slide 1 mark pick – vice president reality mark fuller – reality development gail lawrence –...

Mark Pick – Vice President Reality

Mark Fuller – Reality Development

Gail Lawrence – Customer Development

Texas MultiValue User Group – June 2009

AGENDA

• Welcome – Mark Pick • Is your data safe and secure? Mark Fuller• Web Services – Mark Fuller

Slide 3

Who is Northgate?

• You might remember…..► Microdata

► McDonnell Douglas

……..All part of Northgate’s history!

Dick Pick – circa 1973

Slide 4

Reality

Yes.

But much But much more. more.

It’s the REALITYyou remember.

Slide 5

Continuous EnhancementsREALITY V1.0 First commercial PICK release 1974REALITY V7.2 Last proprietary O/S release 1990Reality X V2.0 First UNIX release 1992Reality X V5.0 Last UNIX (only) release 1996Reality X V8.0 First Windows NT release 1998Reality V9.0 Windows 2000 Support 2001Reality V9.1 AIX, Linux, Sockets 2002Reality V10.0 GUI Admin, Rapid Recovery 2003

File System, 2TB database,SQL View, Foreign Database

Reality V11.0 Auto File Sizing, GUI Spooler, Databasic from English 2004

Reality V12.0 Web Services, XML ParserFast Backup and Restore 2006

Reality V14.0 Data Encryption at Rest, DR 2007Reality V14.1 Case insensitivity D3 flavor 2009

Slide 6

About Northgate

• Reality the first commercial Multivalue release (1974)• 38 years + experience (company established in 1969)• 07/08 revenue of $1.1 billion• Company worth $2 billion• Approximately 8,000 staff • 46 locations worldwide• Head Office: Hemel Hempstead, UK

Slide 7

Northgate has three major divisions

• Northgate HR is the specialist HRS division of Northgate Information Solutions. We are the UK and Ireland’s leading supplier of HR, Payroll and Pensions software solutions and services to all market sectors. Moorepay is Northgate’s small HR & Payroll specialist division.

• Northgate Public Services is the number one provider of community justice technology solutions. Our task is to enhance public sector value through the intelligent use of information technology and to share in the economic and social benefits that this brings.

• Northgate Managed Services provides infrastructure solutions to organisations across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, and specialist ICT managed service solutions in education, local government and utilities.

Reality

Slide 8

Reality Core Characteristics

• Proven, Industrial Strength, Standards-Based Database• Exceptional Resilience and Recovery

► No loss of data• Rich, Web-Enabled Application Development Tools• Exceptional Interoperability • Excellent MultiValue Compatibility

Heritage with a Future

• Back to Reality• Where are we going? The sky’s

the limit! • Future

► Continual development and commitment to the Reality product and to MultiValue.

• Third Party Vendors► DesignBais► MITS► Sierra Bravo

Why Choose Reality ?

Questions?

Mark Fuller – Reality Development Team

Is Your Business Safe and Secure?

Introduction

• Investigate what is meant by the terms Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Plan

• What is a disaster?

• What is their effect?

• What techniques can reduce the risk?

• How can Northgate’s Reality Help?

What is disaster recovery?

(DR) is a coordinated activity to enable the recovery of IT/business systems due to a disruption.

• DR can be achieved by► Restoring IT/business operations at an alternate location,► Recovering IT/business operations using alternate equipment, ► Performing some or all of the affected business processes

using manual methods.

What is Business Continuity Planning?

BCP - All encompassing term covering both disaster recovery planning and business resumption planning.

• Set of procedures for sustaining essential business operations while recovering from a significant disruption.

• This umbrella term also refers to other aspects of disaster recovery ► Emergency management,► Human resources, ► Media or press relations, ► Building Control

Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity

► Business Continuity/Organisational Resilience has gained in importance over the last five years.

► Interest & Focus is at International Level► UK - Civil Contingencies Act 2004 & National Risk Register 2008

► NFPA1600 (North America), HB221 & HB292 (Australasia),

► 2008 saw the launch of a new BSI Standard (BSI 25999)

► Insurance Companies now take ‘preparedness’ into account

► Weather in particular has shown events happen

► Pandemic – hot topic

► Organisations have become more complex, more reliant.

Which one is a potential disaster and may cause you to implement your DR/BCP plan or parts of it?

• Security Breach► Dishonest Member of Staff ► Stolen Data► Stolen/Loss of Computer System

• Loss of Service► Fire/Flood/Tornado/Earthquake/Explosion etc.

