ADVANCED BusinessLink Corp. says that it has tweaked the high-speed messaging (HSM) software at the heart of its Strategi application server software for AS/400s and radically increased the speed of the overall Strategi product. In March, ABL repositioned the Strategi 1.3.0 host access tool as a Web application server (see the March 22, 1999 issue of Monday Morning AS/400 Update for details) while simultaneously enhancing its messaging software. This time around, ABL has wrung more performance out of that messaging software. ABL says that with the new messaging software, average transaction times are around 2 milliseconds, compared to 50 milliseconds for its first generation HSM software. (ABL says that 50 milliseconds is nonetheless much faster than CGI scripts, which as we all know from personal experience are painfully slow.) In addition to the faster HSM software, ABL has added performance monitoring software to the Strategi suite that allows system administrators to track hits to pages, individual transaction response times, average transaction response times, and other performance metrics.

For those of you unacquainted with Strategi, it has five basic elements. First is the high-speed AS/400 messaging and remote connectivity software that was just improved. Second, is its proprietary AS/400 Web server developed by ABL, which was initially provided via a little black box that sat alongside the AS/400 and was linked to OS/400's databases and file systems through the high-speed messaging software. That Web server also comes with a set of application templates that are functionally equivalent to CGI scripts for accessing AS/400 databases. Strategi also includes PushFeed technology, which automatically delivers AS/400 reports and files to authorized Strategi users and FileCabinet, which manages encrypted, two-way file transfers between the AS/400's Integrated File System (AS/400 IFS) and clients. And finally, Strategi includes a 100% Pure Java client that allows users to get at AS/400 applications and files with a simple Web browser rather than a full-scale connectivity program such as IBM's Client Access. The Strategi Java client has both traditional green-screen emulation and a GUI-on-the-fly interface. Strategi 1.3.0 runs on any RISC-based AS/400 model with OS/400 V3R7 or higher installed. A base Strategi pack for four users costs $4,000, with significant discounts as companies add users.

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