Novell Inc has added support for Open Systems Interconnection Transaction Protocol – the TCP/IP component of the open systems interconnection stack – to Tuxedo, its transaction processing monitor. The addition will provide support for Tuxedo transactions across a range of transaction processing mainframe environments that also implement the protocol, including those of Unisys Corp, Groupe Bull, ICL Plc and Siemens Nixdorf Informationssyteme AG, in addition to Siemens Nixdorf’s Sinix Unix. Novell claims it will enable transactions between different systems within the same company and will ease migration strategies. Tuxedo transactions will be carried between machines using vendors’ OSI TP stacks; actual communication is over TCP/IP or International Standards Organisation transport mechanisms. Tuxedo with OSI TP costs from $15,000. Support for IBM Corp mainframe CICS environments by reverse-engineering the relevant protocols and possibly to other Unix transaction managers such as Encina and Top End are planned. Tuxedo is now on release 4.2.2, and the next major release is due before year-end.
