MQ-as-an-Appliance
As today’s enterprise becomes much more connected, messaging plays a crucial role in ensuring that your connected architecture is flexible, simple and reliable. After years of dominance in the Messaging and Connectivity space, this February IBM announced the arrival of MQ v8.0 in the form factor of a physical appliance. The MQ Appliance brings great aspects such as simplicity, scalability, security, rapid and remote deployment, and also high availability through paired appliances. Some of the new features of the MQ Appliance 2000 are,
- The hardware and OS of the MQ Appliance is based on the proven IBM DataPower Appliance
- The Firmware includes MQ v8.0 and has the ability to utilize existing MQ networks and clusters
- Built-in high availability using a paired appliance with automatic queue manager failover
- Advanced security options with LDAP-based authentication and authorization with MQ AMS
- Administration concepts are very similar to existing MQ Software Administration
- Premium performance right out-of-the-box with a very simple deployment procedure
The MQ M2000 A/B
The new MQ Appliance comes in two unique models, the M2000 A and the M2000 B. Both the models are based on the same physical appliance, with the major difference being the number of processor cores, which reduces the price and performance of the M2000 B model.
Some of the features of the two models are,
MQ M2000 A
- For Enterprise Deployment and Consolidation options
- Capable of handling larger messaging workloads
- Host multiple queue managers to be used as a Messaging Hub
- Built-in HA with a paired appliance and AMS for security
- Can be used to move MQ MFT files between MFT End Points
MQ M2000 B
- For Branch/Remote/Factory low-end Deployment options
- Lower Processor Utilization and lower messaging throughput
- Trade up part available from M2000 B to M2000 A
- Built-in High Availability with a paired appliance and AMS for security
- Can be used to move to MQ MFT files between MFT End Points
Appliance = Advantage
With MQ being used in a software-based approach for so many implementations, the whole idea of the appliance prompts questions regarding the advantages and value of moving to an appliance-based deployment model for messaging. Some of the prime advantages and deployment options for the new MQ Appliance are,
- With a dedicated appliance, your messaging footprint is simpler and smaller
- Easier administration with separated roles and MQ Console Tool(Browser-Based)
- Pre-Optimized Hardware for highest and optimum performance
- Certified firmware updates from IBM for both MQ and firmware
- Lower data center costs, space usage and power requirements
- High Availability provided with the appliance out-of-the-box
