Tools and Technologies

To implement the data integration solution using the Microsoft technologies described in this chapter, the following .NET Enterprise Server products are required:

  • Microsoft SQL Server  2000
  • Microsoft Host Integration Server 2000

SQL Server 2000 provides the Data Transformation Services (DTS) feature used for data transformation and movement between the data stores. DTS can use ODBC or OLE DB to connect to heterogeneous data sources. SQL Server can also be used as the repository for the data transformed and moved from the remote IBM DB2 system.

Host Integration Server 2000 provides the core networking connectivity over SNA or TCP/IP to AS/400 and mainframe systems as well as the Microsoft ODBC Driver for DB2 and the Microsoft OLE DB Provider for DB2.

Windows 2000 Server (Server, Advanced Server, or DataCenter Server) is a required prerequisite for installing SQL Server 2000 and Host Integration Server 2000. SQL Server 2000 and Host Integration Server 2000 can also be installed on Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 6a. However, Windows 2000 supports a number of new features that make it preferred.

Developers working on an implementation of this data integration scenario are likely to require Microsoft Visual Studio for any custom programming. The latest version, Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, released in February of 2002, is needed for development if new features such as the .NET Framework and managed code will be used. However, the older version of Visual Studio 6.0 can also be used for development, since the .NET Framework is not required in the implementation that is discussed in this chapter. Compared with many of the different scenarios discussed in this book, the data integration solution discussed in this chapter can be implemented with minimal programming.

This scenario assumes that critical business applications are running on an AS/400 computer using IBM DB2 for the data store. DB2/400 comes integrated as part of the OS/400 operating system for the AS/400 hardware platforms. With minor changes, this same scenario could be used with business applications on other platforms using DB2 as the data store.

IBM implements DB2 using the IBM Distributed Relational Database Architecture (DRDA). DRDA enables customers to access remote, distributed database systems across hardware platforms. DRDA supports most dialects of the Structured Query Language (SQL) for access to relational database management systems. IBM and other software vendors have implemented DRDA support into database systems, such as IBM DB2, and database tools on a wide range of operating systems. DRDA is an open, published, and widely supported protocol, which requires no additional license for development. This makes DRDA appealing to independent software vendors (ISVs), solution providers and large corporate development groups, as well as their customers.

Host Integration Server 2000 includes the following features for connecting with DB2 systems:

  • Microsoft ODBC Driver for DB2
  • Microsoft OLE DB Provider for DB2

Both the ODBC Driver for DB2 and the OLE DB Provider for DB2 included with Host Integration Server 2000 are implemented as an IBM DRDA application requester, which means it connects to popular DRDA-compliant DB2 systems.

The Microsoft OLE DB Provider for DB2 and the Microsoft ODBC Driver for DB2 can access the following DB2 systems through SNA LU 6.2 using Microsoft Host Integration Server 2000:

  • DB2 for MVS Version 4 Release 1 (V4R1) or later
  • DB2 for OS/390 Version 5 Release 1 (V5R1) or later
  • DB2 for OS/400 (DB2/400) Version 3 Release 2 (V3R2) or later

The Microsoft OLE DB Provider for DB2 and the Microsoft ODBC Driver for DB2 can access the following DB2 systems directly using TCP/IP:

  • DB2 for OS/390 Version 5 Release 1 (V5R1) or later
  • DB2 for OS/400 (DB2/400) Version 4 Release 2 (V4R2) or later
  • DB2 Universal Database for Windows NT Version 5 Release 2 (V5R2) or later
  • DB2 Universal Database for AIX Version 5 Release 2 (V5R2) or later

Note that DB2 for OS/400 (DB2/400) Version 4 Release 3 (V4R3) requires that PTF SF99103 be applied. DB2 for OS/400 (DB2/400) Version 4 Release 4 (V4R4) requires that PTF SF99104 be applied.

IBM DB2 with DRDA support is available on a variety of other platforms. The OLE DB Provider for DB2 has not been tested with these other implementations.

The latest version of DB2 available at the present time is DB2 Universal Database Version 7.2 released by IBM in June 2001 for a number of platforms (Windows and UNIX). Note that one of the options proposed for implementation of this data integration scenario is based on using SQL triggers, a feature added in IBM DB2 Universal Database Version 6.0 and later. On the AS/400, these features were added with the release of DB2 Universal Database for OS/400, included as part of the OS/400 operating system in Version 5 Release 1. Prior to OS/400 V5R1, SQL triggers were not supported but system triggers could be used. System triggers are external programs written in RPG, COBOL, or ILE C that are attached to a physical or logical file that trigger on file system changes. Since DB2 tables are implemented as part of the file system on OS/400, system triggers can be used to implement the same effects as SQL triggers.

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Microsoft Corporation - Microsoft. Net Server Solutions for the Enterprise
Microsoft .NET Server Solutions for the Enterprise
ISBN: 0735615691
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 483

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