In-Depth

Neon Systems Introduces Middleware Monitoring and Debugging Tool

Shadow Console provides end-to-end view of middleware components

• By Stephen Swoyer
• 01/16/2003

The company says that Shadow Console offers a unified view of middleware components from the perspective of a Windows-based graphical environment. The idea is to provide developers with an end-to-end view of a middleware component, from the initial API adapter call in the application platform suite to the backend data or transaction source on the mainframe.

"For the first time both ends of the mainframe adapter can be seen in time-sequenced context, giving any one individual visibility into the entire mainframe integration transaction,” said Mark Cresswell, senior vice president and general manager of NEON Systems' Shadow Division, in a prepared release.

Shadow Console leverages the diagnostic and control facilities provided by Neon’s Shadow technology, a client-server-to-mainframe integration infrastructure that the company supports in two additional products, Shadow Direct (a software infrastructure for integrating application platforms and mainframe resources) and Shadow Connect (software connectors that facilitate integration between application platforms and mainframe resources).

Shadow Console consolidates information provided by Shadow Client interfaces, along with data collected by Shadow Server, which resides in a "footprint" on a zSeries mainframe.

Because Shadow Console presents its diagnostic data in the context of a Windows GUI, development personnel don’t necessarily have to be familiar with legacy UI technologies such as TSO/ISPF. The upshot, company representatives say, is that Shadow Console can effectively enable personnel who don’t have mainframe expertise to identify and potentially resolve problems that affect the performance and availability of middleware applications.

Chiswell suggests that Shadow Console is an ideal solution for customers who already use his company’s Shadow technology. "Diagnosing problems in applications that span multiple, disparate, computing environments is a challenge. For organizations using Shadow adapters as part of such a composite application, the Shadow Console represents an unprecedented leap forward in application development productivity and systems administration.”

Neon Systems says that Shadow Console does not require a mainframe user ID and password for authorized personnel to view consolidated traces of application request activity.

Shadow Console facilitates J2CA, JDBC or ODBC access to mainframe data sources and transaction environments. It supports DB2 , CICS/TS, IMS/TM, IMS/DB, VSAM, ADABAS, Natural/ACI, flat files, IDMS, and other mainframe data or transactional sources.