Axway eXtended File Broker

Axway Integration Suite

XFB.Monitor
The file transfer monitor
Multi-platform, multi-network and multi-protocol Application integration Automation, scheduling and planning Reliability and productivity Security Transfer monitoring and control With XFB.Monitor placed at the heart of your applications, you have a reliable and well performing file transfer management system. As a basic component of the Axway eXtended File Broker (XFB) solution, its many functions make XFB.Monitor a full-featured production tool for the methodical, homogeneous handling of all your transfers.

XFB.Monitor, the universal monitor

XFB.Monitor runs in most system and network environments. It is a multiplatform, multi-network and multiprotocol solution, and so can handle all kinds of exchanges with every type of partner: integration of enterprise data exchanges, including with external partners internal or external partners (suppliers, banks, clients, subsidiaries, etc.) of all kinds (users or applications, fixed or roaming)

This set of mechanisms contributes to the complete automation of data circulation and processing, thus guaranteeing optimal response time for specialized applications.

Scheduling and planning

Transfer requests are executed by the monitor which takes into account planning priorities and options (deferred activation, latest time, etc.) and which handles broadcasting and collection requests associated with lists of partners.

M. PAGLIARO, IT Services Manager Dexia Crediop (Merchant Bank)

Reliability
The high degree of 0reliability of transfers is the result of the many automatic functions (connection retries, re-launch after interruption, switch to back-up link or monitor, etc.) that guarantee the routing of data. If transfer is totally impossible, various alarm mechanisms are activated.

Automation and Application Integration

Transfer requests addressed to the monitor are submitted interactively, in batch mode or from an API (applications programming interface). These mechanisms, along with exit points, provide a solution to all integrated application transfer requirements, from the simplest to the most complex. Once transfer is complete, the monitor activates the associated processing (scripts, programs) for which it has a complete set of symbolic variables describing the transfer. It provides applications with a set of mechanisms for implementing application acknowledgement: these acknowledgements, sent by the receiving application, alert the transmitting application that the received file has been dealt with (e.g., loading in a database or data processing).

A word from our clients

XFB has provided us with an answer to the problems of multiplatform, multi-protocol file transfer associated with extensive externalisation. We have been able to reduce transfer times by a factor of 10 and, above all, have achieved unprecedented optimisation levels, not only in terms of deadlines but also in terms of data consistency checking. XFB.Monitor allows us to control the system permanently and to direct planning far more efficiently than with traditional FTP optimizers.

Technical characteristics

Productivity
The optimum use of network resources, data compression, simultaneous exchange and synchronisation point recovery after interruption, all help to reduce the time and cost of transfers, so ensuring maximum productivity. Store and forward file switching (i.e.: exchanging files using intermediate monitors) enhances network resource optimisation by giving access to partners who are not accessible directly. In this case, application acknowledgements are transmitted end-to-end. The transcoding required to adapt character type data between the different platforms is automated and carried out during transfer. This function frees applications from these considerations and is carried out at least cost, with no supplementary reading of files required.

Supported platforms (non-exhaustive list): Unix Linux Intel, AIX , Sun Solaris, HP-UX, SCO OpenServer, UnixWare, Compaq Tru64 Unix, Sinix, Dinix Microsoft Windows 98/NT/2000/XP Bull GCOS 7, GCOS 8 Compaq Open VMS (Alpha and VAX), Non-Stop Kernel IBM z/OS,OS/390, z/VM, VSE/ESA, OS/400, OS/2, Linux zSeries Novell Netware SIEMENS OSD, Sinix Network protocols: TCP/IP X.25, ISDN SNA, DSA, DNA Secure transport level protocol: SSL/ TLS File transfer protocol: PeSIT OFTP

data access security: the user has no access to the real file system; he can only see and recover files that have been explicitly made available to him possible use of the secure XFB.Gateway to offer access to ordinary Web partners (via HTTP, FTP, Ssh-FTP); designed specifically to be placed in the DMZ, XFB.Gateway integrates with the enterprise security system and so underpins exchange security.

Control and monitoring

Precise, sector-specific identification of transfers facilitates rigorous exchange control and monitoring. From receiving the request to completing the exchange, transfers pass through various states which inform precisely of their progress: pending, running, terminated, acknowledged by the local application, acknowledged by the remote application, etc. The transfers and the log can be consulted via the graphical interface and action commands carried out on transfers, offering the requisite local control and supervision of the monitor. As well as these standard tools, XFB.Monitor, like other Axway products, benefits from: centralised monitoring of exchanges using Axway Sentinel remote control and problem solving using XFB.Internet User Interface.

Security
A variety of functions and techniques cover the ever-increasing security requirements as the number of exchanges and partners grows: security of access to the monitor: control of user access to monitor resources network security: caller numbers control, firewall and proxy support ID control of partners SSL/TLS transport level security: simple, reciprocal authentication based on X.509 certificates, integrity and/or confidentiality (seals and/or encryption), certificate management using an external or internal PKI

Photo : Jessica David