• Hardware Failure► Complete server failure ► Disk Crash► Network failure► Power fail

Security Breach - Impact

• Incident Cost► Management time► Operational effort

• Legal Compliance Issue► Breach of Data Protection Act► Breach of HIPPA► Breach of Contract

• Reputation► Negative press attention … seen as a ‘blunder’► Are we a ‘safe pair of hands’?

Security Breach - Examples

ID theft concerns over Eden Project stolen laptop

IT Pro UK – Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:45

...identity theft. The laptop was looked after by an employee of XXXXXX , a company the Cornish tourist attraction uses to handle its payroll .

Cost $500,000!

Cost potentially billions! (Compensation up to

$600 per record, total 15 billion (UK)

UK Chancellor admits HMRC lost 25 million people's data

Alistair Darling says taxman lost disks containing the detailed child benefit information of 25 million individuals

Security Breach - Examples

40 Million

Credit card numbers

stolen from TJX

94% of large enterprises

Had a security breach within

the last 12 months

Hotel chain falls victim

To 14,000 data-stealing

incidents

Database Security

• Is your Database secure?► Can you control access?

► By user, location, time or type of connection?► Can you detect inappropriate access?► Do you know who is accessing your database and when?

Database Security – Reducing the Risk

• MV Account Based Security► Many users share the same user

name and password

► Advantages► Simple to Administer

► Disadvantages ► Can’t identify individuals► Hard to Audit► Difficult to tell if the security has been compromised► Passwords are difficult to secure


• User Based Security► Each user has unique user name

and password

► Advantages► Simple to Administer ► Can Identify the individuals► Auditable► Individuals can change their passwords

► You should be able control how often, length and password history

► Disadvantages ► Identities can be conveyed to others or commandeered by others


• Location Based Security► Extends User based security

► Limit individuals to pre-defined locations► Individuals can have multiple security profiles

► Dependent on their location► Disadvantages

► Have to define acceptable locations


• Time Based Security► Extends User based security► Logins are restricted to defined time periods

► Advantages► Tighter control of User based security

► Pre-defines allowable login times per user► Disadvantages

► Have to define acceptable time windows


• Server Based Security (linked to user based security)► Allows same user different access rights to different services

(Remote File, Web, SQL)

► Advantages over User based security► Server processes can have different security profiles than

associated users► Disadvantages

► Have to define more access rights

Database Security – Using Reality

• Reality is used in security critical systems► Police, Government, Health, Military ► Supports

► Account Security► User Security► Location based security ► Time Based► Server Based

Data Security

• Is your Data secure?► Can you prevent un-authorized access to the information on

your media?► Disk & Tape

► Can you control access to the data?► You may want to give file access but not the ability to understand

the data

Data Security– Reducing the Risk

• Encrypt any data leaving site

► Advantages► Protects backups held off-site

► Disadvantages ► Managing the encryption keys

Data Security– Reducing the Risk

• Data stored in an encrypted form• Data Encryption at Rest

► Advantages► Protects data at source► Transparent to the application

► Disadvantages ► Possible performance implications► Need to manage the keys

Data Security– Using Reality’s Data Encryption at Rest

• What is it► Transparently encrypts the data written to your database and

any other media► Access Management

► Defines who is allowed access to encrypted data► Secure Management of encryption keys

• Advantages► Selectively limits access to sensitive data

Loss of Service

Sometimes the worst does happen …

Northgate HQ, Boundary Way, Hemel Hempstead, UK6 am 11 December 2005

Loss of Service- Entire Regions May Be Vulnerable

Northeast

Power

Blackout

August 2003

Loss of Service- Nature is full of surprises

Katrina

August 29th 2005

Rita

September 24th 2005

Primary Data Center

New Orleans

DR Site

Houston

Loss of Service - Impact

• Incident Cost► Management time► Operational effort

• Contractual SLA’s► Breach of Contract?

• Reputation► Negative press attention … ► Are we a ‘safe pair of hands’?

• Loss of business► Companies that aren’t able to resume operations within 10 days of a disaster

are not likely to survive’ (source: Strategic Research Institute, Jan 2002.). ► ‘Problems with IT cost small and medium enterprises (SME’s) £100 billion in

lost turnover each year according to the London Business School. Computer crashes are estimated to cause losses of £31 million each year.’

Loss of Service - Causes

• Loss of:► Data► Hardware► Network infrastructure ► Site► Business!

► Forced to cease trading and wind company up!

