The enterprise differentiator of mq on zos

Editor's Notes

• #5: Brief details of what makes up MQ Advanced for z/OS VUE and then look at some details of the components – why people should be interested in Adv VUE   IBM MQ for z/OS VUE connects virtually everything, from a simple pair of applications to providing connectivity for the most complex business environments. A single part at a single price for the richest set of z/OS messaging server capabilities   I am going to start at the bottom and work way up MQ VUE – the rock solid message offering that has been the transport foundation for many of the worlds biggest companies for 20+ years. The underlying base messaging offering be it the MQ MLC offering or the MQ VUE has certain characteristics and capabilities that it brings to customers. Firstly – it will allow virtually any type of application to connect together. Separation of the messaging or connection logic from the real application logic allows customers to respond to changes quickly and join together disparate applications more efficiently. Security – Base MQ has a range of security options for making sure the right users are allowed to do the right set operations to our messaging resources as well as encryption while passing data over QM channels. MQ’s security can be further enhanced by adding Advanced Message Security on top of the base MQ offering – but we will discuss that in some more detail later   Reliable – MQ is in use by many of the biggest institutions in the world. It is proven in terms of its reliability and ability to keep customer message data safe with various recovery features to allow a customer peace of mind.   Flexibility – The separation of Messaging logic from business logic means that existing MQ configurations can be updated and re-deployed without having to change code in existing and working MQ applications.   Scalable – MQ has numerous capabilities to allow the MQ infrastructure to change in order to deal with end of day, end of month or seasonal peaks   And finally it is Robust – It is a product that has lived on the front line for running all sorts of business critical applications, many many billions of messages with financial and other high value data passing through MQ infrastructure everyday with little or no unplanned system downtime. MQ AMS on z/OS – provides end 2 end encryption to defend a customer from inadvertent or malicious hacking and exposure of data. It provides the ability to protect your sensitive data with no need for application change.   MQ MFT on z/OS – provides rock solid file transfer on top of your MQ infrastructure. MFT reduces the need for manual processes and provides management tools that help to save time in day to day operations as well in failure scenarios Connector Pack – A new component initially focused on connectivity into Blockchain. CRUD operations performed on IBM Blockchain service running in Bluemix or Hyperledger Fabric running locally
• #6: Asynchronous messaging with assured once and once only delivery, best in class for performance and reliability. Natural fit for z/OS platform due to tight integration with key subsystems, transactionality to maintain data integrity and end-to-end security trusted to look after the data as it transitions between producer and consumer. Connectivity – it will allow virtually any type of application to connect together. Separation of the messaging or connection logic from the real application logic allows customers to respond to changes quickly and join together disparate applications more efficiently. Security – Base MQ has a range of security options for making sure the right users are allowed to do the right set operations to our messaging resources as well as encryption while passing data over QM channels. MQ’s security can be further enhanced by adding Advanced Message Security on top of the base MQ offering   Reliable – MQ is in use by many of the biggest institutions in the world. It is proven in terms of its reliability and ability to keep customer message data safe with various recovery features to allow a customer peace of mind.   Flexibility – The separation of Messaging logic from business logic means that existing MQ configurations can be updated and re-deployed without having to change code in existing and working MQ applications.   Scalable – MQ has numerous capabilities to allow the MQ infrastructure to change in order to deal with end of day, end of month or seasonal peaks   Robust – It is a product that has lived on the front line for running all sorts of business critical applications, many many billions of messages with financial and other high value data passing through MQ infrastructure everyday with little or no unplanned system downtime.
