Reflection Connectivity Coming to AS/400
With the announcement of Reflection X 7.0 in early June, WRQ Inc. has put together an NT/Unix interoperability package to meet the growing needs of NT users who rely on Unix as well.
While Reflection X 7.0 is not currently available to AS/400 users, it's recent release is a precursor to WRQ's Reflection for the AS/400 7.0, scheduled for release during the fall of 1998. The current NT/Unix product and the developing AS/400 product provide a set of centralized, Web-based deployment, configuration and management tools for decreasing the cost and complexity of integrating heterogeneous systems.
Reflection X 7.0 also introduces what WRQ refers to as "Hands-Free Administration," or the deployment and configuration of software from a central location within a network. Such centralization provides systems administrators with greater control over their users' access to corporate information.
Hands-Free Administration, also to be featured in the AS/400 product, includes the Reflection Deploy and Reflection X Profiler features -- as well as manageability enhancements to Broadway -- making the integration of X and the Web easier for IT to deliver and control. The Deploy feature automatically installs an application on a networked desktop when the user first launches that application from a Web page. Profiler centralizes the configuration of Reflection X to those users who have access.
Once Reflection X is installed on the server, an IT manager can create a Web page that displays the Reflection application icons, which point to the actual application on the server. "We still see a pretty significant demand on the X side," says Chris Rogers, product line manager of NT/Unix integration for WRQ. "WRQ will support Unix as long as the customers use it," he notes.
Reflection initially links up with the Web server for access to the back-end database server. Subsequent transfers occur directly between the thin client desktop and the back-end server. "The Web server plays a part at the start-up, then gets out of the way," Rogers says.
Although pricing has not been set for Reflection for the AS/400 7.0, Reflection X 7.0 for NT and Unix is priced at $400. This package includes a PC X server, integrated VT emulator, FTP client and set of diagnostic tools. An enhanced package - Reflection Suite for X - is also available, adding an NFS client, TN5250 and TN3270 emulators, and various networking utilities. Reflection Suite for X is priced at $520.