module 3 - clear path technical agility
DESCRIPTION
Clear path mainframe awareness certification - module 3 - Clear path Technical AgilityTRANSCRIPT
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ClearPath systems offer state of the art technology for mission-critical business
solutions. They offer the rock-solid foundation that clients rely on for their most
critical applications while offering technical agility.
In today’s competitive and global economy, business relies on IT to facilitate the fast
pace of change which has become a business reality. IT requires computing
platforms and solutions that collaborate, interoperate, and integrate in a diverse,
multi-vendor environment. The IT solutions must able to facilitate fast changing
business demands. IT must be able to add new business requirements and change
existing requirements without skipping a beat.
ClearPath technology allows such quick changes as ClearPath systems are designed
for technical agility.
In this module you will learn more about the technical attributes and solutions of
ClearPath systems and how each ClearPath solution ties directly to the needs of
today’s businesses.
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Upon completion of this module, you should be able to:
•Describe Unisys ClearPath technical agility.
•Describe the function of the MCP JProcessor and OS 2200 JProcessor products.
•Describe the function of the ClearPath ePortal.
•Describe the ClearPath Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).
•Describe ClearPath examples of integration with open-system, industry-standard
hardware and software.
•Describe ClearPath security features.
The purpose of this module is to explore in greater detail, the technical agility aspect
of ClearPath servers.
ClearPath technical agility facilitates our clients’ business agility through automation,
integration, support of open standards, and by enabling rapid response to ever
changing technical requirements. For example, ClearPath technical agility facilitates
interoperability between internal and external IT assets to support business
efficiencies.
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ClearPath mainframes demonstrate substantial technical agility through its diverse
set of technologies.
This page displays a list of a few key technical capabilities offered by the ClearPath
platforms and its solutions.
ClearPath technical innovation is on-going.
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As we stated in Module 1, ClearPath offers a rich set of middleware that
enables ClearPath applications and databases to integrate,
interoperate, and collaborate with virtually any system, application or
database that our clients may employ in their datacenters.
ClearPath applications, transaction processing environments, and
databases can participate in distributed environments within the
datacenter and beyond.
ClearPath middleware technologies enable collaboration between
different business functions. For instance, an airline application running
on ClearPath may accept and make flight reservations, perform credit
card transactions, check passenger background with security
authorities, manage frequent mileage actions, reserve hotel rooms and
car rentals, permit passenger check-in operations from Web and mobile
devices, and so on.
Such a laundry list of operations would not be performed by a single
application, a single server, or even a single datacenter. Consequently,
ClearPath supports industry standard and industry popular de facto IT
standards.
Integration of the IT assets is about effective IT infrastructure. Through
integration of the IT silos, the clients integrate their business silos.
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These are a few of the major industry-standard technologies and
interfaces supported by ClearPath environments.
Studies show that ClearPath clients achieve substantial ROI by
investing in and modernizing their ClearPath applications.
These interfaces and technologies allow clients to integrate their
ClearPath applications and data with their other data assets. And these
technologies allow a wide variety of human interfaces including Web-
based clients and mobile devices.
Does it sounds complicated? Unisys offers consulting and
implementation services that support ClearPath clients’ integration
projects and activities and that help the clients to find the best
technology for their requirements.
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Unisys offers automatic middleware such as the ClearPath ePortal that
greatly simplifies implementing human interfaces such as Web-based
clients and smart mobile devices.
Since ClearPath employs industry-standard interfaces and tools, much
of the work required is accomplished using common IT skills.
The bottom line: If you have ClearPath clients, ensure that they are
aware of these open system options and assist them with their
integrations.
Organizations such as The Open Group and the W3C define an open system as one
that exposes industry-standard internal and external interfaces. This white paper,
written by Peter Bye, examines ClearPath systems from a number of perspectives
and shows that they are open by this definition.
However, ClearPath systems also exhibit mission-critical attributes, especially
reliability and security. The combination of open and mission-critical attributes makes
the ClearPath system the ideal platform for enterprise transaction processing.
Click the ―White Paper‖ hypertext link to open the white paper in PDF format from the
Unisys Web site. Click the adjacent information icon to open the file from the course
folder.
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Service Oriented Architecture or SOA (sew-ah) is a major trend within IT
infrastructures.
