Types of gateways

There are two main types of gateways: unidirectional gateways and bidirectional gateways.

Unidirectional gateways allow alerts to flow in only one direction. Changes made in the source ObjectServer are replicated in the destination ObjectServer or application, but changes made in the destination ObjectServer or application are not replicated in the source ObjectServer. Unidirectional gateways can be considered as archiving tools.

Bidirectional gateways allow alerts to flow from the source ObjectServer to the target ObjectServer or application, and also allow feedback to the source ObjectServer. In a bidirectional gateway configuration, changes made to the contents of a source ObjectServer are replicated in a destination ObjectServer or application, and the destination ObjectServer or application replicates its alerts in the source ObjectServer. Bidirectional gateways can be considered as synchronization tools.

Gateways can send alerts to a variety of targets:

• Another ObjectServer
• A database
• A helpdesk application
• Other applications or devices

ObjectServer gateways are used to exchange alerts between ObjectServers. This is useful when you want to create a distributed installation, or when you want to install a backup ObjectServer.

Database gateways are used to store alerts from an ObjectServer. This is useful when you want to keep a historical record of the alerts forwarded to the ObjectServer.

Helpdesk gateways are used to integrate Tivoli® Netcool®/OMNIbus with a range of helpdesk systems. This is useful when you want to correlate the trouble tickets raised by your customers with the networks and systems you are using to provide their services.

Other gateways are specialized applications that forward ObjectServer alerts to other applications or devices (for example, a flat file or socket).