a cura di Peter M. Horbach

Real-time or Near Real-time, that is the question

Over the last decade BOS Software Service und Vertrieb GmbH has become one of the leading companies for data synchronization, data exchange, data transformation, and mainframe direct access. Clients from different industries all over the world use our tcVISION solution. Not only clients with a mainframe as core of their IT operations, but also clients with various Open Server platforms make use of the flexibility and efficiency of our solutions.

What is Real-time and what is Near Real-time?

Almost all providers of data synchronization solutions use the term „real-time“. The BOS Software uses it too. Take the following scenarios:

1. Central mainframe with the operating system z/OS or z/VSE, VSAM, IMS or DLI databases, and a new application platform with Linux (Intel, Unix, or System z) and a relational database (e.g. Db2 LUW or ORACLE).

The productive mainframe data (VSAM, IMS, and DLI) should be synchronized with the databases under Linux in online or batch mode without measurable latency.

tcVISION captures the change data under VSAM or IMS/DLI at the time of the change and replicates the data to the Linux target system in which the data is processed and then applied to the corresponding tables in the target database.

For this, tcVISION offers various technologies (z/OS or tcVISION log streams and active database logs). All these procedures capture the change data in real time and apply it into the target within less than seconds. Prerequisite is a technical infrastructure that works without performance problems.

2. Central mainframe with the operating system z/OS, IMS, and Db2 databases and a new BigData platform with HADOOP.

The change data should always be captured and transferred when a log file is archived under IMS or Db2.

tcVISION processes the archived log files either directly on the mainframe, or on a Windows or Unix platform after a file transfer. Between the creation of the data and the processing there can be a latency of several minutes which is factored in by the client and meet the Analytics requirements for BigData. This is near real-time processing.

The scenarios above can be conducted on all platforms supported by tcVISION.

In summary:

Real-time processing means that data is captured right after the change and then processed. There is also a slight latency of sub-seconds which is not in opposition to real-time.

If archived log files or Journals are used for the data synchronization, it is near real-time processing. This processing is often used in Analytics, Reporting, and BigData.

Who needs Real-time and Near Real-time Data?

Almost all companies competing globally, regardless of the industry. Our client base verifies that. Most implementations are in the area of data synchronization for application and migration requirements, and in the area of BigData and Cloud Computing. Application examples and references can be found on our website.

Methods of the tcVISION Replications

tcVISION offers various methods for capturing change data.

Realtime

Operating system Method Source
z/OS Logstreams CICS, Shared VSAM, tcVISION Logstreams
Active Logs Db2, IMS, ADABAS,DATACOM, IDMS
z/VSE tcVISION Collector VSAM, Db2, DLI
Active Logs ADABAS, DATACOM, IDMS
Windows/UNIX, Linux Log processing Db2, MS SQL-Server, Oracle, MySQL/MariaDB, ADABAS PostgreSQL, Informix

Near Real-time

Operating system Method Source
z/OS Archive Logs* Db2, IMS, ADABAS,DATACOM, IDMS
z/VSE Archive Logs* ADABAS, DATACOM, IDMS
Windows/UNIX, Linux Archive Logs* Db2, MS SQL-Server, Oracle, MySQL/MariaDB, ADABAS PostgreSQL, Informix

*Archive logs can either be processed on the mainframe or on a Windows, Unix, Linux platform.

Other methods

A special method offered by tcVISION is the so-called Batch Compare. Here, any file (all supported sources) is compared with a previous snapshot file to capture the change data.

For the implementation of mass data or an initial load, the tcVISION BULK Reader and Loader is available. This component can either directly access the data source or the image, backup, or unload files. Data can be added to the target database can via SQL or the loader function of the database.

Want to learn more?

tcVISION is an extremely flexible, cross-system solution for the timely, bidirectional data synchronization and replication based on change data. It turns data exchange into a single-step operation. Middleware or Message Queueing are not necessary. Data is exchanged in raw format, compressed and reduced to the processing of changed data. Data can be moved in real time, time-controlled, or event-driven as well as uni or bidirectionally.

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Our friendly support team is happy to support you with the implementation of our software solutions. We set high standards in order to provide our clients with optimal service. Our support team has excellent product knowledge and also a broad range of expertise in the entire environment in which our solutions are implemented.

There are qualified contact persons available for both our mainframe solutions as well as our Client Server solutions. Thanks to their expertise, they do not only support our clients in technical questions, but also with the development and realization of individual concepts.

Peter M. Horbach has been active in the area of data synchronization and replication with more than 40 years of IT experience. He manages the international partner business for BOS Software and writes for our blog.

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