SOA’s key value is improved business and IT alignment. SOA brings overall flexibility;
it embraces change and allows businesses to focus on innovation rather than
maintenance.
SOA is a style of design, deployment and management of applications and software
infrastructure in which applications are organized into business services that are
network accessible.
Industry analysts recommend adopting an evolutionary SOA approach rather than
risky rip-and-replace.
ClearPath applications and databases can fully participate in enterprise-wide SOA-
based solutions. The clients can also create new ClearPath-based SOA services.
Unisys offers a rich set of ClearPath SOA technologies to ensure that ClearPath
solutions can leverage the SOA benefits.
SOA is a true enabler of business agility.
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SOA expands the ClearPath reach into many other environments, delivering more
complete transaction processing and general IT capabilities that enhance business
value. The SOA implementations enhance the value of current applications and
ensure that they can keep pace with business changes, quickly and cost-effectively.
ClearPath clients may leverage SOA in many ways as seen here. SOA offers great
value as it maximizes the ROI of a client’s current ClearPath applications and data
assets.
How is this accomplished? SOA enables the reuse of the current ClearPath—and
non-ClearPath —applications and data. Consequently, new business requirements
can be implemented quicker, at lower cost and at lower risk. SOA is also about
connecting silos. By connecting technology silos, SOA connects business silos.
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The purpose of this page is to simply show the wide set of ClearPath SOA
technologies offered for MCP–based ClearPath systems.
Chances are this slide looks complicated. It is complicated. But note that Unisys
offers ClearPath consulting and implementation services for each of these
technologies. Unisys experts can help clients to choose and implement the best
solutions for their specific business and technical requirements. It is not our objective
to force each and every one of these technologies onto the backs of our clients.
Using a consultative approach, we should identify which solutions will help improve or
grow our client’s business. Then, construct the implementation strategy based on our
excellent consulting and implementation services.
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The purpose of this page is to simply show the wide set of ClearPath SOA
technologies offered for OS 2200–based ClearPath systems.
Again, remember that not every ClearPath technology may be right for every client.
The key is to identify the solutions that will grow our clients’ businesses and employ
ClearPath consulting and implementation services to make it happen!
So what is the Unisys value add?
Transformation of the non-SOA ClearPath assets to SOA services is a major benefit,
and offers significant cost savings for ClearPath clients.
Unisys innovations offer technology that automatically creates and implements
participation in enterprise-wide SOA for ClearPath assets. These offerings are called
ClearPath ePortal for the MCP and OS 2200 platforms.
Unisys AB Suite generates applications from business rules, which is also SOA
enabled.
Click the video icon to view a brief video regarding SOA and ClearPath.
Click the information icon to access a Peter Bye article regarding SOA and
ClearPath.
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The ClearPath Specialty Engines provide optimized run-time environments for
specific functions such as Java, messaging, encrypting, and modernization. The
ClearPath Specialty Engines are tightly integrated with the OS 2200 and MCP
platforms and operating environments.
The result is higher performance at a lower cost. Each specialty engine incorporates
integration software and connection technologies that make it a transparent extension
of the native ClearPath system. Furthermore, ClearPath specialty engines protect
clients’ new applications with the high security features for which ClearPath systems
are known.
Specialty engines enable a critical element of the ClearPath architectural evolution.
They address special application requirements without requiring new programming
skills or techniques allowing application enrichment in a much shorter period of time.
Specialty engines are a native component of the ClearPath service-oriented
architecture (SOA) initiative.
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There are four specialty engines available for OS 2200 / Dorado platforms: The OS
2200 JProcessor, which supports a Java environment under OS 2200 control, the OS
2200 QProcessor, supporting large-scale messaging via IBM WebSphere
MQ software, the Crypto processor, which offloads industry-standard encryption
functions, and the ClearPath ePortal, which supports Web, Web Services and Smart
Phone integration.
There are three specialty engines available for the MCP / Libra platforms: the MCP
JProcessor, ClearPath ePortal, and the Crypto Processor.
Let’s take a closer look at the ClearPath ePortal Specialty Engine.
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The Unisys ClearPath ePortal extends existing or new ClearPath MCP and OS 2200
applications to the Web, web services, and mobile environments including smart
phones.
