Microsoft Host Integration Server (a.k.a. HIS) is a gateway application providing connectivity between

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Windows networks and

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

mainframe A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterpris ...

and

IBM i IBM i (the ''i'' standing for ''integrated'') is an operating system developed by IBM for IBM Power Systems. It was originally released in 1988 as OS/400, as the sole operating system of the IBM AS/400 line of systems. It was renamed to i5/OS in 2 ...

systems. Support is provided for SNA, 3270 (standard and TN3270), 5250 (standard and TN5250),

CICS IBM CICS (Customer Information Control System) is a family of mixed-language application servers that provide online business transaction management, transaction management and connectivity for applications on IBM mainframe systems under z/OS ...

, APPC, and other IBM

protocols Protocol may refer to: Sociology and politics * Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states * Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state * Etiquette, a code of personal behavior Science and technology ...

. Support is also provided for advanced integration with Windows networks and software, such as linking Microsoft Message Queuing applications to

IBM WebSphere MQ IBM MQ is a family of message-oriented middleware products that IBM launched in December 1993. It was originally called MQSeries, and was renamed ''WebSphere MQ'' in 2002 to join the suite of WebSphere products. In April 2014, it was renamed ''IBM ...

, binding Microsoft DTC transactions with CICS, and cross-protocol access to Db2 databases on IBM platforms. HIS is the successor to Microsoft SNA Server. SNA Server was released in 1994, and was one of the first add-on products available for the fledgling

Windows NT Windows NT is a Proprietary software, proprietary Graphical user interface, graphical operating system produced by Microsoft as part of its Windows product line, the first version of which, Windows NT 3.1, was released on July 27, 1993. Original ...

. SNA Server was also included in

Microsoft BackOffice Server Microsoft BackOffice Server is a discontinued computer software package featuring Windows NT Server and other Microsoft server products that ran on NT Server. It was marketed during the 1990s and early 2000s for use in branch operations and for ...

. Similar gateway products were NetWare for SAA (defunct, ran on

Novell Novell, Inc. () was an American software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah, that existed from 1980 until 2014. Its most significant product was the multi-platform network operating system known as NetWare. Novell technolog ...

NetWare NetWare is a discontinued computer network operating system developed by Novell, Inc. It initially used cooperative multitasking to run various services on a personal computer, using the IPX network protocol. The final update release was ver ...

) and IBM Communications Manager/2 (defunct, ran on

OS/2 OS/2 is a Proprietary software, proprietary computer operating system for x86 and PowerPC based personal computers. It was created and initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft, under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci, ...

). HIS has an active ecosystem of third-party hardware (e.g.

network adapter A network interface controller (NIC, also known as a network interface card, network adapter, LAN adapter and physical network interface) is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network. Early network interface ...

s supporting ESCON and Twinax connectivity) and software.

History

SNA Server 1.0

Initial version of SNA Server was released in 1994.

SNA Server 2.x

SNA Server 2.1 was introduced in September 1994, and included in BackOffice 1.0. SNA Server 2.11 was released in July 1995, added new features such as Windows NT 3.51 support. Version 2.11 was included in BackOffice 1.5/2.0. Version 2.11 SP1 was released on January 31, 1996, which included new features such as Distributed Gateway Service, support for TN3270E clients, and

FTP The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and dat ...

-AFTP gateway.

SNA Server 3.0

SNA Server 3.0 was released on December 17, 1996. SNA Server 3.0 nearly doubled the capacity up to 5,000 users and up to 15,000 host sessions. Other major new features include SNA print service, single sign-on to AS/400s and

s, TN5250 service, support for TN3287 clients in TN3270E service. Version 3.0 was included in BackOffice 2.5. Service Pack was released up to SP4, which was released on November 1, 1996.

SNA Server 4.0

SNA Server 4.0 was generally available in January 1998, included in BackOffice Server 4.0/4.5. SNA Server enhanced its features to support more clients and protocols, including Windows NT,

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...

Windows for Workgroups Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0. Like its predecessors, the Windows 3.1 series run as a Shell (computing), shell on top of MS-DOS; it was t ...

, Windows 3.x,

DOS DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...

, and

, with protocols of

TCP/IP The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suite are ...

, IPX/SPX, Banyan VINES,

AppleTalk AppleTalk is a discontinued proprietary suite of networking protocols developed by Apple Computer for their Macintosh computers. AppleTalk includes a number of features that allow local area networks to be connected with no prior setup or the ...

, and Microsoft Named Pipes. Third-party solutions provide

Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

and

UNIX Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...

support. SNA Server 4.0 also included a new COM based integration technology called COM Transaction Integrator (COMTI, code-named Cedar), which enables easier integration using GUI and Web page. Snap-ins for

Microsoft Management Console Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is a component of Microsoft Windows that provides system administrators and advanced users an interface for configuring and monitoring the system. MMC was introduced in late 1997 as an optional component of Win ...

(MMC) were introduced to easily manage SNA Server, COMTI, and OLE DB Provider in single place. Service Pack was released up to SP4, which was released on March 5, 2001.

Host Integration Server 2000

SNA Server code-name "Babylon" was rebranded to "Host Integration Server" from this version and released on September 26, 2000. This version worked with

Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft, targeting the server and business markets. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RT ...

, SQL Server 2000, BizTalk Server 2000, and Commerce Server 2000 to utilize the new generation of technologies such as COM+,

XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing data. It defines a set of rules for encoding electronic document, documents in a format that is both human-readable and Machine-r ...

and

SOAP Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

. The key new features include bidirectional application and data integration via enhanced COMTI and OLE DB support to 3270 I/O-based Customer Information Control System (CICS) applications, which was a result from strategic partnership with Microsoft and

Software AG Software GmbH, trading as Software AG, is a German multinational software corporation that develops enterprise software for business process management, integration, and big data analytics. Founded in 1969, the company is headquartered in Darmstad ...

. The new adapter was called "Software AG CICS 3270 Adapter for Host Integration Server 2000". Host Integration Server 2000 Web Clients were released to enable users to connect to 3270 and 5250 through HIS 2000. Host Integration Server 2000 was included in BackOffice Server 2000. Service Pack was released up to SP2, which was released on March 30, 2005.

Host Integration Server 2004

New features in HIS 2004 included extending the Transaction Integrator to support AS/400 systems.

Host Integration Server 2006

Host Integration Server 2009

Host Integration Server 2013

Host Integration Server 2016

HIS 2016 added support for Windows 10, and Windows Server 2016. The CU3 update added support for Windows Server 2019. Improvements for telemetry and configuration were also added.

Host Integration Server 2020

HIS 2020 added support for Windows 11, Windows Server 2022 and Visual Studio 2022. Support for Group Managed Service Accounts was also added. There were accessibility improvements to the TI Configuration tool and SNA Manager. HIS 2020 introduced telemetry and error reporting capabilities that monitor installation, configuration, and runtime behaviors across various components, including SNA services, Transaction Integrator, and DRDA Service, to improve product quality and reliability.Release Notes for Host Integration Server (HIS) 2020 – Learn Microsoft
/ref>

References

External links

Host Integration Blog
- The latest announcements about Host Integration Server can be found here after September 2018.
BizTalk Server team blog
- Information such as release history about Host Integration Server between 2006 and 2018 can be found here.
Product Lifecycle Information for Host Integration Server

How SDLC devices are connected using DLSw

Introduction to SNA
Link defunct as of 2018-01-08. {{Microsoft Windows software Network protocols Enterprise application integration 1994 software