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iSeries EXTRA: iSeries Access for Web Provides 'Remote' Possibilities Aplenty

iSeries access for Web is an incredibly versatile tool that can provide you with remote access to 5250 applications, spool files, database, OS/400 CL commands, IFS root directories and attached Windows directories via the Web. Best of all, if you own iSeries Access Family (formerly Client Access/400), you already own Access for Web.

As opposed to IBM application modernization solutions like the WebFacing tool and WebSphere Host Access Transformation Server (HATS), Access for Web is designed to provide low-cost, secure and easy browser-based remote Web access for everyone connected to the enterprise, including employees and business partners.

The server-based solution runs on a Java application server (WebSphere or Tomcat on iSeries) and is accessed via a standard browser interface. Access for Web supports the ASF-Tomcat version that's available via PTF with HTTP Server for iSeries (5722-DG1) and all versions of the WebSphere Application Server (including WAS-Express) supported on the iSeries server.

All code runs on your iSeries server. So, unlike iSeries Access for Windows (formerly Client Access Express for Windows), IBM's original offering for providing access to Windows systems and applications from the iSeries server, you don't have to go around installing Access for Web on remote PCs or handing users CDs and asking them to install it. (As I know from my experience with Access for Windows, the former might result in installation and/or connectivity problems; the latter might result in users deluging your help desk with calls.)

Access for Webs server-based design is also beneficial when it comes to securing emulation services. Because it uses SSL (HTTP port 443) standard HTTP encryption, there's no need to explore such complex services as virtual private networking (VPN) just to provide secure access to 5250 emulation services.

Getting Started
If you're operating a single iSeries machine with WebSphere and an HTTP Server installed along with your database and 5250 applications, you can use the standard procedures for installing a licensed program and Access for Web should be up and running in less than 30 minutes.

 

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