Making Connections to Informix on Avaya CMS Servers

Our General Recommendation

Options have changed over time. The version (R#.#) of your CMS is key to everything else.

• For CMS R16.2 or later -- The optimal solution will be specific to your environment and deployment. We can assist in narrowing the field of options, and recommend the optimal solution.

• For CMS R16.1 or earlier -- As discussed in some detail below, the optimal and recommended solution is to install the currently shipping Multi-Tier server components on the CMS host, and the version-matched Multi-Tier client components on ALL client hosts.

We can assist with installation and/or upgrade, either as Professional Services or through a Support Case.

The Details

Options have changed over time. The version (R#.#) of your CMS is key to everything else.

• For CMS R16.2 or later -- Any of our Single-Tier drivers may be used in the usual way, and our Multi-Tier solutions may be deployed in "three-tier" style. None of our components may be installed on the CMS R16.2 host itself, but such installation is not required for successful connections.

• For CMS R16.1, R16.0, and R15.x -- Any of our Single-Tier drivers may be used (subject to limitations described below), and the server-side components of our Multi-Tier solutions may be upgraded (or installed) on the CMS host itself. This is fully permitted by all Avaya maintenance agreements.

• For CMS R14.x, and all previous -- The server-side components of our Multi-Tier solutions may be upgraded (or installed) on the CMS host itself, permitting access from any Multi-Tier-supported client environment. This is fully permitted by all Avaya maintenance agreements.

Some Explanation

Through CMS R14, the Informix configuration shipped by Avaya was set to accept client connections only from processes running on the same physical host -- so no network client connections were possible except through our Multi-Tier Universal Data Access components, the server-side components of which Avaya OEM licensed and shipped pre-installed on the CMS server host. This additional level of database security was part of the original reason that Avaya chose our solution.

This configuration prevents use of any "Wire Protocol" driver, any of our Single-Tier ("Lite" or "Express") solutions, and indeed, any solution from any vendor which does not include either (a) installing some components on the CMS host, or (b) reconfiguring the Informix instance to accept such remote client connections.

VERY IMPORTANT

The pre-installed OpenLink components on the CMS host are typically from our Release 3.x or 4.x, and occasionally from our Release 5.x, all of which have been deprecated for some time.

The version of the Multi-Tier Generic Client on the data consumer side must be matched to the version of the Multi-Tier Request Broker running on the target host(s) (i.e., the CMS appliance). Mixing Multi-Tier Client components from one Release with Multi-Tier Server components from another Release is untested and unsupported, and is not recommended.

You may continue to use any existing server-side components under the existing license, if your client-side requirements permit (most significantly, if you do not require 64-bit Windows client support, for which Multi-Tier Release 6.x is required). If you do not have the appropriate version-matched client-side installers, you may need to enroll in a Maintenance & Support Agreement to gain access to such deprecated installers.

Our currently shipping Release 6.x ODBC Generic Clients are available in both 32-bit and 64-bit form, for all current versions of AIX, Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Solaris, HP-UX, and others. 32-bit and 64-bit Generic Clients are also available for use with JDBC or ADO.NET client applications, running on most versions (old and new) of AIX, Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Solaris, HP-UX, and others.

Most users are best off upgrading any and all existing OpenLink components (both client- and server-side) to our currently shipping Release. Such upgrade or installation falls within Avaya's "permitted use" and will not disrupt any maintenance or support agreements, on any CMS R16.1 or earlier.

The license which may be needed from us is for the current release Multi-Tier Request Broker and Informix-specific Database Agent. The price for this license is impacted by the number of concurrent database sessions, the number of concurrent client hosts, the number of processor cores in the Broker host, and some other factors which do not generally apply to CMS environments.

Further Options

Users may choose to acquire our Single-Tier ODBC drivers and licenses for the relevant client host(s), with the following caveats --

• Single-Tier drivers are licensed per-installed-host, and can cost significantly more than the Multi-Tier option which license is based more on concurrent usage.

• Single-Tier drivers are licensed entirely on the client-side, and can connect to any number of remote DBMS instances, subject to licensed concurrency limits.

• Single-Tier drivers do require that the target DBMS instances be configured to accept "sockets" based connections from the relevant client hosts. This can be a significant security hole.

Or, rather than installing/upgrading Multi-Tier server components on the CMS host, you may choose to use a "gateway" host for a "three-tier" deployment --

• The DBMS instances must still be configured to accept "sockets" based connections, but they need only be permitted from the "gateway" host, to which all Generic Client data consumers would connect. This may help mitigate the security concerns.

• All Generic Clients must then be upgraded to match the Request Broker and Database Agent versions on this "gateway" host, and the Informix Client SDK must also be installed on the "gateway" (but not on the individual client hosts).

The last option, with the lowest overall performance, the most susceptible to compatibility issues through the connectivity chain, and often the highest licensing expense, is to set up a multi-level gateway, with the data consumer (e.g., 64-bit Microsoft SQL Server) connecting to our 64-bit Release 6.x Multi-Tier Generic Client ODBC Driver; thence to our 32-bit Release 6.x Multi-Tier Request Broker and Bridge Agent for ODBC Data Sources, which bind to the 32-bit Generic Client ODBC Driver which matches the Multi-Tier Request Broker and Informix-specific Database Agent which are already present and licensed on your CMS host. Our Professional Services and Support teams are ready, willing, and able to assist you in deploying, testing, and pricing this solution.