Meet the premier transaction processor for z/OS: CICS Transaction Server V3.2
from CCR2, Issue 03 - 2007
|
Nick Garrod, Worldwide Marketing Manager for CICS Transaction Server for z/OS, and Phil Hanson, CICS Product Manager, contributed to this product update
|
CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Version 3.2 optimizes runtime services and lets you reuse CICS transactions in new ways, while delivering improved management and support of mixed application types and workloads.
A cornerstone of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) deployment is the application infrastructure the middleware that underlies and controls the runtime execution of your business applications, and provides developers with a rich set of tools to build applications. Fully aligned with SOA technologies, CICS Transaction Server provides the middleware to help your company build new applications and take advantage of new business opportunities quickly.
CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Version 3.2 enhances CICS application connectivity, CICS application reuse and CICS service management with additional support for traditional workloads and new capabilities that let you take advantage of SOA technologies.
Make connections
CICS integration lets you bring repurposed CICS applications into your SOA environment via standard APIs and protocols. CICS Transaction Server for z/OS includes these new integration capabilities:
Web Services support - By turning CICS applications into Web services, CICS Transaction Server helps you connect heterogeneous systems. CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V3.2 extends its support for the Web Services (WS)-Security standard with support for WS-Trust, which allows an authentication broker to negotiate trust between client applications and Web services and simplify systems management.
Web Services Description Language (WSDL) support - CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V3.2 complies with the latest specification for WSDL 2.0, WS-I Basic Profile (WS-I BP) 1.0 and WS-I Simple SOAP Binding Profile (SSBP) 1.0.
SOAP Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism (MTOM) and XML-Binary Optimized Packaging (XOP) support MTOM and XOP specifications define an optimized method for sending large data objects such as .jpg, .gif, .wav, .pdf, .doc, and .blob within SOAP messages. CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V3.2 lets you use these protocols to significantly reduce message size and message parsing processing time.
TCP/IP management and control facilities With CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V3.2, you can monitor and manage work as it passes in and out of network regions, identify bottlenecks, reconfigure regions for improved throughput and locate stalled tasks.
Reuse CICS applications
CICS application reuse enables you to create more flexible and configurable components from existing applications for use in new applications. Enhanced capabilities for reuse in CICS Transaction Server for z/OS include:
64-bit storage for channels and containers CICS Transaction Server V3.1 introduced containers and channels, an alternative to COMMAREAs, to provide greater flexibility and larger data transfer. CICS Transaction Server V3.2 enables the use of 64-bit storage to allow containers to exceed limits imposed by the 2GB bar, while also freeing some storage below the bar for other CICS and user data.
Service flows V3.2s upgraded service flow feature includes the service flow modeler/XSE component of IBM WebSphere Developer for System z V7.0 for building Web services from CICS applications.
CICS/MQ adapter V3.2 includes the CICS/MQ adapter along with the WebSphere MQ trigger monitor and CICS/MQ bridge. These features allow CICS and WebSphere MQ applications to exchange messages more quickly with better integration, to help you monitor and diagnose the exchange as you would other CICS resources.
Ease management
CICS service management uses modern user interfaces to help you meet demanding service level and IT governance objectives. Service management enhancements in CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V3.2 include:
CICSPlex System Manager (CPSM) enhancements CPSM simplifies management by bringing together CICS management functions with a modern graphical interface. Easier installation in V3.2 requires uses fewer steps and dynamically creates CICS resource definitions for CPSM objects. In addition, Web user interface (WUI) menus and customizable views for specific CICS operations tasks are ready for various job roles.
CICS open transaction environment (OTE) enhancements The OTE function removes a bottleneck to application throughput by allowing CICS application code to run non-CICS services within the CICS address space. However, developers must write threadsafe programs to use the function. To improve application response in environments with mixed VSAM and DB/2 resources, CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V3.2 provides threadsafe file control APIs for sharing VSAM files at the local and record levels. CICS-MQ TRUE and journal control APIs are threadsafe, as well.
Greater data capacity A single shared data table can now hold more than 2GB of information, exceeding the previous limit of 2GB combined for all shared data tables owned by a CICS region. The maximum practical size is now only limited by the amount of real storage available, enabling you to cache large quantities of read-only application data to help improve performance. In addition, V3.2 supports VSAM entry sequenced data sets greater than 4GB, so CICS applications can write more data for application logging or journaling before the file wraps and data is overwritten.
Exploit new technologies
CICS is IBM's premier transaction processor for the z/OS. Most IBM CICS tools now support CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V3.2.
Learn more about CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V3 at a customized CICS On Demand Seminar. Covering CICS functionality and strategic direction and delivered by an experienced CICS technical specialist, the seminar is tailored to your staff members interests and held at your site. For more information or to apply, contact your IBM account representative or e-mail cicssem@uk.ibm.com
|
|
 |
 |
Subscribe to CCR2's RSS news feed today!
If you are new to RSS, we suggest you read the Introduction to RSS article. |
 Free eNewsletters!
Publications for the IBM Tivoli and System z communities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
