Communications Bridge Overview › Comm. Bridge Features

Comm. Bridge Features

The Comm. Bridge is an optional utility application that provides communications support for a Distributed Process application by acting as a communications link or gateway between the client applications and target server environments. The Comm. Bridge accepts message requests from the clients and forwards the request to a target server. Server response data is routed back to the client that made the request.

Using the Comm. Bridge with your Distributed Process application provides a centralized place for configuring host-specific communications hardware and software. Each Comm. Bridge client side interface is identified by its TCP/IP host name and a well-known port number. The Comm. Bridge communicates with the target server using a configured transport protocol, either LU6.2, TCP/IP, CISC External Call Interface (ECI), or RSC/MP. Each Comm. Bridge is configured to communicate with a specific target server environment.

Depending on its configuration, the Comm. Bridge can operate as a multiplexing funnel, directing multiple client connections to a single server environment. This capability helps CA Gen application networks expand as the number of client workstations grows beyond the capacity of the target server execution environment.

Alternatively, Comm. Bridge can operate as a communications gateway, providing protocol conversion to enable clients communicating using one communications protocol to connect to servers using a different protocol, such as:

• TCP/IP to LU6.2
• TCP/IP to CICS External Call Interface (ECI)
• TCP/IP to RSC/MP

Other operational features of the Comm. Bridge include:

• The Comm. Bridge configuration can be modified in one of two ways:
  • Using the Comm. Bridge GUI interface
  • Using an ASCII editor to modify the configuration text files
• Configuration of the Comm. Bridge to run as a Windows system service.
• Separate client and server configurations.
• A single Comm. Bridge can concurrently handle up to 255 simultaneous Comm. Bridge client connections (although the practical client limit may be lower).
• More than one Comm. Bridge can reside on the same workstation.
• Multiple Comm. Bridge instances can be configured within a single directory
• More than one Comm. Bridge can access the same target server; however, each Comm. Bridge must be uniquely identified by its client side configuration.
• Periodic logging of transmission statistics.
• Selectable amount of trace data can be written to the Comm. Bridge log file to assist in problem determination.
• Configurable log file size and wrapping, eliminates large log files when gathering trace data.
• Configurable automatic disconnection of idle clients.
• Customizable ASCII file browser for viewing Comm. Bridge configuration and log files.
• Automatic reset of server connections after a configuration change has been made.