ClearPath ePortal is a point-and-click Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) enabler
that can rapidly extend ClearPath applications to reach new partners, channels, and
markets through Web, Mobile or Web Services technologies.
ClearPath ePortal is an optimized, application-specific architecture that provides
automation at every point in the solution— from development to deployment.
ClearPath ePortal requires no new skills, radically reducing the time and cost of
creating expanded Web solutions. This accelerates the time-to-market and brings
new levels of efficiency to a client’s ClearPath infrastructure. With ClearPath ePortal,
ClearPath clients can leverage industry-standard skills while leveraging their
ClearPath application investments.
In a nutshell, ClearPath ePortal allows our ClearPath clients to create Web Services
with point and click simplicity from existing ClearPath applications to facilitate
participation in SOA strategies with no application changes at dramatically lower
costs.
The Unisys ClearPath OS 2200 and MCP JProcessors are specialty engines that
provide a secure environment to run Java applications under the control of a
ClearPath operating systems on a ClearPath Dorado or Libra server.
The OS 2200 and MCP JProcessors are optimized for the Java environment. They
support the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) Runtime Environment and the
Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) and JBoss Application server. The Java
SE Runtime Environment provides the libraries, the Java Virtual Machine, and other
components to run portable applications written in the Java programming language.
Java EE is an industry standard for developing portable, robust, scalable and secure
server-side Java applications built on the foundation provided by Java SE.
The OS 2200 and MCP JProcessors are integrated with the ClearPath server and
operating system, enabling Java applications to take advantage of the high,
enterprise levels of performance, reliability, and security of the MCP and OS 2200
operating environments.
Unisys offers also a set of Java connectors that enable any Java application on any
server to access ClearPath OS 2200 and MCP transactions and databases.
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The specialty engine is a physical rack-mount server in most ClearPath systems. It is
implemented as a virtual server within the Libra 4100 series systems.
Bottom line: If the client needs Java, this is how Java can be processed in the
ClearPath environment!
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These are a few of the key benefits of implementing OS2200 JProcessor and MCP
Jprocessors. The OS 2200 and MCP JProcessors:
• Provide enterprise-class Java processing with unmatched security andavailability.
• Are optimized for Java processing.
• Avoid the costs of integrating, administering, operating, and securing astandalone server for a Java application.
• Offload Java application processing from the central system processors,optimizing performance and price/performance.
• Function as a transparent extension of the ClearPath architecture withoutapplication changes.
• Increase ROI in existing non-Java applications by leveraging new Java-basedtechnology.
• Reduce developer training costs by employing industry standard developmenttools.
• Improve economics by allowing the deployment of open source applications anddevelopment tools.
Click the Web information icon to access the JProcessor information at the Unisys
Offerings Web page.
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It is our strategy to provide industry standard tools to develop, deploy and manage
ClearPath applications. Thus, ClearPath systems support a large and growing array
of industry standard software development, automation, and integration technologies.
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ClearPath supports key industry-standard software technologies using
industry-standard skills and tools, such as those displayed on this slide.
These technologies especially support automation, integration, and new
development activities.
Utilizing these technologies we significantly expand the range of
industry professionals who can develop, implement, and manage
ClearPath solutions.
ClearPath support of these technologies offers the following benefits to
the ClearPath client:
• ClearPath applications and databases integrate with UNIX, Linux,
Windows, and other servers and their applications
• Modernize ClearPath applications with graphical human interfaces
with Web or mobile device access
• Allow clients to develop applications and user interfaces using
industry-standard development tools and skills
• Maximize the ROI of ClearPath applications and data assets
• Maintain mission-critical, business-critical applications in the secure,
stable, and reliable ClearPath environment
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Open Source is a burgeoning area within software development and is gaining
momentum with enterprise-class application developers.
Open source software is both a philosophy and a process. It describes the intended
use of software and methods for its distribution. In simple terms, the fundamental
Open Source software source code is available for free, and the code and inherent
intellectual property is made available to clients. In fact, Open Source encourages
collaboration and cooperation between developers and organizations. Even though
Open Source software is often licensed for free, open source software is not the
same as free software. Open source means that you are free to use, read, modify,
and redistribute the source code and program as you wish. And regarding the word
free, note that organizations often pay support subscriptions and professional service
fees for Open Source packages.
