[3998] in WWW Security List Archive
RE: OS/390 and WWW
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Phillip M. Hallam-Baker)
Thu Jan 16 15:38:55 1997
From: "Phillip M. Hallam-Baker" <hallam@ai.mit.edu>
To: "'Arjan Vos'" <arjan@pino.demon.nl>,
"www-security@ns2.rutgers.edu"
<www-security@ns2.rutgers.edu>
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 11:23:14 -0500
Errors-To: owner-www-security@ns2.rutgers.edu
But, why would one want their corporate datatabes connected to the Net? It
is now possible to query DB2 databases, like in UNIX they've been doing
with Oracle databases since ages :-))
As far as I can see, one would not want to place corporate databases, or
high-transactional online systems on the Internet in the first place....
Some people still don't get it. SQL is not a viable means of
database access. Not unless you are an over trained professional.
The Web owes much of its existence to the IBM mainframe we had
at CERN, and hated. Like most mainframes it was run for the benefit
of its priests and acolytes.
Its probably sub-optimal to have a mainframe connected to the
Internet. I would agree that having a front end machine to
handle the Internet stuff would be better. This is the config
that Alta-Vista uses.
On the other hand such an arrangement would be likely to lead to
the mainframes obsolescence. Once you have the front end
operating on a modern machine its not too hard to move the back
end. The maintenance costs of most machines in that class could
easily support purchase of faster replacements. Few "mainframe"
class machines can keep up with the machine on my desk and
fast backplanes are no longer exorbitantly expensive.
Phill
