IBM Data Replication VSAM for z/OS Remote Source

IBM® Data Replication VSAM for z/OS® Remote Source is a CDC Replication engine that enables replication of VSAM source data with a minimal footprint on z/OS. The replication engine is distributed as a Linux® container, which you use to set up, maintain, and administer the replication environment.

The solution captures changes to non-relational mainframe data and delivers them to any relational databases or other target type that is supported by CDC Replication, producing an accurate replica of your mainframe data on supported target databases in near-real time.

VSAM Remote Source interacts with z/OS over a TCP/IP connection, using a single address space to access the source VSAM files for refresh purposes, and using z/OS log data for change capture replication. Shell scripts within the container use SSH to securely access and update the z/OS environment to set up and maintain the product distribution, prepare the source VSAM files for change capture, and create the z/OS log streams for storing captured changes.

At a high level, the remote Linux containerized engine connects to z/OS and makes all requests for VSAM data to its companion started task that is running on z/OS. VSAM data flows to the capture component running as a Docker container on Linux over TCP/IP. The VSAM data is then formatted and sent to a CDC Replication target engine using the same protocol that is used by the existing Classic CDC for z/OS engine.

Also like Classic CDC, you use the Classic Data Architect and Management Console to set up subscriptions and communicate with the server, but administrative tasks are performed on the Linux container and the target server, avoiding the need for administrative clients and utilities to communicate with the source z/OS.

VSAM Remote Source replicates your VSAM data from z/OS:

• Simplifying the job of working with data and helping you to leverage that data in your operation.
• Reducing the requirement for mainframe operation skills and leveraging skills in the Linux environment.
• Moving the CPU-intensive processing tasks from z/OS to Linux.