Open source is moving forward quickly. One obvious reason is that there are a large
number of Open Source developers and tools. But as Gartner points out, a second
reason to adopt Open Source is that major IT vendors are participating in Open
Source development. But is Open Source ready to run core business processes?
ClearPath takes open source a step further. Without compromising the fundamental
open source technology, ClearPath provides extensions that enable a more complete
solution environment for enterprise-class users. These extensions provide added
simplicity, improved performance, and wider applicability across the ClearPath and
data center environment. In other words, ClearPath moves Open Source to the core,
mission-critical business.
And at the same time, the ClearPath community benefits from the Open Source
development community that consist of thousands of individuals and companies. If
you are not familiar with Open Source, click the information icon to learn more.
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This slide displays the specific Unisys value adds in regards to Open Source
implementation.
The problem with Open Source, much like Linux in the early days, is that it is not
always ready for prime time. Thus, Unisys offers significant value add by testing,
qualifying, integrating, and packaging Open Source applications to run in the
business environment on the stable ClearPath platform.
The ClearPath client base realizes the following benefits from the Unisys value add in
regards to Open Source:
• Unisys tests, qualifies, and fully supports Open Source tools, elements and
solutions
• Unisys brings value through added features such as plug-ins
• Unisys makes Open Source applications and development tools easy to install and
easy to implement
• Open Source offers rapid access to new features and technologies
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ClearPath IDE for Eclipse is one example of ClearPath Open Source elements and
plug-ins.
ClearPath OS 2200 IDE for Eclipse and ClearPath MCP IDE for Eclipse are all-in-one
packages containing Open Source products and Unisys-developed, value add
products for tight integration with existing ClearPath assets. Featured in these
packages is the Open Source Eclipse IDE, the world’s most popular Java
development environment. But it is not just about Java, the Unisys innovations make
this the tool available for all ClearPath development such as Cobol, C++ and so forth.
Unisys has tested, qualified, and integrated all included products to work in the
ClearPath OS 2200 and MCP environments.
Unisys ClearPath IDE for Eclipse packages implement industry-standard tools for
developing and enhancing OS 2200-based and MCP-based applications. These
important offerings make it easy to develop ClearPath applications by both ClearPath
and non-ClearPath developers. For example, they automatically generate Java
Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) code to access existing ClearPath transactions and
data.
Thus, ClearPath IDE for Eclipse offers our ClearPath clients the benefits of Open
Source.
Let’s change gears and conclude our technology agility segment by stating that Clear
Path is the best place for best place for business applications.
Bold statement, isn’t it?
To back up this statement, let’s compare ClearPath servers and ―other‖ servers in
seven key categories to determine which platform is the most stable, scalable,
reliable, secure place to run business applications. And by the way, the intent of this
comparison is not to demean or devalue other server offerings. Unix, Linux,
Windows, and other servers have their place in business. Many times, just good
enough is indeed, good enough.
This comparison will also serve as an informal summary of the major topics we have
discussed in the course today.
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So here are the seven comparison categories:
• General Applications
• Complex Business Applications
• Security
• Integration
• Scalability
• Software Upgrades
• Support
Let’s see how the ClearPath server compares to other servers!
Let’s compare ClearPath to other servers in regards to running general business
applications.
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When customers deploy an application on other servers, they
typically acquire the hardware and software from different
vendors—often , the hardware, operating system, applications,
security and firewall software, and so forth are all acquired from
separate vendors.
This leaves the customer the job of integrating the complex
pieces themselves, or pay someone else to do it.
And if multiple servers are required to handle the IT workload,
licensing the multiple pieces of software becomes an issue.
Then customers must deal with compatibility and integration
issues between the products, especially when one of the pieces is
upgraded. And if something goes wrong, the customer must
determine who to go to for support.
Not to mention that most other servers were not designed from
the beginning to actually handle core business, mission critical
applications. They often fall short in performance, stability,
reliability, and in security.
There is an easier way! If you remember from module 1, a key
attribute of mainframe computing is the single vendor advantage.
Let’s see how this works out in regards to ClearPath!
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When you place an application on a ClearPath MCP or ClearPath
OS 2200 server, the client experience is very different:
• ClearPath servers were designed to be secure from the
beginning. Security is inherent in the hardware and software
architecture.
