow (MaxFacts Guidebook series)
ISBN: 193164411X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 20
Authors: Jim Hoskins

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