John R Hind

IBM eNetwork host on-demand: the beginning of a new era for accessing host information in a Web environment

This paper describes software technology that makes it possible to run host applications seamlessly in a World Wide Web environment. Web technology has opened up the potential for unprecedented access of data and applications by all types of users. Yet, the incompatibility between host technology (e.g., 3270) and Web technology (e.g., HTTP) has prevented Web users from directly accessing hundreds of thousands of host applications. The cost for re-implementing these applications would be enormous, and the effect to ongoing business would be disruptive. Host On-Demand extends Web access to reach existing host applications directly by using Java™ technology and provides a number of powerful features including: emulation functions on demand, persistent connections, customized session windows, multiple sessions, platform flexibility, and host security. This paper summarizes these features, describes Java implementation techniques, and outlines the need for some new network computing services.