• Many flexible licensing models are available, including pay-for-
use and the Cloud.
• The hardware, operating system, utilities, other critical system
software are purchased from one vendor and is completely
integrated, qualified, and tested for compatibility.
• Software updates can be completed in minutes or hours, with
no or minimal interruption to business processing.
• ClearPath servers were designed to support hundreds of
mission critical concurrent applications and databases. This
offers the benefit from the economies of scale associated with
application and server consolidation.
• ClearPath technology innovation is ongoing and has proven
itself through decades of service in the world’s most
demanding transaction processing environments.
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• ClearPath software support policies are focused on delivering
solutions to client problems.
• ClearPath hardware and software is designed with the
mainframe mindset of backward/upward compatibility. Clients
can install new levels of OS, database managers, compilers,
and middleware, without having to unload and reload their
databases or implement and test API changes in application
code. That’s why we can support a software update in minutes
or hours instead of days or weeks.
ClearPath comes out ahead in the area of general applications, but what about
complex business applications? Let’s proceed with the comparison.
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When a multi-tier application is deployed on other servers, the
normal practice is to place each tier (Web Server, Application
Server and Database Server) on separate servers or sets of
servers. This is done to ensure application isolation, which by
experience is the best policy for most other servers and their
operating systems.
At each tier, several servers are clustered to get the desired
availability and scalability. Plus, there is a need for additional
servers for development, testing, and backup operations.
It also requires multiple software licenses, one for each operating
system and software product.
Not to mention that client or a hired consultant is responsible for
to integrate the multiple vendor products.
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The end result are server farms and server sprawl that consist of
many servers from multiple vendors, with increased complexity in
hardware, networking, operations, and management
requirements.
This can lead to significant issues associated with availability,
supportability, scalability, security, manageability, and
performance.
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ClearPath servers are designed to support multiple applications and all tiers of
an application (Web Server, Application Server and Database Server) on a
single server. ClearPath clients run hundreds of applications, manage multiple
databases, and handle thousands of users simultaneously on their ClearPath
system.
The reduced cost and simplicity of ClearPath system management and
operations is a major ClearPath competitive advantage. This is a major item
when you look at the savings realized over the entire lifespan of a ClearPath
system compared with the much higher cost of managing a server farm over
that same time period.
ClearPath servers have built-in redundancy, application scalability, and
security.
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Only one operating system software license is required.
The hardware and software is fully qualified and integrated by Unisys.
The ClearPath availability is in the class of it is own, when we consider time
lost for both planned and unplanned outages.
The result is an application environment with unmatched availability, scalability,
security, manageability and performance.
By any measure, the ClearPath servers come out ahead in the area of handling
complex applications. But what about security? Let’s compare!
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This may be an unfair comparison since security is at the very core of UnisysClearPath mainframes. In fact, the entire ClearPath system was designed from itsvery beginnings to offer the industry’s highest levels of security. And while securityhas been in-built from the start, the focus on security enhancements is ongoing and isalways evolving.
Security protection on many servers only exists because of successful cyber attacksagainst them in the past. Frankly, security is an afterthought on most serverplatforms, followed by continual software updates to help stop the bleeding. Face it,many server platforms were spawned from desktop computers where businesssecurity and strategies were not issues.
In the ClearPath environment, corporate data and application assets are protected bymultiple levels of security, including:
• Built in ClearPath hardware architecture security features
• Operating system file and program security
• Database security
• Transaction security features
• Network authentication
• Hardware firewalls
• Extensive logging and auditing
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These ClearPath architectural features are not new—they’ve been in place fordecades! They provide ClearPath clients with vital protections that still are notavailable with most other server systems today.
Computer system hacking is certainly not a recent phenomenon. PredecessorClearPath systems experienced hacking attempts back in the 1970s. Unisysresponded vigorously and effectively to this threat, addressing known problems andavoiding new ones by deploying solutions to keep hackers out.
ClearPath systems support multiple application workloads (batch, demand orinteractive, transactions, Java applications) running simultaneously and securely.Each workload is protected from the others. Furthermore, due to architecturally-supported isolation of address spaces, programs and data in every workload areprotected against malicious or faulty programs that are running concurrently.
