For many years now, IBM System/36 and AS/400 users have invested in Twinax infrastructure. This proprietary cabling system provided a simple and efficient method of connecting PCs and terminals to the midrange host computer, although access was restricted to interaction with the host computer only, via the Twinax line.

All that changed early 1998, when IBM released OS V4.R2 and introduced the option of running TCP/IP over its Express cards. This opened up new possibilities, since it allowed AS/400 computers to support TCP/IP protocol over Twinax lines. TCP/IP is the protocol (language) of the Internet, e-Commerce, and NT networks. The practical and immediate significance of this breakthrough is the expansion of Twinax network usage to support any application based on the TCP/IP protocol, such as Internet, e-mail, Microsoft Networking, Citrix and IP Telephony, although it required using a relatively new IBM Twinax card.

In order to allow an organization to run TCP/IP over Twinax lines with IBM equipment, you need to:

The existing limitations to the implementation of this solution today, as presented by IBM, are:

Although IBM made use of TCP/IP over a Twinax line possible when they released V4R2, the breakthrough was beyond the reach of a large number of users. Those with CISC machines, for example, where the highest version of OS/400 stopped at V3R2, and users on remote sites with legacy remote controllers which do not support IP over Twinax were unable to benefit from IBM's offering.

In May 1999, BOS started shipping the e-Twin@x Controller, which allows any AS/400 shop to use their Twinax infrastructure with TCP/IP. All users can get access to e-Mail, file servers like NT or Novell, printer sharing, Lotus Notes, the Internet, as well as Client Access Express, BOSâNOVA TCP/IP, Jadvantage, etc., without replacing the Twinax adapter cards in the PC!

The e-Twin@x Controller will also give great performance, due to a number of factors. For instance, BOS is the only company that provides IP compression over Twinax. This is possible due to the fact that BOS manufactures both the client IP driver and the controller. Powerful IP compression algorithms employed by BOS compress the data packets that pass across the Twinax network to the controller, enabling compression ratios of up to 6:1. Once they reach the controller, the packets are uncompressed and placed on the Ethernet, enabling the system to use the extra bandwidth supported by the Ethernet network. When combined with BOS Express cards, this can mean an increase in throughput of up to twenty times that of a regular Twinax PC card. The performance of the controller itself surpasses that of the latest IBM Twinax workstation controllers found in the latest AS/400's. The e-Twin@x Controller also offsets the extra CPU overhead caused by using IP over Twinax. Another performance enhancement of the e-Twin@x Controller is that unlike IBM, when any express capable Twinax card is used on any of the ports of the controller it will run at full speed, no matter what else is on that Twinax line.

Since the e-Twinax Controller is an IP device, communicating with the AS/400 using a LAN connection, APPC can be supported using Anynet. The PC Twinax user will simply install the IP driver, in order to give access to e-Mail, Internet, etc., then reconfigure the APPC software to connect over TCP/IP. In most cases this will be enough, however if the PC is using Client/Server software that requires E32APPC (the IBM-defined standard for router interfaces), then the router must be configured to use Anynet. This will grant all the same APPC connectivity as before.

If you want your TCP/IP over Twinax workstations to transfer secured data over the Internet, you can use the Microsoft Private Networking Adapter, which is included in the Windows 98 or Windows 2000 operating system.

BOS' e-Twin@x Controller with TCP/IP over Twinax support expands the functionality of Twinax networks, originally intended solely for AS/400 communication, to general networks suitable for a variety of tasks.

Use of data compression techniques and improvement in the speed of the Twinax line due to the 5250 Express protocol, combined with the built-in segmentation of Twinax topology, enables implementation of an incredibly fast, segmented and reliable network.

BOS' solution is designed to support existing equipment. As a result, there is no need to dispose of existing equipment, such as communication cables, Active Stars, sockets, terminals, existing emulation cards, etc. This solution allows the combination of existing and new equipment, without impeding the performance of the new equipment, resulting in optimization of the existing equipment in the organization. The organization can opt to install additional equipment and TCP/IP software on the existing network, in an incremental fashion, making the investment in the e-Twin@x Controller a solid one, for years to come.

TCP/IP over Twinax Workstations at Remote Site over the Internet (secured)