Product News

ClearPath Servers Win the Gold

Every year the staff at SearchDataCenter.com seeks out the "best of the best" when it comes to technology products for mission-critical environments. And we're very proud to announce that they named Unisys ClearPath Dorado Model 400 and ClearPath Libra Model 400 servers as the 2007 Gold Award winner in "Large servers (multi-processor systems)" category.

Here's what they had to say: "The Unisys ClearPath Dorado Model 400 and ClearPath Libra Model 400 lead our best multi-processor server systems category. The Dorado and Libra run their own O/S in addition to Microsoft Windows 2003 and two Linux distributions. Tack that onto a capacity-on-demand feature for the boxes, and it's just the right combination of old and new technology going into this multiprocessor box."

To learn more about the award, visit www.SearchDataCenter.techtarget.com.

SOA for ClearPath Consulting Services

The SOA for ClearPath program includes enabling technologies, reference architectures (RAs), and consulting services that help you achieve better business agility for your ClearPath applications.¹

"Doing SOA right" takes more than a trial-and-error approach. That's why Unisys offers a range of services to help you take advantage of the many technology options — and in ways that make the most business and technical sense for your organization. No matter where you are in your SOA transformation phase, Unisys has the consulting services and expertise to guide you.

SOA for ClearPath consulting services portfolio help you take a structured approach to evolving applications from the current "as is" state to a future "to be" state by following a four-phase approach:

To learn more about SOA for ClearPath services and delivery methodology, please view our presentation on the eCommunity.

Relativity Modernization Workbench — Enterprise Edition Now Available

To reduce the complexity of your applications and increase the reuse of valuable IT assets, Unisys has partnered with Relativity Technologies to bring its Modernization Workbench to our ClearPath MCP and OS 2200 customers. The tool enables renovation of your complex ClearPath-based systems by helping to re-architect existing COBOL code.

The Enterprise Edition release of the Modernization Workbench offers support for a multi-user client/server model, which facilitates easier modernization information sharing across multiple projects. Key benefits include:

• Global access to best-of-breed technology for modernization and maintenance
• Shared insights limit miscommunications
• Source code remains protected behind firewalls
• A powerful, scalable platform so that even the largest ClearPath applications can be included in the Modernization Workbench repository
• Improved governance
  • Management can monitor and enforce corporate standards with remote teams to ensure software quality
  • Business users can efficiently translate requirements into development action

The workbench helps document and inventory your COBOL application assets. Doing so enables you to streamline applications by removing unused code and transform them into services for use in a SOA. The workbench is integrated with the SURE software configuration management solution to help you control and manage the modernization process.

For more information, please visit the eCommunity.

ClearPath OS 2200 Product News

ClearPath OS 2200 Cipher API Card Now Available for ClearPath Dorado 100 and 200 Systems

Encrypting your sensitive data ensures that even if it falls into the wrong hands, it won't be usable without your encryption key. ClearPath OS 2200 Cipher API is a program-callable subsystem that lets you encrypt your sensitive data using your choice of several industry-standard cryptography algorithms, specifically:

• Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
• Triple DES (3DES)
• Data Encryption Standard (DES) (no longer recommended except for compatibility with previously encrypted data)

Encryption using Cipher API offers data confidentiality at a data element, record, or file level. Calls to the Cipher API originate from your OS 2200-based program according to the needs of the particular application. Originally released in 2005 as a software implementation, the API added support for an optional hardware accelerator, the Cipher API Card, for ClearPath Dorado 300 and 400 servers in October 2007. The Cipher API Card was recently qualified for Dorado Model 100 and 200 systems. The Cipher API Card is a U.S. government certified encryption PCI card that plugs directly into the ClearPath Dorado server and provides increased performance when large blocks of data must be encrypted.

For a high-level overview of the Cipher API, see page 24 in ClearPath OS 2200: Unsurpassed Security, which can be downloaded from the eCommunity. For full programming details, check out ClearPath OS 2200 Cipher Application Programming Interface (API) Programming Reference Manual (3826 6110), which is available for download from the Public Information section of the Unisys Product Support website.

New OS 2200 Java Downloads Available

All Java aficionados — and anyone who is considering working with Java in the OS 2200 environment — should download the following from the Unisys Support website:

• Java J2SE 5.0 is now available. JVM 4R1, the Virtual Machine for Java on ClearPath OS 2200, provides an environment for server-based Java applications on the OS 2200 node of ClearPath servers. It is based on the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) 5.0 specification, licensed from Sun Microsystems, Inc. JVM 4R1 was released in October 2007 and is based on Sun JRE 1.5.0_13-b05. CIFS 6R3 is required.
• DMS Resource Adapter is now available DMS-RA 1.0, Network Database Server Resource Adapter for the Java Platform, enables Java applications running outside or inside a ClearPath server to access DMS data. The download provides the Java classes needed to access DMS data from a Java program. It also includes a custom class builder and the Java Data Access Server for DMS (JDMS), which provides a gateway between the DMS Resource Adapter and the DMS database.

