Attachmate Updates Reflection Suites
December 14, 2010 Alex Woodie
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Attachmate is shipping new releases of two suites of its Reflection emulator software, including Reflection for the Web 2008 R3, an update to its Web-based emulator, and Reflection Suite for X 2011, its X Server product used primarily for accessing Unix and Linux hosts from Windows desktops. Reflection is one of three families of terminal emulation software offered by Attachmate. Its EXTRA! line of emulators is most often used by Attachmate’s IBM i customers, while the Reflection line (obtained with its acquisition of WRQ) sees more use in Unix environments. Nonetheless, the Reflection products do contain 5250 emulation capabilities, and IBM i customers may be interested in learning about the new features. One of the most important new features in Reflection for the Web 2008 R3, which was announced yesterday, is better management of user credentials and user access to computing resources. Enhancements to the software’s support for LDAP and Active Directory services enable the product to manage access among any group of users, including those accessing computing resources via the internal LAN, those coming in through mobile computers via the WAN, or even external business partners. Reflection for the Web customers can now use a single LDAP-based security infrastructure for offering both thick and thin client access to host sessions, which simplifies encryption apparatus needed to run secure Reflection sessions over the Internet. This release also includes support for dynamic LDAP groups, which simplifies the management of large groups of users. These improvements make it easier for Reflection customers to provide secure access to host resources “no matter where users are located or which platform or browser they’re using,” says Kris Lall, product marketing manager for Attachmate. “Reflection for the Web 2008 R3 provides an easy way to centralize and manage host access using the directory services they already have in place today.” Reflection for the Web 2008 R3 also provides support for zLinux, a term that refers to a Linux OS distribution, such as those from Red Hat or SuSE (which, coincidentally Attachmate just obtained with its acquisition of Novell) compiled to run on the IBM System z mainframe. This release also brings support for the new Google Chrome Web browser and the latest versions of Java. Last week, Attachmate unveiled Reflection Suite for X 2011, a new release of its suite of X Server emulation software for accessing Unix applications from Windows workstations. While the software includes 5250 and 3270 emulators, it’s primarily used in applications where users need to access high definition graphics, such as the three-dimensional depictions of data used in the oil and gas exploration business, according to Attachmate. (Trying to view this through a 5250 green screen would be downright painful.) Attachmate introduced several new features with the 2011 release. For starters, the software now includes the latest data encryption algorithms, including Secure Shell (SSH), Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols. This release also brings compatibility with Windows 7, as well as support for Citrix XenApp, Microsoft App-V, and VMware‘s virtualization software. Lastly, Attachmate has added new bandwidth- and latency-detection capabilities that improve performance and responsiveness. RELATED STORIES Legacy-Loving Attachmate Shells Out $2.2 Billion for Novell Attachmate Refreshes Emulator with Useful New Features Attachmate Partners with Emirates for Airline App Attachmate Roots Out Insider Fraud with New Software Attachmate Claims Industry First with Emulator’s Support for App-V Attachmate Emulator to Deploy Via App-V VCs That Bought WRQ Acquire Competitor Attachmate WRQ Acquired by Venture Capitalists Security Specialist PentaSafe Acquired by NetIQ
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