File and database security ensures that no unauthorized person or program can reador change a database or file, while providing secure, efficient access for authorizedusers.
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The Unisys OS 2200 and MCP systems have existed for many years, yet there is norecord of a successful cyber attack. Not a single one!
Additional evidence can be found in a NIST database 13, which records securityvulnerabilities. The table shown on this slide was constructed using informationobtained from this database.
The table shows a number of system types, with the number of vulnerabilitiesrecorded in the database, the date the last one was recorded, and whether or notdata access was allowed. The table shows the status as of June 9, 2009.
Note that the MCP vulnerability did not allow data access; it was a denial of service
attack. A fix for the vulnerability was provided shortly afterwards.
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This diagram illustrates vulnerability to buffer overflows, a reality in many non-
ClearPath servers.
The Java architecture protects Java programs from buffer overflows,
regardless of the underlying operating system.
Since neither the system architecture nor the operating system provide this
protection at the system level in the non-ClearPath servers, all non-Java
programs, including the Java Virtual Machine, any COBOL or C programs, the
relational database software, and the TCP/IP protocol stack are vulnerable to
buffer overflows.
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This diagram illustrates how ClearPath MCP and OS 2200
servers are protected from buffer overflows.
All ClearPath MCP and OS 2200 servers have system level
protection from buffer overflows. This protects not only Java
programs, but all other programs, including the Java Virtual
Machine, any COBOL or C program, database software, and the
TCP/IP protocol stack.
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To verify its security attributes, we asked a leading independent security company,
Symantec, to test our OS 2200 Java environment, Web Server, and Application
Defender product. Symantec tested 47 different areas of potential security
vulnerabilities and gave these OS 2200 products its highest rating.
They concluded that the Unisys OS 2200 Java environment is designed with ―a
security architecture that maps to industry best practices standards and the security
features will allow client to deploy applications on the Unisys OS 2200 Java
environment with confidence.‖
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Unisys engaged Symantec to assess the security of ClearPath MCP servers.
They published their findings in a ClearPath MCP Security Assessment Client
Facing document.
One of their conclusions was: ―The design and implementation of mainstream
operating systems could be improved greatly by examining the security
engineering decisions that were made while developing the ClearPath MCP
environment.‖
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It would take hours to explain all the ClearPath security features.
The key point to remember is that ClearPath security is not a simple third-party
software add-on. Rather, ClearPath security is built-in from the very foundation
of the hardware and software.
Also, ClearPath security is always under further development, in software,
platform, middleware, operations, and system management. This will ensure
that the spotless record of zero successful attacks will continue.
To learn more about ClearPath security, click the two information icons at the
bottom right.
Clearly, ClearPath offers superb security with unmatched proven track record.
But what about the idea of an integrated solution?
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When clients deploy applications on multiple common servers,
they often acquire the hardware and the software from different
vendors. Operating systems, transaction software, database
software, middleware, hardware, and so forth are often sourced
from different vendors. Thus, the clients are left to integrate and
manage the pieces themselves, or pay someone else to do it.
In such configurations, clients must deal with compatibility issues
between the hardware and software products, initially, and each
time they upgrade any piece of the puzzle.
And if something goes wrong, the client is left to determine who to
call for support.
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Conversely, when clients deploy their applications on a ClearPath
server, they acquire the hardware and the system software from
Unisys (or a partnering third-party). Everything is designed ,
tested and qualified to work well together; everything is tightly
integrated providing the most effective transaction processing
environment in the industry!
This a major factor in the cost savings. The ClearPath client does
not need to perform time-consuming, labor-intensive, and risky
integration themselves. These savings are key when calculating
TCOs and ROIs over the lifespan of the solutions. This is a major
competitive ClearPath advantage. Often these saving
advantages are overlooked in the initial calculations of a solution,
resulting in a costly mistake. And since for many packages the
cost of an upgrade is 10% of the initial purchase, the cost of these
environments over their lifespan can quickly spiral out of control.
Also, the single release, single vendor concept ensures
compatibility between the various products and the solution is
completely integrated by Unisys. If something goes wrong, the
client has only one vendor to call for support.
Unlike common servers, the ClearPath solution is the result of a coordinated
development effort between the operating system engineers, software utilities
engineers, the hardware engineers, and support. It is all accomplished in-house to
ensure complete system compatibility and ease of management and support.