► Staff!► May lose key staff members

Loss of Service – Reducing the Risk• Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Planning• Put a BCP & DR plan in place & above all test it!• Some things to consider

► Emergency Management Team ► names, numbers, meeting venues, con. call numbers

► Business Recovery Actions ► an ordered list of the actions to be taken by the EMT

► Site Details ► site plan, departments, services delivered, key suppliers, tenants

► IT Recovery ► the site's IT facilities, switchboard lines, DR arrangements for these

► Office Space Recovery ► teams on site, contacts, numbers, alternate office locations

► Site Management ► site protection, salvage, security and safety

► Support Services ► from HR, int/ext communications, finance, property & security

► Longer Term Recovery Actions ► the task of returning to "business as usual"

Loss of Service – Reducing the Risk

• Resilient Hardware► Duplicate key hardware components

► Disk Mirroring► Redundant power supplies, processors etc.► Redundant Networks► Hot Swappable Components

► Advantages► Quick recovery► Little Admin

► Disadvantages► Can still cause the system to fail and need to be restored► Only protects individual machines


• Regular backups (Offsite!)► Backup key data to removable media

Tape, Disk

► Advantages► You do have a copy of your data► Can be kept offsite

► Disadvantages► Media deteriorates over time ► Slow! ► Costly!► Only protects individual machines


► Resilient File System► Journaling file system, allows the file system and database to

recover to the last completed transaction when the machine unrepentantly stops

► Advantages► Recovery can be to last completed transaction► Can be very quick to recover

► Disadvantages► Additional load on system► Relies on storage devices being intact


► Hot standby systems► Second machine is maintained

as a near real-time copy of the

live running system

► Advantages► No loss of service

► Disadvantages► Normally ‘closely coupled’ – Requires real time data link

► Can still lose both systems► Additional hardware costs


► Remote Hot Standby systems► A remotely hosted machine is maintained as a near real-time copy

of the live running system

► Advantages► Data copied off-site at the end of each transaction► Off-site machine can be ready to run

► Disadvantages► Dependant on external communications link► Requires a communications link which can handle the throughput

of the system► Can be costly – depending on options taken

Loss of Service -Reality Resilience

Hardware Replay Logs ShadowManual Switch

Heart Beat Automatic Switch

Service Restoration Time

Hardware Data Restore Re-key from last restoreUnprotected

Data

Primary System

Unprotected DatabaseShadow Database

Data

Hardware Data Restore Replay LogsTransaction Logging

Logs

Transaction Logging

Failsafe

Logs Data

Manual Switch

Secondary System

Heartbeat

Gateway Gateway

Failsafe

Loss of Service - Reality Automated DR

• Maintains remote disaster recovery systems► Further extends resilience options to support:

► Remote hot backup systems► Operation over slow or intermittent communication links► Sourced from one or more machines► Secured up to the last completed transaction

Reality Environment Reality Environment

Reality Environment

Reality Failsafe Environment or Standalone System

Remote standby system(s)

Loss of Service - Fast Backup and Recovery

• Backup & Restore your Database at near Media Speed► Backup while the system is still in use► In practice ‘near media speed’ is estimated to be up to 30

times faster than the current logical backup.► ‘Point in time’ backup► Examples

► MOD ► from 4 days to 9 hours

► Wolseley ► from 2 hours to six minutes (50GB)

Loss of Service – Using Reality

• Reality Supports► Fast backup & Restore

► Backup & Restore your database at ‘media speed’► Journaling

► Rapid Recovery► If hardware survives crash, quickly recovers database

► Offline backup databases► Shadow Database

► Stored on same machine, separate offline disks► Hot backup standby systems

► Failsafe & Heartbeat► No loss of service► Automatically switches to secondary system

► Remote Disaster Recovery systems► RealityDR

► Low Cost, Offsite system kept up to date in real time

Conclusion

• Plan in advance► Create Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery plans

(NOW)• Be aware of the Risks

► Security Breach► Loss of Service

► Data, ► Hardware,► Network infrastructure, ► Site, Business, ► Staff!

Conclusion

• Deploy techniques to mitigate those risks► Security Methods

► Database Security► Data Security

► Protect Your Service► Resilient Hardware► Regular backups► Resilient File System► Hot standby systems► Remote Hot Standby systems

• Move to Reality► Northgate and Reality have the tools to protect your business

Thank You

Questions?

Reality Web Services

Texas User Group – June 2009

Mark Fuller – Reality Development Team

Web Services & XML

• What are they?► Technologies involved► Examples of them being used today

• Why Web Services?► Making your services available to a wider audience► Greater efficiency► Greater interoperability► Reduced integration costs► Simplified Business communication protocols

• Demo of Reality Web Services using C# to produce a GUI application.

• Reality’s XML capabilities► Parsing► Generating

Web Services – They are not…

• Not exclusive to Web Browsers!

• Not exclusive to web based applications!

• “Web” - Is used in the name purely because they typically use HTTP as their transport mechanism and are served by a web server.

Web Services - What are they?

