Speaking SOA and Web Services: .NET and the Mainframe

摘要

In the '90s, gloom and doom predictions repeatedly said the mainframe was dying. These predictions were clearly way off; mainframes are far from dead, as they still host most business transactions and enterprise data. Microsoft has wanted to get into the game for some time and has developed numerous products that ease and enhance application development. But can Microsoft, with its .NET development and server environments, provide a true value-added function to today's complex enterprise z/systems? This paper examines the mainframe's recent "comeback." While other viable development environments for creating mainframe-based Web Services exist, our focus is on the Microsoft-centric environment. We'll highlight available products from several vendors and explore the use of Microsoft's Host Integration Server 2004 (HIS 2004) to deploy a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), which uses both mainframe and .NET technologies.