This is one of the key factors in the superior availability of the ClearPath operating
environments.
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Wikibon analysts say that the ClearPath has the most integrated, integrated stack in
the industry. We agree.
Let’s move on and compare scalability features!
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ClearPath systems offer superior scalability from laptop systems designed for
ClearPath development work to high-end mainframes that handle extreme volumes of
business transactions.
And when the time comes to upgrade their ClearPath systems, our clients do not
need to change their applications or data. They can migrate the most entry-level
system to the highest performing system without any changes to the applications.
This is an incredible cost-savings and greatly reduces risk.
There is also significant scalability within the installed ClearPath operating
environment. The ClearPath Pay-for-Use and metering features allow ClearPath
systems to easily accommodate significant business growth without hardware
upgrades. The ClearPath performance can increase to meet the client’s business
growth; even if the growth or needs are temporary. The small performance increase is
not a matter of upping or downing a processors or licensing more processors, but it
can be a small percentage of the overall processor performance. Even with the large
performance increases, the additional capacity matches the clients exact
requirements with the fine granularity.
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This scalability capability is present in all system software. Databases, transaction
processing, middleware, and other system software is built to scale as needed to
handle massive loads.
Finally, in the ClearPath world, scalability also describes the ClearPath ability to
dynamically handle dozens to hundreds of mission-critical applications, reaching
100% utilization without the stability problems associated with other servers.
No other vendor provides this class of scalability for business-capable applications
and enterprise-level workloads.
The ClearPath platform has the advantage in handling general and complex
applications, it is secure and highly integrated and scalable. What about software
upgrades?
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Software upgrades for non-ClearPath servers can take days or
weeks to complete, with numerous system restarts resulting in
significant downtime. A week of downtime can significantly impact
and disturb the business metrics and results.
Third-party software management systems are available to assist
in maintaining software versions up-to-date.
But, even so, managing multiple servers and their software is a
complex and stressful task given multiple vendors, compatibility
issues, version issues, licensing, and so forth.
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ClearPath MCP and OS 2200 software updates are typically done
in minutes or hours and with no or limited interruption to business
processing. Remember, many ClearPath servers run several
years without a single outage, planned or unplanned.
We even have technology that enables our ClearPath clients to
install system software updates with absolutely no downtime.
ClearPath mainframes support mixing and matching between
releases. Consequently, the client is not required to update
everything at one time.
Clearly ClearPath servers score well in all of the areas we have examined so far. But
what about support and service?
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Supporting or managing a room full of servers, system software,
and application software, supplied by dozens of vendors is labor-
intensive and expensive. We see this very clearly at the client
datacenters that have large server farms.
And when something goes wrong, even if the client knows who to
call, their support contact may limit the client to a specific number
of support calls or support hours.
And access to engineering-level experts is often not an option.
And if it is an option, it comes at additional costs.
And often, the solution is not a real solution, but rather a
workaround! Too often the response is that it will be fixed in next
release.
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ClearPath servers have a well-defined support policy with user-
specified priorities.
Unisys has a process for escalation and immediate service. Our
goal is to fix your problem.
Unisys has been in the support and service business for 60+
years. In light of our support experience, highly-trained support
representatives, and our support infrastructure, companies such
as Dell and EMC (to name a few), contract with Unisys to handle
a portion of their field support calls.
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The tally is in and the ClearPath server won seven out of seven of
our comparisons against the formidable ―other‖ servers challenge.
Again, it is not our intent to diminish the importance of Unix,
Linux, Windows, and other servers. But we firmly believe that
Unisys ClearPath is the best place for our client’s mission-critical,
business-critical transaction processing of core business
applications and data!
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Technical agility is the hallmark of the ClearPath product line.
Whether it is the scalable, available, stable, and reliable integrated
hardware and software platform, the inbuilt security, the simplified
software and hardware upgrades, the upward/backward compatibility,
specialty engines, Open System and Open Source integration,
ClearPath delivers on all technical fronts.
And when you compare ClearPath to the ―other‖ servers…well, there
really is no comparison!
But this is not just about technical products and capabilities. More
importantly, ClearPath technical agility enables the clients’ business
agility.
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You have reached the end of Module 3.