Dealing with SNA on an IP only network.

ezuser666 · ‎07-14-2007

Hi there,

We are currently undergoing a network migration which is involving replacing all our LAN switches as part of company standardisation.

Whilst this has proceeded smoothly, a problem has been encountered in that up until now we were under the impression that our AS400 systems were either on a seperate network running SNA or talked only via IP. This is not however the case as after tracing various cables we have found that these AS400's are plugged into our main LAN switches (3500/3550 server and user access,6509 NOT e at the core).

In addition we also have an IBM 2210 which we believe is doing SNA to IP encapsultion.

The new switches we have been mandated to use only come with an IP-SERVICES IOS.

Can anyone offer advise on how deal with SNA running across a network or how to find out the details of the network? Unfortunately our previous Network Administrator passed away leaving little documentation with nothing on the setup of the SNA network.

Thanks in advance.

j.verboom · ‎07-16-2007

Hello,

The way to deal with SNA on an IP Only network is to implement Enterprise Extender. Enterprise extender will use UDP to transport SNA Data over IP networks.

There are 2 ways to go :

- Leave the Server as is and add network functionality for this purpose. (Ethernet VLAN with DLSw+ and or SNASw)

- Modify the Server and make it support Enterprise Extender.

If your only concern is with iSeries AS/400 than condiser going to the latest Opeartion System version. It supports Enterprise Extender, which allows you to run a TCP/IP only network without any specials to support SNA.