Exciting New Java Products Now in Field Test

Please contact Melanie.Wolbeck@UNISYS.com if you'd like to participate in field test for the following products:

• ClearPath OS 2200 IDE for Eclipse 3.3 contains many new features, including: BIS RA and DMS RA wizards; Data Tools Project; ACOB error handling; support for compilation into breakpoint files; code set translation in Telnet; and project creation from CMplus.
• JVM 4R2 is based on JRE JVM 1.5.0_15-b02 and has additional performance improvements over the 4R1 version (CIFS 6R3 required).
• CIFS 6R3 contains new features, such as: automatic packing of underlying program files; automatic creation of Large Element Program Files; new CIFSUT "mkfifo" command; enhanced CIFSUT "ls" command; configurable wait times for rolled out and exclusively assigned files; and configurable file cache size limit and more efficient memory usage. Some CIFS 6R3 features are not yet enabled in the current download, but we're getting there!
• DMS-RA 2.0 release includes XA compliance, which now allows the DMS-RA to participate in a global transaction with one or more other database resource managers.
• RDMS-JDBC 2.4 contains many new features, including: multiple Result Sets; support for the creation, insertion, and update of the SQL BLOB data type; Hibernate Dialect for RDMS Update; JDBC 2.0 get/set methods that use the Calendar object; secure communications using SSL ports; and performance, installation, maintenance, and product diagnostics improvements.
• TIP RA (J2EE-CON-OS2200) new features including implementation of the JCA (Java Connector Architecture) 1.5 specification life-cycle management contract (enables an application server to control startup and shutdown of the connector) and work-management contract (enables an application server to manage pools of worker threads for the connector). The connector also provides for two-way interaction with EJBs. With this feature, OS 2200 applications can initiate an "inbound" interaction. OS 2200 TIP or HVTIP transactions written in C, COBOL, or Java can initiate a request/response interaction with an EJB deployed on a Java EE application server, such as BEA WebLogic, JBoss Application Server, or IBM WebSphere Application Server.

For more information about OS 2200 Java, please visit the Secure Java for ClearPath OS 2200 section of the eCommunity.

MCP Product News

ClearPath MCP 12.0

More than 125 products are contained in MCP 12.0. Read our feature article in this issue of ClearPath Connection to learn more about this impressive release, which includes the following THREE NEW products:

• ClearPath ePortal Business provides a point-and-click SOA enablement solution with deployment automation for entry and midrange MCPvm servers.
• Business Continuity Accelerator automates the process of moving an application workload to an alternate server and getting it running, providing an enriched RTI environment.
• Locum SecureAudit provides a security reporting solution for security administrators, auditors, and regulators.

New ClearPath MCP Java Runtime Environments

If you have Java applications that require a high level of security and reliability, you'll be interested in these new ClearPath MCP Java offerings:

• ClearPath MCP JProcessors, for ClearPath Libra Models 580, 585, 590, 595, 680, and 690 were released in October 2007. These Intel® technology-based processors provide a dedicated and standard Java runtime environment as part of the MCP operating environment.
• Java runtime environment for the ClearPath Libra 400 became available in November 2007. This is the first time that we're offering the Java runtime environment optimized for Intel® processor-based entry to mid-range ClearPath MCP servers.
• Java Platform Standard Edition (Java J2SE) development platform, Release 5 is now available for all the Libra 400, 500, and 600 servers and can be downloaded from the Unisys Support web site.
• JBoss Application Server, Release 4.2 is now available for ClearPath MCP environments. The JBoss Java Application server is an open source product and the industry-leading platform for J2EE applications.
• The ClearPath MCP IDE for Eclipse, version 3.3.1, is now available for field test. The primary new features in this version are support for a COBOL74 and ALGOL editor and WFL editor. Please contact Pamela.Becker@unisys.com for information regarding the field test program.

For more information about MCP Java, please visit the Secure Java for ClearPath MCP section of the eCommunity.

New Releases of dbaTOOLS and TeamQuest Products

Aligned with the MCP 12.0 release — but separately orderable — these tools help organizations fine tune their MCP operating environments.

• dbaTOOLS Release 12.0, including Analyzer and Monitor, helps you monitor, control, and tune Enterprise Database Server (DMSII) databases
• TeamQuest Release 53.013 offers a wide range of performance monitoring software products for ClearPath MCP servers

ClearPath LX160 and LX170 Laptops Qualified with MCP 12.0

The ClearPath LX Laptops — Software Developer's Kits — are now qualified with MCP 12.0:

• The LX170 Laptop is qualified with the Microsoft® Windows® Vista® operating system (based on the Dell Latitude D830). (Note: The LX170 Laptop was not qualified with the Microsoft Windows XP Operating System.)
• The LX160 Laptop is qualified with the Windows XP operating system (based on the Dell Latitude D820).

These flexible platforms are ideally suited for development, qualification, and demonstration purposes. See the LX Laptop section of the eCommunity for more information.

SURE 7.0

The SURE change management system integrates source control and application deployment to support the complete development lifecycle, including:

• Task tracking documents and controls the lifecycle of a task or change request from initial creation through eventual completion.
• Source management oversees changes to source code and offers such common capabilities as "check in/out," rebuilds, history retention, and compare functions.
• Application deployment oversees the build/compilation of executables from the modified sources; the build/compile process is defined and stored in the SURE repository. It also provides an integrity mechanism to ensure deployment of a complete, correlated group of changes into production, including changes to environments other than MCP, such as Microsoft Windows. SURE is ideal for composite applications and has the capability to interface to a wide variety of development tools, including Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET, Unisys Programmer's Workbench, Eclipse (SURE Release 6.0), and various others.

SURE Release 7.0 adds a number of high-value capabilities, including:

• Support for Eclipse 3.x
• Integration with Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Project
• Support for project branching

For more information about SURE, please visit the eCommunity.