• #9: The more enterprise becomes hyper-connected, the more potential points of vulnerability exist. Different types of threat exist: ‘Mass-market’ attempts; Targeted attempts Disaffected employees; Errors or poor processes Regulatory compliance – industry specific like PCI-DSS and HIPAA, or more general personal data regulations like GDPR; Internal business directives and audits Significant cost associated with data breaches, not limited to direct costs of lost business/fines, but also reputational and brand damage
• #10: MQ provides authentication and authorization services (exploiting LDAP or RACF) to ensure applications and users have appropriate levels of access to data. You can also utilize event messages to identify and address unexpected activity. Data is encrypted over the network using the latest TLS cipherspecs and PKI. Data is encrypted at rest – MQ exploits z/OS System SSL which makes use of CPACF and CryptoExpress cards. MQ Advanced extends this support by encrypting message data itself, this is controlled by policy without any involvement or change in the producing application. The data is never encrypted until it reaches the consuming application with the appropriate private key – in-flight, at rest and in memory across the entire MQ network. Performance overhead is a trade-off for greater security. The new confidentiality policy permits a configurable amount of symmetric key reuse during hops across the MQ network when sending to the same destination – it’s possible to achieve near performance parity with use of TLS alone.
• #12: Businesses and their applications use files across their infrastructure to store valuable data Where the data is created is not always where it needs to be consumed Files and file contents need to be moved to deliver value FTP is “free” and ubiquitous, but does have it’s drawbacks: Lack of file checkpoint restart logic may mean you have to start transfers from the beginning if they fail Transfers can terminate without notification or any record of what has happened Corrupt or partial files can be accidentally used by downstream applications Lack of Character Set conversion can be an issue when moving data through disparate platforms Changes to file transfers often require updates to many ftp scripts that are typically scattered across machines and require platform-specific skills to alter It is easy to make errors and introduce inconsistency as well as being time consuming Tracking file transfers from the start of journey to final destination is a difficult proposition
• #13: If you’ve already invested in robust, reliable messaging infrastructure, why not use it for file transfers as well. Files can be converted into messages and sent over the MQ network. Capability for applications to consume data in file or message format Benefits from the reliability, security, management and recovery capabilities built into MQ Agents transport files between the local system and MQ, these can be deployed wherever they are needed Combining MFT with AMS results in end-to-end encryption whilst transporting file data
• #14: A common topology is to create a “file hub” MFT agents pull files from various APARs and send to a MQ Advanced VUE which handles the file processing workload On z/OS - text files, data sets and GDGs (generation data groups - catalog successive updates or generations of related data) are supported
• #16: From it’s roots in cryptocurrency, Blockchain technology is being explored as a means of managing and disseminating information about shared assets between multiple interested parties in a business network. Attractive because it provides provenance and immutability of changes in those assets, and enables parties to be notified and respond to change events. For this Healthcare example, network participants are patients, hospitals, insurers, banks, regulators - all involved in the process of supporting patient health and treatment programs. Different participants are notified when.. A treatment plan is elected, a patient is treated or an outcome is recorded Insurance is required, verified or absent Patient’s credit status is checked or changes Regulatory checks and balances are applied There are many potential uses in various supply chains, provenance of assets (“farm to fork”) and so on.
• #17: The Blockchain is only as useful as the data that can be supplied and retrieved. Parties contribute their data from their own systems of record. Following updates made by others in the Blockchain, these may need reflecting in their own systems also. This is a connectivity problem. MQ is perfectly placed to act as the transport for system of record data for all the reasons previously covered – connecting a wide range of applications and systems, providing secure and reliable delivery In this example, existing systems are handling vehicle tax processing, identifying when renewals are required and sending reminders. Other Blockchain participants can help in the process of identifying and contacting the current owner, and can be notified should the tax remain unpaid, triggering downstream processes.
• #18: MQ Advanced for z/OS VUE provides a Blockchain connector, specifically designed to make it easy for systems of record to interact with Blockchain via MQ Supports connectivity to Hyperledger Fabric service on IBM Cloud, or instances deployed on-premises Request-response messages can query and retrieve information from Blockchain Applications and systems can drive CRUD operations on shared assets by sending messages to specific queues – ledger specific interfaces are handled by the connector