August 2004

Glink Enterprise Edition

Glink is a communications package, from our partner Gallagher & Robertson, for use when connecting to mainframes from Windows platforms and designed to meet the needs of all major environments. Glink is used to access mainframe applications, transactional and database systems running on Bull, IBM, DEC, UNIX and Linux mainframes. It has Bull VIP7700, VIP7760, VIP7800, VIP8800, HDS, Questar DKU7107, DKU7211, DKU7102; IBM 3270 with GDDM graphics, IBM 5250; VT100, VT220, VT320 with Regis graphics, ANSI, Prestel and Minitel emulations.

Communication protocols, over TCP/IP, include G&R/Ggate, TNVIP, TN3270, TN3270E, TN5250 and Telnet. All Glink TCP/IP protocols can be secured using SSL. Glink also supports SSH.

Glink supports file transfer with various protocols, including FTP, Kermit, Zmodem and IND$FILE.

It provides integration with other Windows applications, standard or user-written. As well as having its own powerful script language it supports the COM+, OLE Automation, UVTI, HLLAPI and EHLLAPI application programming interfaces. Glink includes an OLE Automation Object and a COM+ object for integrating e-business applications with your core business mainframe applications.

Glink Professional Edition is the current offer in Bull’s catalog. The Professional Edition is run as a freestanding Windows workstation application, installed and configured on individual workstations. It is licensed by number of workstations (users).

Glink Enterprise Edition is the new edition announced, in Bull’s catalog in July 2004. The Enterprise Edition of Glink includes a new mechanism, 'web-controlled mode', allowing Glink to be run as a Windows workstation application that is installed, updated, configured and controlled centrally from a web server, with minimum end-user intervention.

By placing a Glink self-extracting installation package on a web server, an organization can completely automate delivery and installation of Glink to their users.

The delivery and installation process is completed with minimum end-user intervention. The user initiates the download and installation by clicking a URL, then accepts the installation security warning and accepts the defaults in the installation procedure.

The installation package is packed and signed by G&R with their digital signature to ensure integrity.

Copies of Glink installed in this way are automatically updated each time the system administrator makes a new version of Glink available on the web server. Glink itself checks each time that it is started that it is at the same level as is currently available on the web server, and if not, initiates the download and installation process for the new version.

The system administrator builds the command and configuration files necessary for each type of mainframe connection needed by the user groups.

The command and configuration files, prepared by the administrator and resident on the web server, are used to start a web-controlled Glink.

The command file points to the associated configuration file, also on the web server.

The command file also sets the script directory, again resident on the web server, containing all the scripts available to the Glink controlled by the command file.

The command file may also initiate a start-up script that is executed when the user starts the Glink controlled by the command file. The start-up script can simply log on to the target application, eliminating time-consuming interactive logon dialog, or it can set event handlers for patterns in the mainframe data, and/or keyboard keys, then wait in the background, ready to handle the events, increasing the functionality of Glink in the application context.

Web controlled copies of Glink can be initiated by URLs in web pages, by URLs embedded in desktop icons, or by URLs executed from within other applications.

Glink Enterprise Edition is licensed by number of concurrent sessions. The Enterprise Edition requires a Glink license server for issuing session licenses. A monitor program is also supplied to display relevant status information.

Architecture summary

Installation (one-time download and each time the version is updated) on the workstations:

1. Request installation package from the Web server

Client connection to an application:

2. Request configuration files from the Web server for the required connection

3. Request a license from the license server

4. Connect to the application

• A Web server is prerequisite for Glink Enterprise Edition (" Web-controlled mode ").
  As this mode only requires links to html pages and the capability for download of files to the browser, any web server may be used
  (Alternatively, an FTP server or a file server can be used instead of the Web server)
  
• A Windows Server is prerequisite for the G&R/GlinkEE license server
  
• A communication gateway (TNVIP Server or G&R/Ggate) is prerequisite for connections to GCOS 7 or GCOS 8 systems

The Enterprise Edition of Glink uses a license server to supply by-session licenses to clients.

The licensing service will run as a Windows service on a single machine that must be available from all clients needing a license. An additional monitoring program is supplied that enables the administrator to track licensing activity and also control aspects of the service interactively.

Although licensing is done by default from a central machine the administrator may also set up backup licensing services on additional machines in the network to provide temporary licensing in the case where the main licensing machine is unavailable for some reason.

The name used by the license server is the link between the server and the clients. The name must be exactly the same on both sides, and must also be the exact DNS name that clients will use to connect to the server (it can be local only e.g. ‘glserver’ if that is sufficient to make the connection, or fully qualified e.g. ‘glserver.gar.no’ if that is what the clients will use). The Glink license will be issued specifically for the DNS name used by the clients to connect to the server, so it's important that this is registered correctly when asking for a GlinkEE license.

As the DNS name of the server will not be known at order time, Bull will deliver a temporary license key where the license server name will be set to "localhost". This temporary license key allows the DNS name of the server to be set during installation, and runs for 30 days from the installation time.

It will be under the responsibility of the administrator to request a definitive license key by sending a mail to the address indicated in the installation procedure and by giving the DNS name of the Windows server he will use for the license server.