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Microsoft Updates IBM Mainframe Integration Tool

This week Microsoft released Host Integration Server 2020 (HIS 2020), a tool that lets Microsoft solutions communicate with IBM mainframes.

The product supports a number of Microsoft releases, including Windows Server 2019, BizTalk Server 2020 (apparently released in January), SQL Server 2019 and Visual Studio 2019 Microsoft products. It integrates with IBM platforms such as IBM z/OS 2.3, IBM i 7.3, IBM CICS 5.4, IBM MQ 9.1 and IBM DB2 for various platforms. The full list of supported integrations is shown in this "What's New" document.

Host Integration Server has been around for a while and was last available as Host Integration Server 2016. It lets organizations connect Microsoft server technologies with IBM installations using protocols such as TCP/IP and High Performance Routing. The integration with Visual Studio lets .NET developers use IBM-hosted development tools and technologies, according to Microsoft's "What is HIS" document.

Users of Host Integration Server get support in five technology areas. It has network integration for mainframe and midrange system connections. There's data integration for access to IBM DB2. Application integration adds support when using Visual Studio and .NET Framework. Message integration permits the use of things like BizTalk Adapter for WebSphere MQ. Lastly, there's security integration for single sign-on and Active Directory support.

Organizations can get HIS 2020 from the Microsoft Evaluation Center download page, according to Microsoft's "Release Notes."  It's also possible to perform an in-place upgrade of HIS 2016 to HIS 2020. For older versions of the product, Microsoft has an "HIS migration tool" to help with upgrades.

Microsoft offers separate MSI packages for 64-bit and 32-bit client installations. One caveat is that HIS 2020 "only supports 64-bit x64 operating systems," per the Release Notes.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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