“A software system designed to support

interoperable machine-to-machine interaction ...”

W3C


A “Web service” is an evolutionary technology that allows businesses to

integrate their internal/external computer systems, leverage legacy systems, and automate

communication with their business partners in ways

never before possible..


• Web Services are standards driven

• Key standards► Based on Extensible Markup Language (XML)► Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)► Universal Discovery, Description and Integration (UDDI)► Web Services Description Language (WSDL)

• Have standard communication mechanisms► Enables interoperability of applications

► Different languages► Different platforms


.net Application

Java App

Others

Consumers

ProviderSOAPXML

WSDLHTTP

SOAPXML

WSDLHTTP

Reality DataBasic Application

Web Services - Why?

• Key Business Drivers► Greater efficiency

► Allows IT departments to grow organically by hooking into third party software systems rather than building from scratch.

► Greater interoperability► Allows greater communication between

systems that would benefit from more automation.

Dramatically reduces the #1 cost to IT departments – Application

Integration!

Web Services - Why?

• Service Orientated Architecture market place estimated at $43bn by 2010

• We must allow you to work in a SOA► Expose existing applications as Web

Services► Calling Web Services

Web Services – Statistics (eBay)

• As of December 2005, the eBay Developers Program had more than 25,000 members who created 1,900 live applications

• Approximately 47% of eBay.com listings are through eBay Web Services

► Nearly 50% are from third-party developer tools created by companies.

• Q4 2005, the eBay Platform handled more than 8 bln Web service requests

• The number of eBay Web Services transactions through APIs increased 84% annually

Reality Web Services

• Convergence of Northgate Technologies

• Inbound► Ability to expose Reality DataBasic Subroutines as Web

Services► Very simple interface to create a web service.

• Outbound (future release)► Ability to call Web Services from within your Reality

application► DataBasic API – to call an external web service.

Reality Web Services Advantages

• No Knowledge of Web Technologies required by developers► WSDL► XML► SOAP► HTTP/S

► You focus on Business Rules and we do the plumbing!

Reality Web Services – In use today!

• Challenge► The Northgate Integrated Incident Management Framework

integrates disparate control room applications into a single user interface.

Automatic Resource Locations

GIS

Call Handling

Event Management

Control Room


• Challenge► Reduce error rate of picking and packing exam papers

► Integration with warehouse hand-held devices

• Behaviour► Real-time► Fast response► Simple to implement

• Target System► Handheld WiFi Barcode readers

• Interface► Web Services


Web Service Call

CUP’s Reality System

Wifi Access Point

Handheld Device With Barcode

Reader

Barcoded Exam Paper

Reality Web Services Demo

• Reality Web Services from Microsoft Office► Integrate your Reality applications into Office

• Reality Web Services from Visual Studio .net► C#

• See just how simple it is!

Reality XML Parser

Reality XML Parser

• Numerous applications exchange information in XML format. • Reality supports an XML parser,

► create XML► simple data extraction from an XML document using a query

template.

Reality XML Parser Example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?> <server> <miscellaneous> <logfilespec> <entry value="c:\tcpBridge.log" /> </logfilespec> <maxconnections> <entry value="20" /> </maxconnections> </miscellaneous> <control-service> <service name="Control"port="5400" /> </control-service> <services> <service name="Time" port="5001" /> <service name="TimeL" port="5001"/> <service name="Time" port="5002" /> <service name="MGate" port="5100" /> <service name="MGate" port="6100" /> </services> <serial-ports> <entry device="COM1" baud="38400"/> </serial-ports> </server>

XML Source Document

‘Time]TimeL’Result in Attribute 1

XML Query<server> <services> <service port="5001" name="%1%" /> </services></server>

Reality XML Parser Example

Reality XML Generator Example

<customer> <name>N Kelly</name> <address>24 Some road</address> <postcode> HP21 6NW</postcode></customer>

Created XML Document

“N Kelly^24 Some road^^^HP21 6NW”Source Data

XML Template<customer> <name>\1\</name> <address>\2\</address>] <address>\3\</address>]] <address>\4\</address>] <postcode>\5\</postcode></customer>

Web Services & XML - Summary

• What are they?► Technologies involved► Examples of them being used today

• Why Web Services?► Making your services available to a wider audience► Greater efficiency► Greater interoperability► Reduced integration costs► Simplified Business communication protocols

• Demo of Reality Web Services using C# to produce a GUI application.

• Reality’s XML capabilities► Parsing► Generating

Thank You

Questions?

slide 1 mark pick – vice president reality mark fuller – reality development gail lawrence –...

Documents

reality slide

northgate reality

reality v14

reality product

reality help

reality x v5

support2001 reality

sockets2002 reality